37 overseas commissaries to remain open during furloughs

FORT LEE, Va. (AFNS) -- Thirty-seven military commissaries in Europe and the Pacific will remain open with local national employees while U.S. civilian employees are affected by furloughs, the Defense Commissary Agency's top official said here today.

Most Defense Department civilian employees will be off work for up to 11 unpaid furlough days from July 8 to Sept. 30 as the Pentagon copes with deep spending cuts for the rest of the fiscal year. DeCA civilians will be furloughed on Mondays.

"DeCA is committed to doing everything possible to minimize the impact of any budget decisions on its patrons," said Joseph H. Jeu, DeCA's director and CEO. "We're doing just that at overseas commissaries, where we have sufficient local national employees to open during furloughs."

Because of international agreements, local national employees are exempt from furlough. Store staffs overseas include a mix of U.S. and local national employees, and 37 of DeCA's 66 overseas stores have enough local national staff to remain operational and will remain open during the furlough period, officials said.

The following commissaries will be open on furlough days:

-- Royal Air Force Base Menwith Hill, England;

-- U.S. Army Garrison Bamberg, U.S. Army Garrison Garmisch, Patch Barracks, Sembach Air Base, Spangdahlem Air Base, U.S. Army Garrison Vilseck and Vogelweh Air Base -- all in Germany;

-- Chièvres Air Base, Belgium;

-- Aviano Air Base, U.S. Army Garrison Livorno, Naval Support Activity Naples, Naval Air Station Sigonella and U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza -- all in Italy;

-- Lajes Field, the Azores, Portugal;

-- Naval Station Rota, Spain;

-- Ankara Air Base, Incirlik Air Base and Izmir Air Base -- all in Turkey;

-- Cairo, Egypt;

-- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

-- K-16 Air Base, U.S. Army Garrison Camp Stanley, U.S. Army Garrison Camp Carroll, Hannam Village Housing Area, Kunsan Air Base, U.S. Army Garrison Camp Humphreys, U.S. Army Garrison Daegu, Naval Base Chinhae and Osan Air Base -- all in South Korea;

-- Camp Foster Marine Corps Base, Okinawa; Camp Courtney Marine Corps Base, Okinawa; U.S. Army Garrison Camp Zama; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa; and Misawa Air Base; Sagamihara Housing Area and Yokota Air Base -- all in Japan.

Commissary customers can quickly find out about any changes to their local store's operating schedule by going to http://www.commissaries.com, clicking on the "Locations" tab, then "Alphabetical Listing," finding their store and clicking on "Local Store Information."

Because the budget situation is fluid, DeCA officials said, plans for the furlough period are subject to change.