I read this post at Insty’s place, wherein some people are complaining that the Pentagon is spending money on things like steak, ice cream, donuts and… lobster tails? Go ahead and read it, because there are some telling points made.
However.
I have no way of checking on this, let alone quantifying it, but I think I’d sell my AK-47 if much (or any) lobster was being served in the enlisted men’s mess halls around the world. In other words, I’m betting that those pricey lobster tails are being consumed by generals, military contractors and other REMFs, and not by the troops on the ground or at the sharp end.
Just so we’re all clear on my position on this: I want the boys doing the hard work to eat whatever they want and whatever we can get to them. If that includes steak, ice cream, donuts or fucking lobster tails, then so be it. But my concern for the diets of the aforementioned brass, leeches and REMFs drops off a cliff when it comes to said items.
To paraphrase some French* queen, let them eat Spam.
*I know, Marie Antoinette was Austrian. Shuddup.
In WW2, when refrigeration was still relatively new, the US Navy built ice cream barges for the forward fleet bases (Ulithi, for example) as a way to raise morale of sailors and troops returning to base for repair and resupply.
I dined on steak and lobster when I was in Fallujah, a veritable paradise, in 2008.
To any of these fucksticks that are slagging on the Department of War for taking care of troops, I’ll show them how to eat their first MRE. After eating those three times a day, for six days, six weeks, and six months, I’ll ask them which one they like the best, then ask them how long it took to get the joke about those little toilet paper packets in the MRE accessory packs.
Fold into quarters, tear off a tiny piece at the center…and important to save that tiny piece. LOL
It’s a better investment than GWagens for inbred Somalis
There is no evidence Marie Antoinette ever said any such thing.
I know, but it’s a great story.
Submariners get substantially better menus than skimmers. /But/ if you’re stationed aboard a tender, you get to share the wealth. As a plankowner in Simon Lake, I got nearly chubby on, among other things, rock-lobster tails.
.
Actually, our DFACs (Dining Facilities, operated by U.S. defense contractors, staffed by 3rd world laborers) serve all of that great chow to everyone who can get to them, all day, every day. That said, a lot of our troops can’t get to the DFAC because they are deployed to more forward positions, so they get MREs.
So every E-1 through O-10, and civilian employees, and civilian contractors, can pig out to some amazing food, if they can get to a DFAC. The inequality of the situation bothers me, because in my day, we pushed as much food forward as possible, to troops in the field.
We used to have field kitchens and mess tents that served up some pretty good food (anyone remember T-rats?) and by the way, we also used to push beer and booze forward, and lots of cigarettes. Today’s operational parameters do not allow any of that, so its either DFAC or MREs.
I served from 1970-91, and saw first-hand how the system changed. In 1970, an underage E-1 could drink alcohol (old enough to die for our country, old enough to drink). By 1991, when we “liberated” Kuwait, it was (almost) impossible to get a beer anywhere. Some of us Seabees did find a way, but that’s a story for another time.
I recall one day the DEFAC on Anaconda (circa 2004 or 5) was grilling steaks outside for hours. Smelled DELICIOUS, and a stark contrast to the ususal boil then broil US Army messhall steak. I managed to be one of the first 20 inline that day when the opened for the meal service. As The headcounter was just getting started I watched some of the Indian workers carry out stainless steel steam table inserts filled with beautiful steaks with lovely grill marks….and just as we started getting out trays and approaching the line, one of them dumped a pot of curry sauce onto the steaks. I damn near cried.
Curry (monkey vomit!!) on grilled steaks?!!! Mortal sin, probably a blown from a gun offense during the Raj.
Enlisted troops on deployment or preparing for deployment get steaks/lobster in the mess halls, or at least, that’s how it was in the ‘90s. This was Golden Corral level food, not Ruth’s Chris, but it was a huge morale boost and a massive improvement over MREs or T-rats.