What about chow hall food

Serving in both USAF and USA, never had a problem with chow hall food. . . until. . . services did away with mess sections and military cooks. Turned them into 'dining facilities' with contract food service personnel.

Always remember the good old days when both services had chin-up and pull-up bars at the chow hall exits. Quick way to get rid of those excess calories good chow food always had. . .

And, yeah, SOS was the best.
 
Serving in both USAF and USA, never had a problem with chow hall food. . . until. . . services did away with mess sections and military cooks. Turned them into 'dining facilities' with contract food service personnel.

And, yeah, SOS was the best.
Ft Ord basic training had military cooks(and KP!), but Ft. Eustis,Va where I did AIT had civilian cooks(1970).

Always remember the good old days when both services had chin-up and pull-up bars at the chow hall exits.

I'm sure glad I was 17, chin-up and pull-up bars were a piece of cake!
 

When I was in MP training at Fort Gordon GA we ate at a mess hall which served two training companies. We were so happy with the food we all signed a petition and sent it to the IG.
While an MP at Fort Knox I stopped a speeder and recognized him. I asked if he was still where I had taken basic and told him I had spent a day with him on KP. I told him I appreciated that he didn't jerk us around with a bunch of "trainee" hazing. I repaid his kindness with a warning about his speeding. About a week later he called the MP station asking if I could come by for dinner as they had STEAKS! After eating I thanked him and told him the steak was good but the baked potato was one of THE BEST I'd ever had.
 
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This is an isolated experience, not the norm in the USAF.

While stationed on the remote assignment in Alaska, most of the food was brought to the Island by barge.
In the year I spent there, we only had powdered eggs for breakfast and powdered milk.

We had one Cook at breakfast who always asked, 'how do you want your eggs?' and I would answer, 'Over-Easy, with the yolk unbroken'.
He would answer, 'No Problem...' and pick up the Ice Cream Scoop and deposit two yellow scoops on your tray.
When I was reassigned to a normal base, I would amaze people with the amount of real eggs and milk I could consume.

Ran into this again later in my career when stationed at remote sites.
Some of the Cooks could get pretty creative with the 'Stuff' they were given to work with.
 
How was the chow hall food when you were in the service? What prompted me to think of it was a cartoon on Facebook that showed a rat throwing up outside a chow hall. I was in the Army but never ran into the stereotype "army chow" that has been a running joke for decades. Everywhere I ever ate while in the Army had great food.
Of course, being a young man 17 to 19 I was pretty easy to please. ;)
Call me strange, but I loved eating in the mess hall.
 
Since the USAF is the country club of the military, the food was always top notch.

Amen to that. No complaints whatsoever. What really appalled me was the first time I had KP in basic and I saw how much food some guys would leave on their trays. It seemed that a lot of guys threw away more than they ate. What a waste. Both my parents had grown up during the depression and in our house you did not waste food.
 
How was the chow hall food when you were in the service? What prompted me to think of it was a cartoon on Facebook that showed a rat throwing up outside a chow hall. I was in the Army but never ran into the stereotype "army chow" that has been a running joke for decades. Everywhere I ever ate while in the Army had great food.
Of course, being a young man 17 to 19 I was pretty easy to please. ;)
During my training periods the food wasn't to great, but we were really hungry and you ate in a hurry. In VN I rarely had a hot meal unless we were some where that we could heat up some water for an MRE. Explosive C4 was readily available, and a small chunk when burned could heat several canteen cup of water. It was a share and share alike atmosphere out in the bush. Have to admit the MRE's were better than the C's some guys were getting.
 
During my training periods the food wasn't to great, but we were really hungry and you ate in a hurry. In VN I rarely had a hot meal unless we were some where that we could heat up some water for an MRE. Explosive C4 was readily available, and a small chunk when burned could heat several canteen cup of water. It was a share and share alike atmosphere out in the bush. Have to admit the MRE's were better than the C's some guys were getting.
Yep, all we had was C's, although toward the end of my tour we got hold of some LLRP's from the rangers. They were good.


c-4 cooking.jpg
 
I agree, but then I learned we shouldn’t eat so much bread. In basic, we worked off everything we ate. I lost 7 pounds during basic.
And I put on a little over 20 pounds. Went into basic at 112; came out at 135.

Kind of chow hall related story of 'the first micro-wave?' Back in the late 1950s USAF had a radar station at the highest point in the county. This was in Omaha and not far from where I lived. It's mission was radar overwatch for Offutt AFB, SAC HQ, in Bellevue. Anyway the radar crews would hang out at the local drive in when off-duty and talk of heating up their mid-shift snacks in the microwave 'tunnels' leading to the radar dish. Don't know for sure if that's true, but it makes for a good story. . .
 
And I put on a little over 20 pounds. Went into basic at 112; came out at 135.

Kind of chow hall related story of 'the first micro-wave?' Back in the late 1950s USAF had a radar station at the highest point in the county. This was in Omaha and not far from where I lived. It's mission was radar overwatch for Offutt AFB, SAC HQ, in Bellevue. Anyway the radar crews would hang out at the local drive in when off-duty and talk of heating up their mid-shift snacks in the microwave 'tunnels' leading to the radar dish. Don't know for sure if that's true, but it makes for a good story. . .
I was at Parris Island in July and I gotta' tell you, it was hot, damned hot. People don't believe me when I tell them I actually enjoyed most of my time there. I spent a lot of my free time in the weight room, but didn't put on any weight and in fact, I was losing weight. I thought I should be building muscle and gaining weight, but the trainer told me I was gaining muscle, but not very fast. I asked him how he knew and he said because he compared my measurements when I started until my last day in the weight room. My biceps and only my biceps went up 1 inch. I was really disappointed.

Our graduation was held in Quantico because we were told the power was going to be shut off for the weekend for updating. It seems now the water should have been shut off. My parents came down for graduation, which was a surprise.
 
No real complaints. I was told to try and gain some weight. At 6 feet 4 inches, they wanted me to be around 185-190 pounds. I arrived at basic training wright 177 pounds. I will admit I was a little on the lean side.
 


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