For anybody in the military????

Mkim340518 · Post by **Mkim340518** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:10 pm

I just wanted to know if a civilian(me) can go to a military base and go to the commisary, PX or BX and purchase MRE's???

Will I be shot on site? LOL

I have heard from several people that I can go myself and buy MRE's and it shouldn't be a problem and I have also heard that regular civilians are not allowed to be on base and are not allowed to purchase anything from the commisary or PX's.

Can anybody give me a DEFINITE answer before I this and get locked up for trespassing LOL

Thanks

Mike

olli · Post by **olli** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:25 pm

here at ramstein airbase and baumholder its no problem for civilans to go inside or even inside PX, but its not possible to shop there, they only sell to ppl with U.S. ID card...

Post by **MCIera** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 12:48 pm

If the base is open to the public, there should not be a problem with you going on the base. AAFES exchanges, however, are generally limited to service members and their dependents, and ID cards are generally checked at the register when you make a purchase. That even excludes civilian employees who are not retired military.

YouTube · Post by **housil** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:27 pm

olli wrote:here at ramstein airbase and baumholder its no problem for civilans to go inside or even inside PX, but its not possible to shop there, they only sell to ppl with U.S. ID card...

When have you been the last time on/at a US military installation in Germany?!
It is not just impossible (here) to enter US installation, it will be dangerous for life.
Without a permit, it is impossible to enter. Even in case of an emergency, the amblance has to wait at the gate untill the MP had arrived to "guard" them to the patient! The paramedics need to show their ID-cards, the ambulance get ransecked by the security. They are still afraid of assaults, increased the fence and barbed wire around the perimiter etc...

We Germans can´t buy at the PX for tax and customes reason.

olli · Post by **olli** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:18 pm

yea your right, its been some years ago that i was there, maybe ramstein is changed now after 9/11, but baumholder is more like some kind of small village for soliders, with lots of serial numbered houses, shops, baseball field, ect. its not barbed wired and its open for anyone...

when we were younger, we sometimes went there to PX or commisary and asked some american soliders to go in and buy tax free cigarettes for us... worked well...

TankerT · Post by **TankerT** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:22 pm

Well, you probably won't get on base. But... you probably can't buy MREs on base anyway. They are normally not found for sale on most of the bases I have been to.

But, if you live near a reasonably sized active duty base, your best bet from MREs is in one of the local surplus or pawn shops. Many soldiers will go and sell them there. You might want to try some of those places.

Baldy · Post by **Baldy** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:41 pm

Even if you can get on the base, bear this in mind: Whenever I worked with US forces, I was not permitted to shop at NEX/AAFES unless I could produce specific 'letter orders' stating, among other things, that I was formally deployed to that installation and had been granted exchange & commissary privileges. Military ID from an Allied nation wasn't enough. It's therefore highly unlikely a civilian could shop at an exchange or commissary.

Also, like others have said, I don't recall ever seeing MREs on sale at NEX or AAFES.

Post by **kman** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:32 pm

TankerT said it best - if you're near a base, you're probably better off looking for MREs at nearby surplus or pawn stores. Though I have heard of the military cracking down on these sales near bases, it's still worth checking out.

The few times I have read about people finding MREs in PXs, they were for sale at normal GSA prices - around $82 per case.

Post by **MCIera** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 12:07 am

Another alternative may be to look for eBay listings that are near military bases like the one that was described in viewtopic.php?t=1612. While I can't really be sure, I'll bet a dollar to a donut (okay, I know it costs more than a buck for a donut these days

) that the MREs in that listing were MIA from the Marine Corps base in 29Palms..

kman wrote:TankerT said it best - if you're near a base, you're probably better off looking for MREs at nearby surplus or pawn stores. Though I have heard of the military cracking down on these sales near bases, it's still worth checking out.

The few times I have read about people finding MREs in PXs, they were for sale at normal GSA prices - around $82 per case.

Treesuit · Post by **Treesuit** » Sun Apr 06, 2008 4:05 pm

Mkim340518,

Everyone here has made a valid point, I do know that sometimes the commissary (supermarket) at active US military bases sometimes sells the TOTM's (see main page for other US rations) but not MRE's. I was at an active Air Force base last year and found a big basket of TOTM's in a supermarket for sale. I didn't need for them then but I thought that was odd since it was back in the mid 90's you could still get dark brown MRE's in the supermarket for 1 or 2.00 dollars. Nowadays you can't even for National Guard/Reserve or active duty.

If you are in the market then any surplus store around active military bases do sell MRE's that soldiers sometimes sell for cash. Buying them off post is no problem but trying to buy them on post is impossible. Just try looking at Ebay or one of the MRE distributors that puts out stuff for the public.