DECA has issued a “request for information” to the commercial grocery marketplace to gauge interest in outsourcing 178 commissary stores across the contiguous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The request also included a list of commissaries operated by the Defense Commissary Agency in the U.S.

The notice on the Federal contracting site, SAM, said:

“On behalf of the Department of War (DoW), The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to obtain industry feedback on the potential privatization of its 178 commissary locations across the contiguous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The purpose of this RFI is to determine whether commercial grocery operators and investment firms are both interested in and capable of assuming commissary operations while preserving the critical military benefit of a 23.7% average savings for authorized patrons. DeCA is also seeking industry solutions addressing the existing unfunded facilities maintenance backlog for in-scope commissaries through a one-time industry infrastructure investment of $2.4 billion (approximately $500M per year for up to 5 years) and an annual maintenance cost of approximately $250 million.”

In releasing the RFI, the Agency said :  “The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) today announced the release of a Request for Information (RFI) to the commercial grocery industry.

“DeCA is issuing the RFI on behalf of the Department of War (DoW) in accordance with the Deputy Secretary of War memorandum of April 7, 2025. The RFI seeks industry input on the potential privatization of 178 commissary locations across the contiguous United States (CONUS), Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.”

“The purpose of this RFI is to determine whether commercial grocery operators and investment firms are both interested in and capable of assuming commissary operations, with no government subsidy or with a materially reduced subsidy, while preserving the critical military benefit of a 23.7% average savings for authorized patrons.”

Responses are due on October 21.

In recent months, the oversight committees of the Congress have addressed potential privatization with the House Armed Services Committee report accompanying the FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act addressing their concerns.  The report accompanying the Senate version of the NDAA called for a table-top analysis of privatization.