MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Misawa Air Base and Sasebo Naval Base in Japan have snagged best overseas commissary honors in their respective categories for 2004.

The Defense Commissary Agency named five winners out of 270 worldwide commissaries in its annual, in-house competition at an awards banquet this week in Nashville, Tenn., according to a DECA news release.

Misawa won the Dan Daniel Award for the Best Large Commissary Overseas, while Sasebo earned the L. Mendel Rivers Award for the Best Small Commissary Overseas.

This year’s winners were recognized for overall excellence in commissary operations and service. They had to meet or come in below their end-of-year final unit-cost goal, as well as meet other criteria in the areas of accountability, commissary customer service surveys and sales, according to DECA officials.

At Misawa Air Base, commissary grocery manager Ed Kleckner said this year employees focused on improving store displays. “Getting the products on the shelf is the easy part,” he said Friday. “When people come in and they see an attractive display, it makes it more comfortable for them to shop, and it makes the store more attractive.”

Kleckner added, “We worked hard, but we have an absolutely great crew. They’re the ones that make us the best commissary every day of the year.”

Other winners for 2004 were:

Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Wash., winner of the Bill Nichols Award for the Best Large Commissary in the United States;Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla., winner of the Richard M. Paget Award for the Best Small Commissary in the United States;Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., winner of the Director’s Award for the Best Superstore.The awards are named in memory of legislators who protected the commissary benefit and championed quality-of-life issues for the military and their families.