When I was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska back in 1955, the price of gas on the base was 21¢. Does anyone here know what it costs on any military base now?
Depends on where you are. Here in Busan, it’s just over $4/gallon, which is approximately half the off-base price. I’m going to Camp Walker this Saturday and I’ll let you know how much it cost me to guess up my clunker after I do that.
I didn’t realize you still had logistical support in Korea. You eligible for a ration card and APO box too?
Right now on US bases in Italy, the cost of gas is $4.43 per gallon. It’s over $8.60 a gallon for the cheap stuff on the economy. I once read somewhere that the prices OCONUS are supposed to reflect the national average back in the States.
Here is Califronia it is the same as the cheaper gas stations in town (ie less than Chevron but the same as Fastrip (about $3.85 right now)) - which would put it above the national average
I recall as a little kid in the mid-sixties seeing gas advertised on TV for one thin quarter a gallon (that’s 25¢); and I recall my dad be pretty happy to see gas at 20¢ a gallon on a trip out to Arizona. So 21¢ a gallon in the 50’s wouldn’t strike me as being a great deal better than what the people off base would be paying.
As a military retiree, I am authorized a ration plate and access to the US military bases. I also am authorized (and have) an APO box. The mail box, though, is limited to one pound per item for sending and receiving mail.
There are still a lot of US military stationed in South Korea and it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere soon. The South Korean government wants them here.
Here in San Diego it’s just a few cents less than Costco.
I lived in Anchorage from 1998 until 2009. Prices on the base were the same as off-base, but usually lagged them by a few days. One could always do better at the Safeway pumps.
It’s about a nickel cheaper on Benning than in Columbus.
It’s my understanding that they are no longer allowed to undercut local gas prices. I’d have to research that, though, to be sure. I only get gas on base nowadays if I need it at the time. It’s no cheaper than anywhere else.
Too late for edit:
Here is something explaining why exchange gas prices aren’t cheaper than out in town.
Just got back from Daegu an hour ago. While there, I filled up the tank with the cheapest choice available. The cost per gallon was about $3.65 (I already lost the receipt and I don’t remember the exact price). The cheapest option off-base in my area is about $1 per liter (quart).
Nice. I figured you would have access to the base and access to the PX and Comissary. But I didn’t realize you were authorized rationed items or fuel. And I never would have guessed you get an APO box. Makes certain retirement options for me much more appealing. Not that I have to worry about it for another decade or so, but still.
Everything at the Exchange and Commissary is rationed–to purchase anything there, one needs the ration plate to prove authorization to purchase goods not subject to Korean taxes. The APO box is on a “space available” basis when I request renewal of it each year.
Sure you have to show your card when entering. And maybe technically everything is rationed. But a person can buy all the Cokes he wants. That same person with no family can only buy 3 units of alcoholic beverages. So when I say “rationed items” I mean those items with set purchase limits.
Yeah, the terminology for the plate is a bit lacking. In reality it should be “Access to and Authorization to Purchase Items at the Commissary and Exchange Not to Exceed the Monthly Dollar Limit at the Commissary and Not to Exceed the Monthly Item Purchase Limit for Selected Items at the Commissary and Exchange Nor Can the Purchases Exceed the Posted Shelf Limits.” Bit ungainly.
Here is a matrix laying out the privileges of us Uniformed Services Retirees here in Korea. As you can tell from disparity in gas pricing, getting to purchase gas for my car on base is a majorly good thing. As I live in Busan, I was a bit bummed out when Camp Hialeah closed back in 2006.
6/25 Update…
Earlier today I played in a softball tournament aboard Camp Pendleton. The on-base price for 87 octane was $3.75/gal. About an hour ago my wife and I stopped to get gas at Costco…$3.72/gal.
I remember paying 23 cents/gallon here in the US in 1973 just before the Arab oil embargo changed oil prices forever.
The Arab oil embargo didn’t change prices forever, at least not dramatically so. I remember distinctly paying .69 per gallon as late as 1994 when I got my driver’s license. There was a spike to $1.25 or so after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, but they settled back down.
Here in the US the prices on base are not markedly lower than they are off-base in my experience.
IIRC, costs at the various “membership stores” are not taken into account when determining pricing for the on-base fuel.