The world is more dangerous today than ever. If our nation is to maintain its position of pre-eminence, we must continue to field the world's most capable and professional military force. Weapons systems without the quality personnel to man and maintain them have little value for our national defense. Second, our Association actively supports and promotes programs that lead to enhanced quality of life for our military service members, retirees and their families. For our Armed Forces to be effective, we must attract the best and the brightest talent that our nation offers.
Quality of life plays a key role in recruitment and retention of our military service members.
Commissaries, exchanges and MWR activities are essential contributors to quality of life programs. According to patron surveys recently conducted by the DoD, the commissary shopping privilege is ranked as the number one non-pay compensation benefit. The commissary delivers significant value to the military patron that far exceeds the cost to operate the Defense Commissary Agency. Each year, the Exchange Services provide quality goods and services at reasonable prices, while returning millions of dollars to the military community. Without these dividends, the MWR activities would not be able to fulfill their mission and as a result many worthy programs such as day-care centers, youth programs, military clubs, fitness centers and recreation programs would be negatively impacted.