§ 1146 — Commissary And Exchange Benefits

(a) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to allow a member of the armed forces who is involuntarily separated from active duty during the period beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending on December 31, 2018, to continue to use commissary and exchange stores during the two-year period beginning on the date of the involuntary separation of the member in the same manner as a member on active duty. The Secretary concerned shall implement this provision for Coast Guard members involuntarily separated during the same period. (b) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to allow a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve who is involuntarily separated from the Selected Reserve as a result of the exercise of the force shaping authority of the Secretary concerned under section 647 of this title or other force shaping authority during the period beginning on October 1, 2007, and ending on December 31, 2018, to continue to use commissary and exchange stores during the two-year period beginning on the date of the involuntary separation of the member in the same manner as a member on active duty. The Secretary concerned shall implement this provision for Coast Guard members involuntarily separated during the same period when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy. (c) A member of the armed forces who receives a sole survivorship discharge (as defined in section 1174(i) of this title) is entitled to continue to use commissary and exchange stores and morale, welfare, and recreational facilities in the same manner as a member on active duty during the two-year period beginning on the later of the following dates: (1) The date of the separation of the member. (2) The date on which the member is first notified of the member’s entitlement to benefits under this section. (d) The Secretary of Defense may prescribe regulations to allow an emergency response provider (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 6 U.S.C. 101)) to use a mobile commissary or exchange store deployed to an area covered by a declaration of a major disaster or emergency under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170).