What's the consensus on dependents using rank based reserved parking at exchanges/commissaries?

Spouses absolutely should not be using those parking spots. I believe each base/post should have a policy that forbids it.

Honestly think there's way too much more important things to worry about than where people park. Think if everyone else felt the same way this problem will solve itself.

I understand that senior Officer's and NCO's work hard for their soldiers. I agree they should have special privileges. But to have reserved parking at the commissaries/exchanges is a little to much. I understand reserved parking at the Officer/NCO club and their unit. But the commissaries/exchanges are places to conduct private commercial business. There should only be reserved parking for those who need because some physical condition.

As the dependent son of someone entitled to park in such a spot, it never crossed my mind to park there because I knew i was not my Dad. I cannot imagine him coming home, after getting a call that one of his dependents had parked in one of those spots, and asking which one of us had done it. It would not have been a good father/son moment. As an O-1 through O-3, I never cared about whether a dependent was parking in such a spot. If the wife of an O-6 has the balls to park in a spot reserved for O-6 and above, good for her, but that is a matter of concern only between her and the other O-6s and above on base. As for handicapped and expectant mother spots, abusers should be publicly shamed.

I'd no sooner use a space for my spouse's rank than I'd expect my spouse to use my handicapped tag in a handicapped space (unless we were together or he was picking me up/dropping me off, of course)

The problem with this question is that depending on the service 15-20% of servicemen are women. And the assumption is that the dependent is female.

For the most part I do not see many spouses that abuse this, but we all know there are a few that wear the rank of their spouse. I do however agree that around a company/Battalion/brigade area that certain spots ie; commander/1SG should be respected and be left alone, but again we all know that the only enforceable reserved spots on a military installation is the flag officer or handicap parking spots.

The purpose of these reserved parking is as a curtesy please don't park here not a you can't park here.

My wife held rank. She was an Amn (E-2) when she separated after giving birth to our son. She is still a little uneasy just about having her car registered with disabled vet tags (I am 80%). She never understood wives claiming their husbands rank and/or constantly crying when their spouses were deployed. She held down the fort while I was deployed over 50% of my last 12 years. I will say she was the perfect military spouse and she is the greatest blessing that I have received from God.

Great question, Major. I can only answer based on my experience in Germany in the 60's. We (the actual officers) were out in the field so much that my belief was that the wives (not driving age kids) could use their husbands' spot at the PX. Likewise, there were reserved spots at the Officer's Club for the Brigade and Battalion and Commanders and perhaps their XO's, (wives sometimes drove their husbands) but I don't recall any for the Company grade guys. Heck, it was a big lot, and next to it was the BOQ with even more parking. You sure didn't want to park too far away in a downpour or bitter Winter though ! The German woman I married was a civilian employee of the Army, so she had her own set of parking rules, and her own car with German plates and passes. She never drove my car, therefore, to my knowledge, never attempted to park in a spot reserved for company grade officers at the PX. It sounds like there's a whole lot of other "stuff" going on here, based on the original question and the other responses....