HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: Commissaries honor Navy’s 246 years of service
NOTE: To see a video related to the Navy's birthday, click here: https://vimeo.com/618987793/e13f59a84d.
FORT LEE, Va. – On Oct. 13, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) salutes the U.S. Navy on the 246th anniversary of their establishment by the Continental Congress in 1775.
Throughout its history, the commissary benefit has gained the admiration and gratitude of sailors and their families, said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director.
“At DeCA we salute the Navy’s 246 years of service by delivering a commissary benefit that provides valuable savings to sailors, retirees and family members,” Saucedo said. “The commissary consistently ranks as one of the military’s top non-pay benefits, and many of our young service families simply could not make ends meet each month without the savings provided by the commissaries.”
Before the Navy established its commissary operations, sailors had to find ways to procure food while they were at sea.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, sailors received a weekly ration that included 3 pounds of pork or beef, a pound of flour, some cheese, hardtack biscuits, and a half pint of distilled spirits or a quart of beer each day. The meat was kept in brine inside barrels to preserve it and was boiled before it could be consumed. Some captains allowed their crew to cast fishing nets and the fish was distributed among the sailors.
The food sailors had onboard was often nutritionally deficient and could become spoiled over a few weeks. Hardtack biscuits often became infested with maggots and weevils shortly after the ship set sail.
There was also the dilemma of sailors falling ill with scurvy, caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. As a result, sailors were required to drink a daily grog that contained spirits and a citrus beverage such as orange, lime or lemon juice. The British Navy started this tradition – leading to the use of the term “Limeys” for the British which endures to this day.
Sailors eagerly anticipated traveling to foreign ports where they could buy fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. Bumboat operators would pull alongside visiting ships to sell an array of goods including seafood, shellfish, exotic fruits and baked goods. They also charged exorbitant prices, and at times their goods were not of the best quality. But, when the Navy reduced rations in 1801, bumboats became even more important to the sailors.
In the early 20th century, by the time of the worldwide voyage of the “Great White Fleet,” the Navy began to realize that bumboats were not sufficient to serve the needs of large ships. Congress had already started taking steps to eliminate bumboats by establishing ships stores aboard every vessel and ships stores ashore, similar to Army commissaries that had been established in 1867.
The first Navy sales commissary store opened in the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard in 1910 and operated similar to a warehouse. Clerks stood at a counter and pulled items from the shelves for customers. The self-service style stores started gaining popularity by the late 1920s and became more widespread by World War II.
In 1946, Navy commissaries fell under the authority of the Navy Ships’ Store Office, later under the Navy Resale System Office in 1969 and finally the Navy Resale and Services Support Office (NAVRESSO) in 1979.
On Oct. 1, 1991, the Defense Commissary Agency was launched and assumed control of all U.S. military commissaries around the world.
Today, members of the Navy community may shop at any of DeCA’s 236 commissaries worldwide. There are 60 such stores at Navy bases, plus one at the Joint Reserve Base at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas.
The commissary benefit remains one of the key reasons for enlisting and reenlisting in the armed forces, chiefly because of the potential to save thousands of dollars annually compared to shopping in civilian grocery stores.
-DeCA-
PHOTO CAPTION: Petty Officer 3rd Class Bridgit Gallagher, a produce manager at the Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Commissary, stocks produce in 1987. (File photograph)
About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.