Ongoing inflation means the shopping and savings benefits you’ve earned at your Coast Guard Exchange (CGX) are more important than ever. Shopping in CGX stores or online at shopCGX.com has plenty of perks, including discounted prices, hard-to-attain items, and tax-free purchases. Don’t forget that CGX is your exclusive source for all Coast Guard uniforms. While other retailers are raising their prices this year, CGX lowered hundreds of prices and now sells all uniforms and insignia items at cost.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2022 (NDAA) included the Forces Assuring that Treatment of Items by Gender are Uniform and Equal across the Services (FATIGUES) Act of 2021, to develop consistent uniform item criteria, review uniform changes to determine the potential out-of-pocket expenses, and identify retail costs for men and women across the services. CGX responded by adjusting prices of all gender-specific uniform items to eliminate gender disparities. Now, all required uniform items are sold at equal prices to our customers regardless of gender. New prices went into effect Oct. 1, coinciding with fiscal year 2023 (FY23) Dislocation allowance (DLA ) price changes. The Military Pay and Compensation Division (CG-1332), which manages clothing maintenance allowances (CMAs), will be adjusting the CMAs in December based on the new prices.
Perhaps the Exchange’s greatest strength is that its revenue is reinvested into the Coast Guard community. Shopping at the CGX directly supports the Coast Guard’s Morale, Well-being, and Recreation (MWR) program and the workforce. CGX shares its annual earnings with the MWR program to support each active duty member. CGX has given over $31 million to Coast Guard MWR over the last 10 years. Now, CGX provides additional non-appropriated fund (NAF) funding to support the MWR Capital Improvement Fund (CIF), which supports capital investments into the service’s MWR efforts. This funding fueled projects and critical upgrades to MWR activities, including child development centers (CDCs), nationwide.
“Earnings from CGX fund our NAF payroll for CGX stores and the Community Services Command, which supports the entire non-appropriated workforce,” said Cmdr. Robert Taylor, the executive officer of the Community Services Command (CSC), which oversees CGX, MWR programs and the NAF Center of Excellence. “There are more than 1,300 NAF positions ranging from entry-level to senior management, and 10 percent of them are filled by military members or relatives of military members. CGX and MWR programs continue to grow, and we’re hiring. All open NAF positions are posted online at shopCGX.com.”
In other words, Taylor said, “Shopping at your Coast Guard Exchange is critical to supporting our Coast Guard, and our Morale Well-being and Recreation programs. Or, as we like to say, ‘put your money where your morale is!’”
Check out the latest products, deals, and NAF job postings by visiting the Coast Guard Exchange website.