Do Retirees Really “Deserve” Access to AAFES Stores More Than Non-Retirees?

I really don't like chiming in on posts like these however I will on this topic. I am a marine corps veteran with 7 years active duty. I was medically seperated after four surgeries. After seperation I began employment as well as schooling through the VA. Now my journey has brought me back to Camp Lejeune as a federal employee. Although I have served, medically seperated, and currently a federal civilian employee, I too do not have full base privileges to include the commissary and base exchange. I am not disgruntled about it, nor do I feel that I am entitled to them, don't get me wrong, it would be nice to bennefit from the savings, but I am not in anyway shape or form upset that I am no longer entitled to them. It's just the way it is, get over it!

First, Letm me say thank you for your service, and I say that sincerely! However, with that being said and as you said I would say...... the rules for use of AAFES and DeCa (Commissary) were in place a long time before you joined the USAF. There is a big difference in what you personnaly think, feel, believe and wish, vs what you're entitled based upon your length of service.

I wonder and question why after serving 5 years and choosing to leave the Air Force you should be considered as "specical" and allowed continued use of these services. I am not belittleing or taking away from your service or 10 times outside the wire in your 7 months in Iraq; however you chose to leave the service before you "fully earned" the privilege of continuing to use the BX, PX or Commissary. Do you feel you deserve it more than those who went from Iraq - stateside - Afghanistan - stateside - Iraq, etc, for 5-6 times and have now retired, either disabled or not. I surely hope not.

It's matter of policy, and policy that was in effect long before you served your 5 years. Apparently there was different and better calling for you other than serving until retirement. You reaped the benefit for 5 years, but decided that the benefit of those services was not sufficient for you remain on active duty.

Now for you to say that you did more than most reitirees is a statement of opinion..yours, not based on fact! And I will throw the bullsit flag just in case others will not. And just to set the record striaght, your 5 yrs sevice comes up to 1/4th of the time retirees served (if they retired at 20 yrs).

I sincerely appreciate and thank you for your time in service and you carrying out your duties for 5 years. Now if you wish to have the benefits that retirees and currently serving military have, see your recruiter and return to uniform and complete the requirement.

In you civilian job, if there is a requirement to serve 30 yrs in order to retire and you do 10 yrs and quit, would you be asking for any of the retirement benefits of those who did stay with the company until their retirement. I doubt it.

Access to the PX, BX, Commissary is a privilege. A privilege for those who stayed the course till retirement or remain currently serving. You chose not too!

Yes you sacrificed.....for 5 yrs.....however you chose not to stay the Course to be eligible. No, you're not entitled! Thank you for your service, and I say that sincerely! But NO, You're not entitled.

This thread is still one of the craziest things I have ever read.

because I worked at Popeyes back in 2006 I should still get my 10% employee discount whenever I go in there. Am I understanding this logic correctly?

Retirement has its perks... that simple.

I listened to a lady talk about SMs making comments under their breath about her shopping during busy lunch hours, making comments such as to why didn't shop some other time and she had all day to do it cause she's retired, etc. but I think that's the point. She's retired. She earned her "green light" to shop where she wants WHEN she feels like it....

On top of that... you said you shopped there because of the perks/discounts... pretty sure that's why everyone else does- it's made FOR the service member. your do not get those privileges any more.

As an IRR member I still have base access and commissary privileges for the next 4 years and I almost think that is overboard. I agree that if you put your time in and commit to the military as a career then you should be awarded a benefits package that greatly outweighs those that do not.

Ok, here goes...After serving for the better part of 14 years, having 15 months in Iraq, a year hardship tour in S. Korea (during the attack on the island in 2010), all time away from my family, as well as multiple TDY's and other training missions, all away from my family, and dealing with dead bodies, burn victims and amputees from IEDs, multiple trauma masscal events, and other injured soldiers, sailors and airmen, having torn my back up pulling casualties across humvee seats, carried injured airmen down 4 flights of stairs from the top of a guard tower (all his gear on, all my gear on, AND a riot shield in front of me), after having 2 major rebuilds on my right shoulder, 2 major rebuilds on my right hip, and a pending surgery on my other shoulder, all from injuries received in the line of duty, not to mention dextro convex scoliosis that has developed in my back just within the past 3 years, multiple bulging disks, an L5-S1 dislocation, and severe spinal arthritis, if I'm not given 100% disability, then the chips may fall where they fall. I will not be able to serve out my 20...my body just won't go there anymore. And if I don't get my special blue access card, so be it. I knew the risks, the rules, and the way things could go when I signed my name on the dotted line. Plain and simple. YOU, "anonymous" are sadly mistaken to think that you have gone to the point of "deserving" any such access. You are not "entitled" to anything other than my thanks to you for serving our Great Nation during a time of war. Beyond that, get over yourself and move out smartly.

I have already posted my initial response to this subject, but after coming back to it a few times and reading the responses of others and posting comments of my own to them, I have to say that this subject now has me officially infuriated on a few levels. One is that I look at the survey results and see that 25% of the participants voted "Yes, non-retirees deserve AAFES as much as retirees." I cannot see anything which indicates how many people participated, but after mulling this whole thing over I don't believe it deserves the time of day from anyone. There should be no question at all, the policy was established a long time ago, and anyone who has signed-up for military service, which has been strictly "volunteer" since the early-mid 1970s, should know and understand the policy. The fact that the originator has chosen to use an "anonymous" identification in order to stir up the feces pot screams TROLL. We come into this world and are entitled to NOTHING, with very few exceptions. Take a look around and you will see there are many people who have more and greater accomplishments than you have yourself, and this applies to all walks of life. It is up to each of us to establish our own story of success or failure, and nobody else. WE hold the pen which writes our story and it is our choices we make from the tools and opportunities we have available before us which will define our accomplishments and the level of success we have along the way. In order to achieve our success, we must also, by our own diligence, meet the objectives required to achieve the desired end results. YOU are not entitled to ANYTHING based on MY diligence. It is entirely up to YOU to have your own accomplishments, otherwise you will get exactly what you have coming to you, and if you did nothing, that is all you are entitled to receive. If you did not pay it forward enough, you cannot expect anything on the back-end...and fulfilling a pre-set obligation in order to receive the benefits or perks is just how life works, and if you try to change that you are only going to make those of us who have the achievements very angry with you. There is at least 25% of you who participated in this survey which I am extremely disappointed with and if I knew who you were, you'd never be welcome aboard my aircraft or in my foxhole. If the military hasn't taught you anything at all about merit, or actually earning something, then you have been a complete waste of time and taxpayer money, and really should be ashamed of yourself.

To be honest, you are not missing that much. Other than saving on taxes, the prices are not that much better. I recently ordered a couple of things from aafes.com and it took three weeks to get to me.

If you write again, I recommend not whining as much. Trying to compare yourself to grunts who did a year tour if not longer and went outside the wire almost every day just does not bring credit to what you did or what they did. Then you state that in your 5 or 6 years, you did as much as most retirees. With that statement, you lost a lot of credibility. Most retirees from the Army over the last 5 years probably served several tours overseas, all of which were probably longer than yours. If you are going to make an argument, I recommend that you stick to objective facts.

Retired Army... Sorry, brother, but 5 years aint the same as a career.

First, thanks for your service. Just like many folks here, I would have to agree that retirees have earned the "right" to shop at AAFES.

Secondly, AAFES is a money-making machine. They are overpriced and overrated. You can find any item at AAFES for a fraction of the cost, online...or as CMSgt (Join to see) stated: at Target or Walmart.