Marine base to expand shopping privileges, access

MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE-Albany – The Department of Defense is expanding in-store commissary and military exchange shopping privileges as well as access to morale, welfare and recreation facilities located on U.S. military installations starting Jan. 1.

Patronage at the commissary and MCX at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany will expand to include all veterans with service-connected disabilities, veterans who are Purple Heart recipients, veterans who are former prisoners of war and primary family caregivers for veterans who are enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers.

“You have to look at it from the perspective of the veteran,” Col. Alphonso Trimble, the commanding officer of MCLB-Albany, said. “We look at it as an opportunity for our country to take care of our veterans by continuing to support those service members and families who have sacrificed much for a greater cause. Taking care of our veterans today helps to demonstrate to those willing to serve in the future that the nation will always value their service.

“We are glad to have them; it is a great opportunity for us all, and we welcome them with open arms.”

Taking care of those who have given to the country is the primary reason for the expansion, Marine officials said.

“This summarizes our motto when we say always faithful,” Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Young, sergeant major of MCLB Albany, said. “This takes care of people, dependents and caregivers while broadening our base.

“This is beneficial not just from an economic point of view, but it also increases morale. It definitely strengthens the relationship and reinforces esprit de corps for those who didn’t have access (to the facilities) before.”

Base officials said one of the benefits of the change is increased business.

“It provides the potential for increased business,” Craig Pruett, director of Business Operations, Marine Corps Community Services at MCLB-Albany, said. “We know there is a tremendous veteran population in the Albany area, and we know that will transition into increased business. We anticipate seeing increased traffic.”

Department of Defense officials said this expansion will extend eligibility to approximately 3.8 million new shoppers. This new privilege was specified in the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 and is included in the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 that came into law Aug. 13, 2018.

Increased traffic at MCX likely means more money coming into MCCS, which ultimately leads to a boost in quality of life activities for active-duty Marines.

Sandra Vaughn, the commissary officer at MCLB Albany, said she expects a drastic boost in sales. Vaughn has already gotten phone calls from people, specifically veterans, asking about the change.

“We’re glad to recognize the military service of these veterans, and are proud to provide the commissary benefit to this deserving group,” Vaughn said.

The changeover is occurring as the commissary undergoes a renovation in January, which will be completed in phases. At the same time, the MCX, located next to the commissary, is also being refreshed.

Marine Corps Installations Command, via a memorandum of understanding issued Aug. 23 from the Under Secretary of Defense, tasked regions and installations to incorporate unescorted access control procedures per the John S. McCain Act. The MCLB-Albany Public Safety Division has been actively engaged in recent weeks to ensure proper authorization of new patrons as this change takes place.

A policy document issued Nov. 13 by the Pentagon states that, while veterans who hold a Veteran Health Identification Card from the Department of Veterans Affairs and caregivers registered with the VA’s Comprehensive Program for Caregivers will be able to access the system on Jan. 1 as planned, all other new users will have to wait for a “Phase 2.”

Paul Ellis, director of Public Safety Division at MCLB-Albany, said those who are part of the first phase will be allowed in while updated orders are pending on how to onboard the remaining individuals. Most of those coming in on “Phase 1” have been vetted since 2014, when the VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic became co-located in the Naval Branch Health Clinic at the base.

Caregivers or family caregivers, per the law, are permitted to use the commissary and/or MWR facilities on the same basis as a member of the armed forces entitled to retired and/or retainer pay. Surviving spouses and other family members as listed in the law serve as an amendment to Section 1126 of Title 10 U.S. Code to provide lifetime installation access to Gold Star spouses and their dependents for the purposes of memorial services, visiting gravesites and accessing survivor services they are already entitled to.

Also, at the discretion of the secretary of defense, similar access can be provided to surviving family members for the use of commissary, exchange and other recreational facilities for all remarried surviving military spouses for as long as they have surviving dependent children.

The John S. McCain Act requires the secretary of defense to establish procedures by which eligible surviving spouses may obtain unescorted access to installations to receive benefits they are entitled to. Eligible spouses may obtain unescorted access, as appropriate, to military installations to receive benefits to which the eligible surviving spouse may be entitled by law or policy.

Next of kin of a covered service member may obtain access to military installations for such purposes and under such conditions as the secretaries jointly consider appropriate.

The VHIC is an identification card given to veterans enrolled in VA health care. It is different from the veteran ID card issued by the VA to all veterans who apply. Caregivers will be presented a letter by the VA to certify that they qualify for access, the policy states.

In addition to that letter, they will need to present a valid form of ID to gain access. And because military installations are federal facilities, IDs must be REAL-ID compliant, it adds.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

♦ REAL ID-compliant driver’s license issued by a state territory, possession or the District of Columbia;

♦ REAL ID-compliant non-driver’s license issued by a state, territory, possession or the District of Columbia;

♦ Enhanced driver’s license issued by a state, territory, possession or the District of Columbia;

♦ U.S. passport or passport card;

♦ Foreign passport bearing an unexpired immigrant or non-immigrant visa or entry stamp;

♦ Federal personal identity verification card (when otherwise eligible);

♦ VHIC;

♦ Transportation Worker Identification Card.

In Georgia, a state-issued ID does qualify as a REAL-ID. Going to MCLB-Albany’s Visitor Control Center with the VHIC and state-issued ID can get an individual enrolled in DBIDS. Without a background check, the individual forfeits shopping privileges.

Veterans who are rated as 100-percent service-connected disabled or who are Medal of Honor recipients can continue to access bases as before, using a DOD ID card issued through the ID card office, the policy states. Any individual who has been issued access credentials based upon previous guidance and have no recent pending charges or convictions will not be penalized.

“As with all other individuals seeking access to DOD installations, all eligible veterans and caregivers must pass a basic on-the-spot background check prior to enrolling and an automated check each time they enter the installation,” the policy reads. “Veterans and caregivers with felony convictions, felony arrest warrants or other types of derogatory information related to criminal history or terrorism will not be permitted entry.”

Those who will be permitted on base to shop as part of Phase 2 can continue to use the online exchange system, which for the U.S. Marine Corps is accessible by visiting http://www.mymcx.com. In 2018, DOD officials estimated that about 80 percent of newly-eligible shoppers will need a new identification card to be able to shop on base.

File Photo