National Guard Birthday – 2021 from Defense Commissary Agency on Vimeo.
DECEMBER 11, 2021 – On Dec. 13, 1636, the Massachusetts Colony created an organized militia that would eventually become today’s National Guard.
The Army Guard and Air Guard are those multi-faceted forces that serve during natural and manmade disasters, while also being capable of fighting alongside active duty and reserve forces.
“We want our customers in the Guard to know we celebrate them every day by delivering the commissary benefit they’ve earned,” said Marine Corps Sgt.Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director. “From providing aid during disasters, to fighting alongside their brothers and sisters in the active duty and reserve forces, the members of the Army National Guard and the Air Guard have proven to be a valued asset to the safety and security of the United States of America.”
The Guard’s legacy goes back centuries.
On Dec. 13, 1636, the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s General Court ordered their militia to be organized into three permanent regiments and since that date, Guardsmen have participated in every American conflict to include Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. Today’s Army Reserve can trace itself back to the French & Indian War fought from 1754 to 1763.
Today’s 181st Infantry, 182nd Infantry, 101st Field Artillery, and 101st Engineer Battalions of the Massachusetts Army National Guard are descendants of those three original regiments and the oldest units in the U.S. military.
From the start of the modern-day commissary benefit in 1867, Guard and Reserve troops enjoyed very limited commissary access, although they had unlimited shopping privileges when they were on active duty, which equated to two weeks each year.
In November 1986, Guardsmen were authorized to receive a dozen shopping trips in the commissary each year in addition to their annual two weeks on active duty.
Congress and the Department of Defense decided, in October 1990, to consolidate the individual service commissary systems under one agency – the Defense Commissary Agency.
Seven years later, the National Defense Authorization Act of October 1998 increased the commissary privilege entitlement from 12 to 24 visits per year for selected Guard, Reserves, & Reserve Retirees under 60 years of age. Largely because of the increasingly important role they were assigned in combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, members of the Guard and Reserve were authorized full-time shopping privileges by the Defense Authorization Act of FY 2004, effective Oct. 1, 2003.
In 2008, DeCA received funding for an official Guard and Reserve on-site sale program that brought truckload and case lot events to geographically remote Guard and Reserve service members and their families. The on-site sales events take place in warehouses, aircraft hangars, armories, tents in parking lots and even the back ends of semitrailers on Guard and Reserve bases across the U.S.
Today, members of the National Guard and their reserve components and active duty counterparts may shop at any of the nearly 240 commissaries around the world.
About DeCA:
The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.
By Tamara Eastman, DeCA historian
Defense Commissary Agency