If you are an unemployed spouse, the next time you swing by the commissary for milk and bread, you might want to pick up an application as well.

Think your college degree and previous work experience is too sophisticated to allow you to ring up groceries? Think again. A job at the commissary could open doors to a whole new career — one you can have on any base you move to.

Debra Coleman handles all the vendors at the Randolph Air Force Base commissary in San Antonio. She began her commissary career in Biloxi, Miss., in 2007 as a cashier while her husband was stationed at Keesler AFB.

When the family moved to San Antonio, her job went with her.

“My store director knew the one here, so he called on my behalf. It totally worked out in my favor,” Coleman said.

That’s how the commissary prefers to do business — rehire military spouses first.

“As often as possible, DeCA tries to place the military spouse in a comparable position in the new location,” said Kevin Robinson, a spokesperson for the Defense Commissary Agency.

There are 252 commissaries around the globe that employ approximately 18,000 people in 13 countries and two U.S. territories. Military spouses account for 4,100 of those employees, or 27 percent of its workforce.

“Military spouses bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the workplace,” Robinson said. “They are adaptable and well-organized and have a deep sense of duty and commitment to public service.”

DeCA offers positions such as store associates, store workers and store management inside the commissary. Other positions in DeCA include jobs in information technology, financial management, human resources and acquisition management.

Starting pay begins at $8.53 per hour, plus extra amounts depending on location.

Recently, DeCA joined with the Department of Defense to specifically recruit more military spouses as part of an internship program.

DOD paid for the participants’ first year salary, benefits and training costs. Many of those spouses were then hired into permanent federal positions.

Military spouse Viviana Estrada has advanced her career with DeCA many times. In nine years, she has worked at four commissaries, working her way up in each one.

“I started off as a food service worker in the deli/bakery at Ramstein AFB,” she said. “In six months, they made me a work leader. I became a manager a year and a half later.”

Now stationed in Texas, she works in the cash cage at the Lackland AFB commissary in San Antonio. Estrada highly recommends the commissary as a career option.

“They understand military life unlike a lot of other employers,” she said. “That is a huge plus for me.”

Coleman said she agrees. Military life has been made easier with a military-friendly employer.

“Anything that I have had to do military-wise has always been accommodated,” she said. “They are flexible when you PCS, or if you have a ceremony to attend on short notice — they get the military life because they are a part of it.”

For the Colemans, commissary work is so beneficial that it has become the family business.

Her 20-year-old son attends college in Biloxi and works — where else — at the commissary.

“He has been a bagger since he has been 16,” she said.

How to apply

The easiest way to start looking for a position with DeCA is at www.usajobs.opm.gov  Search using the keyword ³DeCA,² and you will find positions that are currently being recruited.