Championship Subdivision Football | FCS Football | Stadiums | Blogs | Forums

More military families used food stamps to buy milk, cheese, meat and bread at military grocers last year.
Food stamp redemption at military grocers has been rising steadily since the beginning of the recession in 2008. Nearly $104 million worth of food stamps was redeemed at military commissaries in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

"I'm amazed, but there's a very real need," said Thomas Greer, spokesman for Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that helps soldiers on the financial brink nationwide.

Some of the growth in soldiers' redemption of food stamps reflects the weak economic recovery, especially for spouses looking for jobs. In 2012, there was a 30% unemployment rate among spouses off active-duty military who were 18 to 24 years old, according to the Military Officers Association of America, which released the survey last week.

Spouses who have to relocate every few years have a tough time finding work in the private sector.

During the recession, some states lowered eligibility for food stamps, making it easier to qualify. That could account for some of the growth in use by active-duty military, said Joyce Raezer, executive director of the National Military Family Association.

"It was easier for some of those families right on the cusp to qualify," she said.

In 2011, about 5,000 active-duty military members were on food stamps, making up less than a tenth of 1% of the 44 million on food stamps, according to the USDA, which has yet to update its figures.

Pentagon officials say they don't track who exactly is redeeming food stamps at military grocers, called commissaries. But they say that it's the bottom of the ranks, often the most junior 18 to 20-somethings who already have several children.

Base pay for a new soldier with a spouse and kid is around $20,000, just above the poverty line. Although that doesn't include housing or food allowances. The housing and food help put the income of an Army private with two years of experience a bit more than $40,000, the Pentagon says.

In 2013, Operation Homefront received 2,968 emergency requests for food help, more than any other kind of request for help. The numbers are down significantly compared to two years ago, but they're still nearly three times what they had been in 2008.

Skjellyfetti wrote:What a bunch of ungrateful, lazy assholes.

Cluck U wrote:
Do you bother reading the information provided in your own sources?




Never mind...you've already proven you don't.

JohnStOnge wrote:Well, maybe if there was no such thing as the food stamps program military pay would be sufficient to cover expenses.

Look, I'll tell you something. My daughter and her husband could qualify for food stamps if they want. And I would have no problem with them taking them. As I've written before, I believe in taking advantage of whatever is there given what is. I'm not one of those people who thinks it's hypocritical for someone to oppose a program while taking advantage of it while it's there.

But they won't do it. And I'm proud of my daughter for that. I also think it's telling that they bought a house in December yet they could still qualify for food stamps.

I suspect a lot of those military families that take food stamps could do the same thing. So no I'm not going to get caught up in the idea that saying military families take food stamps means we should have food stamps or that taking food stamps isn't freeloading.

It is. It's freeloading.

Cluck U wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:What a bunch of ungrateful, lazy assholes.

Do you bother reading the information provided in your own sources?




Never mind...you've already proven you don't.

What a surprise.

JohnStOnge wrote:

What a surprise.

The world is what it is at any given time. There is no reason you should not do the best you can to advance your own interests given what is. That doesn't mean you are hypocritical for wanting to change what is.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

Cluck U wrote:
Do you bother reading the information provided in your own sources?




Never mind...you've already proven you don't.

Tongue-in-cheek, dumbass.

I do not consider these people to be lazy freeloaders.

The point is: do you?

Cluck U wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:
Tongue-in-cheek, dumbass.

I do not consider these people to be lazy freeloaders.

The point is: do you?

That's not what I meant, dumberass.

The article clearly hints that food stamps are not common for military folks, so why make this an issue that is nothing more than yet another result of people's poor choices, military or not? You act as though being in the military gives someone a pass.

If you read the article, it suggests that the food stamp folks are probably entry level that have multiple children. It also pointed out that spouses of military folks have a hard time getting jobs due to their frequent transfers (although it also didn't point out the education level of those folks). If you choose this type of life, and sign up with a spouse (and/or kids), then you can be a drain on the system.

In any case, the article points out the fact that a newbie earns a salary above the poverty line, and gets housing and food equivalent to $40K. Anyone who can't make ends meet on that at the beginning of their career isn't doing things correctly.

Cluck U wrote:

Skjellyfetti wrote:
Tongue-in-cheek, dumbass.

I do not consider these people to be lazy freeloaders.

The point is: do you?

That's not what I meant, dumberass.

The article clearly hints that food stamps are not common for military folks, so why make this an issue that is nothing more than yet another result of people's poor choices, military or not? You act as though being in the military gives someone a pass.

If you read the article, it suggests that the food stamp folks are probably entry level that have multiple children. It also pointed out that spouses of military folks have a hard time getting jobs due to their frequent transfers (although it also didn't point out the education level of those folks). If you choose this type of life, and sign up with a spouse (and/or kids), then you can be a drain on the system.

In any case, the article points out the fact that a newbie earns a salary above the poverty line, and gets housing and food equivalent to $40K. Anyone who can't make ends meet on that at the beginning of their career isn't doing things correctly.

AZGrizFan wrote:
Unless things have changed dramatically since I was one of those "newbies" in the military, there's no WAY the food and housing allowance adds up to $40k per year. Or are you saying that, including their salary, they make $40k per year?

AZGrizFan wrote: Unless things have changed dramatically since I was one of those "newbies" in the military, there's no WAY the food and housing allowance adds up to $40k per year. Or are you saying that, including their salary, they make $40k per year?

JohnStOnge wrote:BTW, if you don't want to take a job for what the military pays don't join the military.

Cap'n Cat wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:
Unless things have changed dramatically since I was one of those "newbies" in the military, there's no WAY the food and housing allowance adds up to $40k per year. Or are you saying that, including their salary, they make $40k per year?

Shit, Z. You knew Pershing.


"Congratulations, Mr. Z, on the cleanest outhouse in camp."

Cluck U wrote:This just in: skelly has (or, in a more gentile world...where Jews can be Jews, skelly's posts) been upgraded to the dumberestass because kalm called me a dumbass, so I had to make room for kalm above me (or below, if it is a race to the bottom). One can miss these little details if one is not paying attention.

AZGrizFan wrote:

Cluck U wrote:This just in: skelly has (or, in a more gentile world...where Jews can be Jews, skelly's posts) been upgraded to the dumberestass because kalm called me a dumbass, so I had to make room for kalm above me (or below, if it is a race to the bottom). One can miss these little details if one is not paying attention.

I'm glad someone is keeping track. Houndawg's got to be in that race somewhere close to the front as well.

houndawg wrote:

AZGrizFan wrote:
I'm glad someone is keeping track. Houndawg's got to be in that race somewhere close to the front as well.

Your lead is too big, the rest of us are just competing for 2nd place.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

Cluck U wrote:
Do you bother reading the information provided in your own sources?




Never mind...you've already proven you don't.

Tongue-in-cheek, dumbass.

I do not consider these people to be lazy freeloaders.

The point is: do you?

AZGrizFan wrote:

houndawg wrote:
Your lead is too big, the rest of us are just competing for 2nd place.

Too late. You've already been buried today. Again. Man, this is gettin' old.

GannonFan wrote:I have in-laws who have been in the military and have seen some of the bad decisions first hand. The husband is in a menial job that doesn't pay a lot, but they keep putting out babies one after the other, and amazingly they don't have a lot of money to pay for all of that. Isn't isolated to the military, obviously, but if you don't make a lot of money, having a large family is not really the best decision to make (assuming they even decided on the size of the family versus just having it happen to them).