You work in an Exchange and thanks to recent changes in patronage rules, you have had DoD civilian employees shopping in your store since late 2021. But what happens when those employees retire from active federal service? Are they still allowed to shop in store? The answer might surprise you.
In April 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the expansion of Exchange shopping privileges for DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees and retired DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees. Both appropriated fund (i.e. Army or Air Force) and nonappropriated fund (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) civilian employees and retirees are included. In connection with the announcement, DoD issued Directive-Type Memorandum (DTM) 21-003, which spells out the specific rules applicable for these two groups.
DTM 21-003 grants both in-store and online Exchange shopping privileges to DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees who are assigned in the United States or in U.S. territories or possessions. However, it only grants online exchange shopping privileges for retired DoD and Coast Guard employees. In other words, after a DoD and Coast Guard civilian employee retires, their shopping privileges are reduced to online only.
Note that in-store privileges for active DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees outside of the U.S. and its territories and possessions are subject to applicable host-nation agreements such as Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA) and may thus either be restricted or disallowed entirely depending upon those agreements and what privileges the command can and does grant.
Are there purchase restrictions for either group? Yes. As explained in Attachment 2 to the DTM, these privileges exclude tobacco products, alcoholic beverage products and military uniform items. In addition, dependents of both active and retired DoD and Coast Guard civilian employees were not directly granted any shopping privileges, although active employees and retirees are specifically authorized to make purchases on behalf of their dependents. Also, Exchange associates and retirees have their own specific rules, which have not substantially been changed because of the DTM.
It should also be noted that the DoD civilian retiree ID card was phased out as of Aug. 31, 2023, and this has caused some concern among affected retirees. As explained above, because retired DoD civilian employees do not have in-store privileges, the termination of this ID card has no effect on a retiree’s ability to shop at exchanges online.
Questions about base access should be referred to the base Pass/ID or security office, but associates in the field should note that DoD expects retirees to primarily use REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses for future base access once the DoD civilian retiree ID cards have expired and been phased out.
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