Who Is Eligible to Shop at Military Commissaries?

Eligibility to shop at military commissaries covers active duty service members across all branches, military retirees, Reserve and National Guard members, any veteran with a VA-documented service-connected disability rating, Purple Heart recipients, Medal of Honor recipients, former prisoners of war, VA-designated primary family caregivers, surviving spouses, authorized dependents of all of the above, and certain Department of Defense civilian employees. Shelf prices run roughly 25% below civilian grocery stores before a 5% surcharge is added at checkout, so the benefit is worth using if you qualify.

Active Duty and Their Families

Every active duty member has full commissary privileges for the length of their service.¹ Dependents with an authorized family member ID shop on the same terms. That covers spouses and unmarried children up to age 21. Full-time college students keep access to age 23 or graduation, whichever comes first, provided the sponsor supplies at least half of the child’s financial support.² Children with certain disabilities can retain eligibility past those age limits.

Retirees, Their Families, and Surviving Spouses

Military retirees keep commissary privileges for life. This applies to anyone receiving retired or retainer pay, which generally means 20 or more years of service or the equivalent in Reserve or Guard duty.³ Their dependents qualify on the same terms as active duty families.

Surviving spouses of deceased service members are also eligible. Federal law now directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure a surviving spouse retains commissary privileges whether or not they remarry, with implementing regulations required by October 1, 2025.⁴ If you’re a remarried surviving spouse who was told years ago that you had lost access, ask your installation’s ID card office to check your status under the current rules.

Veterans With a Service-Connected Disability

Since January 1, 2020, any veteran with a VA-documented service-connected disability rating can shop in person at a commissary. The rating percentage does not matter. A 0% rating gets the same access as a 90% rating.⁵ Before 2020, only veterans rated 100% disabled or 100% unemployable had this benefit. The Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 opened it to everyone with a service-connected condition.⁶

Veterans rated 100% disabled or 100% unemployable can obtain a DoD identification card that gives broader installation access. Veterans rated 0–90% use a different credential, described in the ID section below.⁷

Purple Heart, Medal of Honor, and Former POWs

The 2020 expansion covers three more groups, each of whom can shop on the same basis as a military retiree:⁵

Any veteran awarded the Purple Heart.
Medal of Honor recipients, who were already eligible under earlier DoD policy and now have that access written into statute.
Any veteran recognized as a former prisoner of war by the VA.

Primary Family Caregivers

If the VA has approved and designated you as the primary family caregiver of an eligible veteran through its Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, you can shop at commissaries on the same terms as a retiree.⁵ The benefit is limited to the primary caregiver. Secondary caregivers, and the caregiver’s own family members, do not qualify on their own.⁷

Reserve and National Guard

Reserve and Guard members from every branch have unlimited commissary access within the United States, Guam, and Puerto Rico, along with their authorized dependents.³ Activation status doesn’t matter. You don’t need to be on active orders to shop. The access came in through the fiscal year 2004 National Defense Authorization Act and has stayed in place since.

DoD Civilian Employees

DoD civilian employees stationed overseas under a service agreement are generally eligible to shop, with specifics set by the bilateral agreement governing each country, often a Status of Forces Agreement. Those agreements can limit which products are available or how much you can buy.⁸

Inside the continental United States, DoD civilians historically have not had commissary access. In late 2024, the DoD launched a pilot allowing civilian employees with DoD identification to shop at 16 selected commissaries, and the pilot was extended through the end of 2025.⁹ During the pilot, family members of civilian employees are not eligible, and tobacco and alcohol purchases are excluded. Whether the program becomes permanent or moves to additional stores will depend on the DoD’s assessment. Check the Defense Commissary Agency website for the current status.

Identification You Need to Get In and Check Out

Being eligible and being able to enter are two different things. What you need at the gate and at the register depends on your category.

Active Duty, Retirees, and Dependents

Active duty members use their Common Access Card. Retirees and dependents use the tan Uniformed Services ID Card. These credentials handle both base access and checkout.

Newly Eligible Veterans and Caregivers

If you gained access through the 2020 expansion, your main credential is a Veteran Health Identification Card from the VA. The card must show one of these notations under your photo: “SERVICE CONNECTED,” “PURPLE HEART,” or “FORMER POW.” Without the correct notation, the card won’t get you in.⁷

Some veterans with a 0% rating and high income don’t qualify for VA healthcare enrollment and can’t get a VHIC. In that case, the DoD temporarily accepts VA Health Eligibility Center Form H623A showing placement in Priority Group 8E, paired with a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or a U.S. passport. Caregivers without a VHIC can present a VA-issued caregiver patronage letter with an acceptable photo ID.⁷

REAL ID at the Gate

Since May 7, 2025, all federal installations require visitors to present a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license or state ID. If you don’t hold a DoD identification card and your state ID isn’t REAL ID-compliant, you’ll be turned away. A U.S. passport works as an alternative. Anyone carrying a CAC or Uniformed Services ID is unaffected.¹⁰

Fees to Expect at Checkout

Two charges sit on top of the shelf price, and they surprise some newly eligible shoppers.

Every purchase carries a 5% surcharge applied before coupons are deducted. Congress mandates it, and the money is restricted to building, maintaining, and equipping commissary facilities.¹¹ Everyone pays it.

Veterans who gained access through the 2020 expansion (0–90% disability ratings, Purple Heart recipients, former POWs, and primary family caregivers) pay an added transaction fee when using a card. The rates set in 2020 were 1.9% for credit card purchases and 0.5% for PIN debit, and they are reviewed annually.¹² Paying cash avoids the fee. Retirees, veterans rated 100%, and Medal of Honor recipients do not pay it.

1
The Official Army Benefits Website. Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)
2
Defense Manpower Data Center. Adult Child Benefits
3
Veterans Affairs. Commissary and Exchange Privileges for Veterans
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1062 – Certain Former Spouses and Surviving Spouses
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1065 – Use of Commissary Stores and MWR Facilities
6
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Commissary, Military Service Exchange, and MWR Access Extended to More Veterans
7
Military OneSource. Defense Department Expands Access to Military Commissaries, Exchanges and MWR Retail Facilities
8
Military OneSource. Commissaries and Exchanges
9
Air Education and Training Command. DOD to Pilot Expansion of Commissary Benefit to Military Civilian Employees
10
Air Combat Command. REAL ID Compliance for Federal Installations
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 2685 – Adjustment of or Surcharge on Selling Prices in Commissary Stores
12
Federal Register. Commissary Credit and Debit Card User Fee