Pentagon: Military bases ‘not immune’ to baby formula shortage

The nationwide baby formula shortage is taking its toll at U.S. military bases across the globe, the Pentagon’s top spokesman said Monday. 

“We’re not immune to the same supply chain problems that other families across America are experiencing,” press secretary John Kirby told reporters. 

He said that current stock levels of available baby formula in the continental United States is at 50 percent at base commissaries — neighborhood grocery stores located on military installations — while it stands at 70 percent overseas.

Kirby added that the Defense Commissary Agency is monitoring the current market situation and “doing everything they can to keep things on the shelf as best they can,” including “working daily with distributors.”  

Supply chain and workforce issues, along with a recent safety recall and closure of a major plant, have caused a nationwide shortage of baby formula, with parents and guardians scrambling to find food for their infants. 

The House will take up a pair of bills this week to address the shortage, but the Biden administration has come under pressure from parents and lawmakers who are demanding more action.  

“The Defense Commissary Agency is already ahead of that problem and doing everything they can do to keep things on the shelf,” Kirby said. “We obviously take it very, very seriously, our responsibility to make sure that the kinds of things families need to take care of themselves to feed their children” they have.