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Stewart Takes on Duties of USD (P&R)

• WASHINGTON since Feb. 12. She has been dual-hatted as interim director and
etired Air Force Maj. Gen. James N. Stewart, confirmed by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Defense Commissary Agency
RSenate as assistant secretary of Defense, Manpower and Reserve (DeCA) since July.
Affairs (ASD, M&RA) early in October and sworn in later in the month, A command pilot with more than 4,700 flying hours, in his 37-
has been performing the duties of the Under Secretary of Defense for year Air Force career, both on active duty and in the Reserve, Stewart
Personnel and Readiness (USD, P&R) almost since being sworn in. has commanded at both the group and wing levels.
With his appointment confirmed, Stewart gains oversight over In his final military assignment, Stewart was the military ex-
military resale, both commissaries and exchanges. ecutive officer, Reserve Forces Policy Board, Office of the Secretary
In the undersecretary role, he followed Stephanie Barna, who had of Defense (OSD). Just prior to that, he was the director of Plans
been performing USD (P&R) duties since Robert Wilkie vacated the and Programs, Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, Robins
position to become Secretary of Veterans Affairs at the end of July. Stewart AFB, Ga. He has also served as the Air Force Reserve Command’s
Barna has left the Pentagon for new responsibilities on Capitol Hill, Inspector General.
as general counsel for the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). Stewart, a distinguished graduate of the Auburn University ROTC program,
In the assistant secretary spot, Stewart technically succeeded Todd A. Wei- holds a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology/criminology from Auburn.
ler, who departed at the end of the second Obama administration. President He has two Master of Science degrees, in general administration from Central
Trump nominated Stewart to be ASD (M&RA) in January 2018. Michigan University and in national security strategy from the National War
Virginia “Vee” Penrod has been performing the duties of ASD (M&RA) College.

Pentagon Seeks to Abolish 2019 Law Increases End-Strengths, Reduces DeCA Funding
Exchange Stock Limitations • WASHINGTON

assed by Congress in a show of overwhelmingly bipartisan support, with votes of 93-7 in the Sen-
By Larry Lapka Pate and 361-61 in the House, the 2019 Defense Appropriations Bill fully funds the military for the
ASSOCIATE EDITOR entire fiscal year, which commenced on Oct. 1, 2018.
• WASHINGTON Signed into law by the President on Sept. 28, just three days before the beginning of the fiscal year, it
he Department of Defense (DoD) is seeking became the first Defense appropriations bill to be enacted prior to the start of the fiscal year in a decade.
Tcongressional relief from long-standing restric- The $854 billion measure covers the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Edu-
tions in the Armed Services Exchange Regulations cation as well, but by far the greatest portion of the money — $674 billion — is for Defense funding.
(ASER) that limit military exchange stock assort- The Defense appropriation includes a 2.6-percent pay raise for troops starting in January and a boost
ments. The merchandise restrictions prohibit the in military end-strength of 16,400 spread across active duty (15,600) and reserve forces (800). The total
sale of certain sizes or types of jewelry, furniture, FY19 armed forces end-strength goal is 2,155,800, made up of 1,338,100 active duty and 817,700 reserves.
small appliances, sporting goods and other items The appropriation provides $1.266 billion in working capital fund support for the Defense Com-
in exchange outlets, including ecommerce and missary Agency (DeCA) — down from $1.389 billion appropriated in fiscal 2018.
special orders, and exchange concessions.
Unlike commissaries, for which law specifies
categories of merchandise that may be sold, ex- DeCA Fiscal 2018 Sales VCS Launches
change stock categories are determined by DoD,
subject to direction provided by the House Armed Drop to $4.7 Billion Online Shopping Platform
Services Committee (HASC) and Senate Armed
Services Committee (SASC). • FORT LEE • ST. LOUIS
E and C News has learned from a Defense uring another year of transforma- t the end of the Veterans Day weekend, on Nov. 13, the
Department spokesman and other sources that Dtion at the Defense Commissary AVeterans Canteen Service (VCS) launched its all-new
ASER, published in DoD Instruction 1330.21, is Agency (DeCA), patron activity in fiscal online shopping experience, ShopVCS.com, created exclu-
in the process of being updated, and merchandise 2018 at the 237 commissaries operat- sively for Veterans enrolled in VA Healthcare, their families
restrictions are in the process of being evaluated ing around the world continued to slow and VA employees.
and updated. somewhat, with slightly more than 80
According to DoD spokesman Lt. Col. Carla million transactions generating not quite
Gleason on Nov. 26, DoDI 1330.21 “is in the early $4.7 billion in sales. VCS IMAGE
stage of being updated, and will take approximately Final figures for fiscal 2018, which
a year to complete.” Changes to exchange regula- ended Sept. 30, 2018, showed total sales
tions could be expected based upon the current of $4,699,518,414 in DeCA’s worldwide
move to consolidate all DoD exchange operations network of commissaries and other retail
into one enterprise. operations including NEXMarts, central
She also noted that DoD “is evaluating the distribution centers (CDC) and Coast
current merchandise restrictions to identify those Guard Exchange (CGX) MarketPlace As an expansion of VCS retail PatriotStores,
that may be outdated.” Gleason said, “If changes sections. ShopVCS.com offers a catalog of over 100,000 products,
to the merchandise restrictions occur before the including hundreds of top name brands, according to VCS
DoDI 1330.21 is published, separate guidance will DOWN 4.4 PERCENT officials, who add that it provides users with the ability to
be disseminated sooner to the exchanges.” For FY18, the total sales mark fell more easily and securely shop from any device.
Earlier, Assistant Secretary of Defense, Man- than 4.4 percent below the previous fiscal ShopVCS.com features sportswear, jewelry, home décor,
power and Reserve Affairs (ASD, M&RA) James year’s $4,917,784,648 tally, representing appliances, electronics, military items, health and beauty
N. Stewart, currently performing the duties of the the sixth straight year of sales declines care, made-in-the-USA brands, Veteran-owned brands, and
under secretary of Defense, Personnel and Readi- since fiscal 2012, when sales reached the many more products.
ness (USD, P&R), had contacted HASC and SASC $6 billion mark from activity generated As an added benefit, ticketing and travel services for
on the matter. On Oct. 30, he sent letters to HASC by the agency’s roster of 247 commis- hotels, theme parks, movie tickets, concert tickets, and ad-
saries at that time.
—Continued on page 10, ASER —Continued on page 4, ShopVCS.com

EXCHANGE and COMMISSARY NEWS NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 | 3