Exchange chief: Let 22 million vets shop exchanges online

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/06/07/3231885/exchange-chief-let-22-million.html?sp=/99/261/

Exchange chief: Let 22 million vets shop exchanges online
By TOM PHILPOTT
Contributing Writer
June 7, 2014

Defense officials are weighing a proposal from the director of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service to allow the nation’s 22 million honorably discharged veterans, and perhaps an equal number of their family members, to shop online for military exchange products and discounts.

Shoppers who use the AAFES website enjoy savings of up to 25 percent on many brand name products. They also avoid state and local sale taxes on their purchases just like on-base shoppers do.

By providing online discounts to millions of deserving veterans and families, said Thomas C. Shull, chief executive officer of AAFES, the exchange services would see overall profits soar while protecting the benefit in tough budget times and ensuring that quality-of-life programs for military families continue to be funded by exchange profits or “dividends.”

Shull pitched his idea in a May 8 memorandum to the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, with review and comment also sought from top manpower officials in the Army, Navy and Air Force. A spokeswoman for Acting Under Secretary Jessica L. Garfola Wright said the proposal “is undergoing staffing and no decisions have been made.”