National Association of Enlisted Personnel Joins Effort to Preserve Critical Military Benefit

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national association working to ensure the health and welfare of enlisted military personnel, and veterans in particular, is joining a coalition to preserve one of the most valued benefits of military service. The Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits today announced that TREA: The Retired Enlisted Association will support the coalition as a Valued Associate.

“For 50 years, TREA has been a strong voice for retired military personnel and the protection of their well-deserved benefits”

TREA joins several other military advocacy organizations that have recently signed on to the Coalition’s efforts to raise awareness of the importance of commissaries and exchanges in the lives of military personnel. This military resale system saves military families billions of dollars on their day-to-day purchases. During the past year of budget debates, there have been calls in Congress to curtail these benefits.

“In a time when threats to the benefits of military personnel are swirling everywhere, TREA is proud to partner with Save Our Benefit in the fight to protect the military resale shopping benefits that have been promised to military personnel as part of their compensation for their years of service and sacrifice,” said Rick Delaney, TREA Legislative Committee Co-Chairman. “It is simply unacceptable that as our nation has been engaged in war for over a decade the promises made to military people are being put on the chopping block, and TREA proudly stands with our partners in the Save Our Benefit coalition to protect an important benefit that has been promised and earned.”

“For 50 years, TREA has been a strong voice for retired military personnel and the protection of their well-deserved benefits,” said Patrick Nixon, President of the Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits. “We are pleased to have the support of TREA as we work to preserve military shopping benefits. These benefits are an effective and economical federal program and, most importantly, a source of critical savings to the household budgets of military personnel and their families.”

Military resale programs save military families 20 to 50 percent off their purchases, and provide billions of dollars in aid to on-base community support programs. Nearly 50,000 veterans and military families are employed on bases at exchange, commissary and community sales outlets, and over 60 percent of workers in commissaries have a military affiliation.

TREA is a Congressionally-chartered, non-profit, non-partisan veterans’ service organization which fights in Washington, D.C., to protect the promised and earned benefits of military personnel: retired, active duty, veterans, Guard and Reserve. Originally founded as The Retired Enlisted Association, TREA has since opened its membership to all enlisted personnel who have or are serving in the Armed Forces. TREA is the largest association exclusively for enlisted personnel from all branches of the Services in the nation. To learn more, visit www.TREA.org.

For more information on the Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits, please visit www.SaveOurBenefit.org.