Army cook shortage at Ft Hood, Texas, [now known as Ft Cavazos],shutters some mess halls, leaving hungry soldiers scrambling

FoxNews.com ^ | Michael Lee | Fox News

[luvie]

An Army installation in Texas has been struggling to put food on the table for its soldiers for months as the base faces a shortage of cooks to staff its dining facilities.

Fort Cavazos, Texas, previously known as Fort Hood, has struggled to provide its junior enlisted troops with meals for months, with the base only opening two of its 10 major dining facilities for much of the summer and with limited times, according to a report Tuesday from Military.com.

According to the report, the base has faced a shortage of cooks to man the dining facilities around base, with many Army cooks either on deployment or away on field training. Soldiers who depend on the dining facilities to eat have also faced confusing and conflicting opening schedules for the facilities as base officials attempt to move personnel around to staff the food service buildings.

[ViLaLuz]

“USNS Harvey Milk (T-AO-206) is the second of the John Lewis-class of underway replenishment oilers, operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) to support ships of the United States Navy.”

Disgusting, isn’t it. Imagine one day there probably will be a ship christened Barack Hussein 0bama.

[philman_36]

...underway replenishment oilers...

An aptly named ship for its namesake.

Oilers - giving it out and taking it in.
giving it out (to ships at sea) and taking it in (in the port)

/sarcasm

[pepsionice]

I’ll tell how this happened. Somewhere in 2022, some Army manpower guys knew that recruitment was crapping out, and they re-priotized incoming folks to artillery, tanks, infantry, etc. The chow-school folks got cut drastically. They probably figured that contracted-out services would eventually catch up (it didn’t).

I’ll make a 2nd prediction...that you see various Army posts with this problem by spring of 2024.

[SamAdams76]

Hiring civilian cooks should never be considered in the military. Here is why, when the military is deployed, the cooks should travel with them. Civilian cooks who are hired for base mess halls would never agree to be sent into a war zone should the units they feed on base get deployed.

This is why the military has an MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) for cooks in the first place. So that they can deploy with their units if needed (and grab a rifle if they have to).

[ExTxMarine]

YEP! When I was in the Marine Corps, one base I was on had five cooks (one enlisted, one NCO, and THREE SNCOs) that were relieved of duty due to sexual harassment (and ultimately sexual assault) charges. Not to mention, two female cooks were moved out of their MOS billets and put on temporary duty assignments away from the chow hall while the investigations were conducted.

How did the base General “fix” the seven-cook shortage? He put all cooks (from the recently MOS-school graduate PFC to the 17-year, seasoned Master Guns) on a work schedule to handle shift(s), as needed, and he ordered every Battalion on base to give up additional TDY mess duty workers to help ensure we had meals for all Marines.

The fact this is even a “news” story tells me things are in a MAJOR DISARRAY on that base!

[ViLaLuz]

This is what happens when a base goes woke.

[Night Hides Not]

This is what happens when a base goes woke.

This is what happens when the chain of command is derelict in their duties. This just didn't happen overnight. I'm not laying this on platoon leaders and platoon sergeants, this one's on the Brigade Commanders and CSMs.

[ViLaLuz]

this one’s on the Brigade Commanders and CSMs.
..............................................

Agreed. And they’re afraid for their careers as they’re steered by their CoC all the way up to the stinker CINC.

[PAR35]

If there aren’t any C rations left in warehouses, issue them MREs.

They must not have any disciplinary problems at all if they can’t find folks for KP duty.

A final suggestion - but Second Lieutenants on the job. It’s not like they do anything important anyway.

[PAR35]

I honor the military.

Do you even keep up with the news? Or are you totally woke?

[luvie]

I like your final suggestion best! LOL!

[j.havenfarm]

Oh, cricket. I was making a joke about Chipotle’s crappy food

[Night Hides Not]

I don’t think much of your suggestion. As a butterbar, I was assigned two Chaparral platoons, with extra duties that included Battery NBC Officer, and Energy Conservation Officer. Due to the security restrictions at the time (only officers could pull Staff Duty Officer), I was SDO 30% of the time.

I have no problem using junior officers as Mess officers, but give them a little respect before you have them scrubbing pans.

[VeniVidiVici]

I will give them a little respect.

What I won’t give them is a compass

;-)

[Night Hides Not]

LOL! The most dangerous weapon in the Army is still a 2ND LT with a map!

I was a butterbar for two years, but my 3 Platoon Sergeants all had at least one tour in Nam, and they taught me well. During that time, I had both Chaparral platoons, and followed that with about six months with a Towed Vulcan platoon.

We were at Hahn AB, and there were quite a few small towns in the area, perfect for perfecting our map reading skills.

I just got back from vacation, reconnected with an old Army buddy, we hadn't seen each other in over 40 years. While I was the Maintenance Officer (damn I hated that job), he was the XO. He was unflappable, with a high military IQ, our own Dick Winters. I was a proficient platoon leader by then, having been through 5 ARTEPs.

We had similarities to Easy Company in "Band of Brothers": the CO couldn't read a map to save his life, and proved it during an evaluation. Problem was, the XO was away for a training class, which meant I was XO and Maintenance Officer.

Such good times we had!