Posted on Apr 2, 2015
Do Retirees Really “Deserve” Access to AAFES Stores More Than Non-Retirees?
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* Please vote in the survey here *
Note: I am a RallyPoint member (served in USAF for 5 years) and wish to remain anonymous, because I need to be 100% honest that I feel the DoD is discriminating against non-retirees like me. Please tell if I am right or wrong here.
While I was serving in the USAF (5 years active), I enjoyed shopping at AAFES locations and online as well. It saved me a lot of money and the deals always seemed good. Now that I am a civilian, and did not hit retirement before I got out, and am not rated 100%, I can’t shop at AAFES anymore. I think that’s flat out wrong. I put in my time as much as anyone.
I know there are going to be RallyPoint members who respond with, “You only did 6 years, and you knew AAFES rules full well.” Well, here is what I say to that.
I did a 7-month tour in Iraq at FOB Taji. Easily left the wire more than 10 times. I hurt my shoulder due to wearing my kit a lot (30% rated). I did as much as most retirees, including retired grunts. I deserve AAFES access as much as any retiree. I respect that retirees served a little bit longer, but I did 7 months in Iraq.
Am I justified in thinking I should get full AAFES access?
Please vote in the survey below. Thank you.
Note: I am a RallyPoint member (served in USAF for 5 years) and wish to remain anonymous, because I need to be 100% honest that I feel the DoD is discriminating against non-retirees like me. Please tell if I am right or wrong here.
While I was serving in the USAF (5 years active), I enjoyed shopping at AAFES locations and online as well. It saved me a lot of money and the deals always seemed good. Now that I am a civilian, and did not hit retirement before I got out, and am not rated 100%, I can’t shop at AAFES anymore. I think that’s flat out wrong. I put in my time as much as anyone.
I know there are going to be RallyPoint members who respond with, “You only did 6 years, and you knew AAFES rules full well.” Well, here is what I say to that.
I did a 7-month tour in Iraq at FOB Taji. Easily left the wire more than 10 times. I hurt my shoulder due to wearing my kit a lot (30% rated). I did as much as most retirees, including retired grunts. I deserve AAFES access as much as any retiree. I respect that retirees served a little bit longer, but I did 7 months in Iraq.
Am I justified in thinking I should get full AAFES access?
Please vote in the survey below. Thank you.
Posted in these groups: 
Benefits
Benefits
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 625
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Signoff on honorably discharged veterans shopping at shopmyexchange.com is imminent. The ability for veterans to shop online is scheduled for May 2017 to test and tweak, with the full rollout announcement scheduled for Veteran's Day 2017. As more veterans shop, Exchange buying teams will have more leverage to buy goods at lower prices for online and stores. Everyone authorized to use the Exchange will benefit. Those using MWR programs will also benefit.
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Saved alot of money at AAFES????????????? are you kidding, I am retired and like when I was active duty, stateside there were many more retail options (but meats at the commissary have always been a great deal)
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There are some great and very spirited comments here. One other piece of the puzzle is that getting injured, but not get a medical discharge for any one of a number of nefarious reasons, means you did not get a chance to continue your career. The VA then gets to toy with your disability rating, which is way beyond your control, and you are left with potentially a very small stipend and diminished ability to work. The PX itself is not necessarily a game changer financially - when I was in I generally shopped off post. But the commissary can make a difference in how someone survives on a meager stipend.
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You never never never never never ect never did as much as a retired grunt I can't post any more this is a joke post right
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Retirees service member should have access just like non retire too because they serve before, they still brother in arms.
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Suck it up, Buttercup. Retirement benefits, anywhere, are not about what you did. They're about incentive. The military wants people to stay in. It's a tough life, so people have to be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Part of that is retirement pay, part medical benefits, part other benefits like hops, commissary, etc.. Furthermore, once on the retired list and receiving those "benefits", you can still be recalled involuntarily under different circumstances and redeployed. In fact, military retirement isn't really retirement: it's a freaking RETAINER!!! You seem to be confusing DoD with the VA. The VA was formed, originally, to keep events like the 1933 Veterans' March on Washington from happening again. In other words, civilians fear us, because we have guns and know how to deploy them, so the mollify us with medical care and drugs. Even that's an incentive of sorts, because who would willfully join the military if they wouldn't even treat what they broke?
Thanks for your service, but quit whining. Take what you are entitled to and have a nice day. A lot of us don't even do that, because we know where the money is coming from (taxpayers). Just be glad you're not dead or injured worse.
Thanks for your service, but quit whining. Take what you are entitled to and have a nice day. A lot of us don't even do that, because we know where the money is coming from (taxpayers). Just be glad you're not dead or injured worse.
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SSgt Troy Allen
ID cards aren't the problem. The DEERS system keeps the status of just about every servicemember -- active, retired, veteran, etc. Instead of permission to shop at PX/BX, access can be granted to honorably discharged veterans to purchase merchandise on shopmyexchange.com.
If 2 million of the 5 million honorably discharged veterans shopped on the website, the leverage of AAFES buying teams would increase tremendously.
If 2 million of the 5 million honorably discharged veterans shopped on the website, the leverage of AAFES buying teams would increase tremendously.
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Retirees served their time to be allowed to keep some things. Someone who did just 5 years didn't stay for a reason and gave away that right for one reason or another. I don't judge but I don't approve of changing the rules for them at this time
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I am in my 27th year. I participated in the Iraq both times, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, I have deployed 14 times. Most of mine were only for 6 months and I still am way behind in total time of a lot of guys out there that had to spend multiple deployments. I have plates in my neck, shoulder, feet and have to get my knee replaced. so no you didn't do almost as much.
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