Did the same thing but I was 25. Now that Im in my forties I couldnt possibly have done the training that was asked of me. I was in Basic with a guy that was 40ish, he only kept up cause he was in phenomenal shape. Just know Ill miss you MisterNeon, good luck.

They dont sell goods at cost 99% of the time. DECA uses a cost+ model and loss leaders to compete with external price pressures ( e.g. Milk). There is some good discussion on the cross posted link about the commissary, px and military living

Dawg, I dont know man…. To each according to their needs is kinda hard to subscribe to before the definition of a post-scarcity society, considering we all have the same needs generally speaking. To use Stalinist USSR as an example work was assigned according to ability, and in some cases who you were or who you knew. Someone had to work the party lines and admin to assign this stuff based on “something”

Alright Airman, I, no We in your command staff have heard you! We want to do better…./s

Hawaii barracks has been complained about by everyone since…forever I think. The contaminated drinking water on bases is endemic. Moldy old barracks aside the family living conditions were always bad and only get worse with age and wear. I didnt mean to imply that anything was good about it, and the complaints definitely outweigh the compliments on military living with or without family accommodations. There is a lot of room for improvement, whats killer is that all the wrong people are acutely aware of the glaring issues.

It certainly can be cheaper than other groceries. The beef is cheaper but its also a lower grade beef than what is sold in most grocers. Usda choice instead of prime, lowers costs but tbf technically isnt a direct competition with Safeway etc. There are some items you can certainly get cheaper but others are more, toiletries and such are usually close if not more at the commissaries

No disagreement implied! I was attempting to ignore the smaller rules to avoid confusion, but I knew someone would point it out. Much love, brother!

If you could have joined, you could shop there if you retired. John Q Taxpayer can only shop there if you have done the time.

Honestly I would compare it to group project eugenics because of the strict processing and selection of who can join. Cant be disabled, have to have all your arms and legs, picky even about eyesight. They might be picking the poor but theyre also grabbing the healthiest of the poor.

I knew someone would point out “hazard pay”. It is not really common, but if youre gonna split hairs; what about BAQ/BAH? The pay differential isnt any more significant than shift differentials. There is a difference between flight crew and ground crew in aviation and they get different hours and pay, but the base rate is absolutely the same by rank.

Its not just the commissary. The entire way the military works is functional communism. Housing is assigned by rank, is available to anyone currently in contract, as well as healthcare and obviously, work. Pay is rated by rank and not by position, a Physician assistant gets the same rank pay as a Lt working command staff in any other unit. There is no capitalism in the DoD at all not even under their procurement systems.