In 2020, commissary shopping benefits expanded to include more Veterans, as the Purple Heart and Disabled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018 (part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019) authorized the Department of Defense to expand access to commissary shopping privileges to additional valued members of the military community.

Many Veterans, who have served our country with distinction and honor, but did not retire, are now allowed access to military commissaries. This has been in effect for over four years now but may have not been well publicized.