A former director of the Defense Commissary Agency has been tapped for a one-year appointment to be an an adviser in the Defense Department as top officials make decisions related to the future of commissaries and exchanges.
Philip E. Sakowitz Jr. has joined the office of the deputy chief management officer in DoD "as a qualified expert" in a part-time capacity, according to DoD spokesman Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban.
Sakowitz "will bring his wealth of knowledge and industry experience to the ODCMO, which is supporting the leaders of the exchange systems and Defense Commissary Agency in response to one of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission's recommendations," Urban said.
One of the commission's 15 recommendations was to establish a single organization that consolidates the military exchange systems and the DeCA. Among other things, the consolidated system would allow convenience items to be marked up for a profit in commissaries, while food and other essential items would continue to be sold at cost in commissaries or in combined commissary and exchange stores.
The decision about the recommendations has not been made, said one source.
The source said Sakowitz's knowledge about day-to-day operations of the commissary agency and his background in Army installations and morale, welfare and recreation programs are important to add to DoD's perspective.
Sakowitz led DeCA from June 2008 to July 2010. Before he even arrived, he put his stamp on the commissary system with the phrase, "The commissary … it's worth the trip!"
In July 2011, he went to work for Coca-Cola and became that company's vice president of military retail sales in May 2013. He left that job last August to form his own company, Sakowitz Operational Solutions Inc.
Before arriving at DeCA, he served as the executive director of the Army Installation Management Command.
In 2002, he was the director of a task force that organized 15 commands into one centralized structure aimed at creating a more efficient and standardized installation management system across the Army.
He also held a number of positions in Army MWR, including chief of MWR in the U.S. Army Forces Command's personnel directorate.
He began his career as youth activities director at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, in 1975.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
