US ARMY GARRISONS

DeCA - DEFENSE COMMISSARY AGENCY

The team of professionals at the Defense Commissary Agency works hard at offering an exciting shopping experience -- the place where customers love to shop and where employees love to work. The DeCA team is a dedicated group of people committed to providing the armed services community a valuable benefit to supplement military income as an integral part of members' overall military pay and benefits package. A quality assortment of groceries and household supplies is offered to authorized commissary shoppers at greater savings today than at any other time in DeCA's history. DeCA Europe, responsible for more than 50 commissaries in 10 countries, is headquartered at Kaiserslautern.

Commissary products are sold at cost, with only a five percent surcharge added for commissary maintenance and construction. In general, using the commissary over the local supermarket can save customers more than 30 percent on their grocery bill. That comes to $2,700 a year for a family of four.

Standard departments at the commissaries are groceries, dairy products, frozen food, meat, produce, health and beauty items, household and tobacco products. The fresh meats include vacuum-packed USDA Choice American beef and high-quality European pork and chicken.

In addition to these standard items, larger commissaries have bakeries and delis, which, among other things, offer rotisserie chicken and fresh made-to-order sandwiches.

All sorts of special orders are possible. In the meat department, special cuts or large quantities may be ordered by speaking to a meat counter employee. For your party you can get trays featuring deli meat, cheese, fruit or vegetables. Special occasion cakes can be ordered and fruit or gift baskets created for a spectacular gift.

All commissaries also sell gift certificates in their customer service offices. Certificates valued at $25 may be purchased in the store. For other denominations, customers may shop online at www.commissaries.com.

Though prices are low to start with, the commissary agency strives to improve even on these values. There are worldwide case lot sales twice a year featuring cases of products offered at higher than normal savings, sometimes as much as 54 percent off the normal price. Coupons are accepted by all European commissaries, including internet coupons, up to six months after their stateside expiration date.

Additionally, there are "Value" items under which a product is flagged with a red, white and blue star sign pointing the way to "Savings You've Earned." Watch for products marked at "Extra Savings for a Limited Time Only," "Better than Average Savings Every Day" or "The Lowest Price When Compared to Like Items."

In a further effort to improve service, DeCA's European Region has its own Consumer Advocate giving customers a specific contact for their questions, comments and concerns. She's Kay Blakley, who is stationed at Kaiserslautern and has a background in home economics and food and consumer service. Reach Kay at 0631-3523-108 or DSN 489-7304. Handicapped customers are permitted into the commissaries a half hour before opening time, and electric wheelchairs with baskets are available. One thing to remember when shopping: baggers are not commissary employees and they work for tips only.

A team of professional merchandisers at DeCA Europe headquarters works extremely hard to satisfy "most of the people, most of the time," but don't expect to see an abundance of U.S. regional specialties. DeCA just doesn't have the shelf space to stock such items and small companies don't have the ability to ship overseas. DeCA's stock assortment is based on the top selling nationwide name brand products, though. So if your tastes and shopping habits are fairly typical, you are likely to find most of your stateside favorites readily available at your European commissaries.

WHO GETS AN ID CARD?

It is possible for close family members, other than your spouse and minor children, to be declared dependents in Europe and eligible to shop at the PX or commissary.

But the rules are strict. They must be close family members (usually adult children, parents or siblings) and heavily dependent on you for support. This means that their monetary income from all sources is less than 50 percent of their monthly expenses, and that they live in your household.

You must contribute the remainder of what they need, either as a monetary contribution or such other valuable services as room and board.

In order to get them declared dependents you must submit a notarized statement that the above conditions exist. Documentation for this includes a statement as to whether the family member was claimed as an exemption on your last income tax return, or a statement explaining why he or she was not included.

There must also be a documented statement as to the family member's total income and your contribution to his or her support. See your personnel officer for procedures.