Pentagon, in Efficiency Quest, to Merge Commissary Systems

The separate Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps commissary systems and supply depot operations will be merged to streamline operations and provide better service, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The four systems, a Pentagon statement said, “constitute one of the largest grocery store operations in the United States. Consolidating them into a single organization will achieve the kinds of efficiencies and economies available to a commercial grocery store chain.”

There are 413 commissaries in the four branches of the military services, Pentagon officials said.

A recent Defense Department study indicated that consolidation would save about $90 million a year and improve service to members of the armed services and their families, the statement said.

The department also intends to consolidate the supply depot operations of the military services and the Defense Logistics Agency. The first consolidation will take place among the five depots in the San Francisco Bay area, the statement said.

The department’s 35 supply depots in the United States operate 3,400 warehouses, storing supplies valued at $95 billion, plus $23 billion worth of ammunition, the statement said.