03 Jan 2000 Commissaries Change Visitor Policy By Staff Sgt. Thanks to a recent change, authorized customers can now bring guests in while they shop at most commissaries. Under the policy, identification cards are checked at the checkout lane instead of the door. This still limits purchases to authorized customers. Visitors are not allowed to purchase commissary goods, officials said, and only visitors accompanied by an authorized shopper are allowed to be in a store.
Commissary officials maintain the right to spot check for unauthorized people in their stores.
The new visitors policy allows access to the benefit for patrons who otherwise might be inhibited from using what is rightly theirs, John F. McGowan said. McGowan is chief executive officer for the Defense Commissary Agency. For instance, commissary officials said, shoppers have asked if they could bring in relatives visiting from out of town rather than making them wait in the car. DeCA had also heard from military spouses who found it difficult to use the commissary when they provided home day care, officials said. This policy was established as an enhancement to the quality of life of our commissary patrons, DeCA spokesman Timothy C. Ford said.