Free Republic

Combat Cooks Keep Marines Energized, Happy Food Service specialists make sure everyone at Observation Post Falcons and other outposts have hot chow in their bellies. By Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis 1st Marine Division OBSERVATION POST FALCONS, Iraq, Sept. 29, 2006 -- If the Marines can’t come to the mess hall, then the mess hall will have to come to the Marines.Food service specialists assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment set up a field-food facility so Marines can have a daily hot meal here.“If Marines don’t get a good meal, they don’t have the energy to complete their tasks,”...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq-American commanders are fully aware that Iraq's insurgents exploit their policy of employing locals on the U.S. military bases, but insist the practice will not stop, though some security measures may be tightened.The vulnerability of the American stance was exposed on Dec. 21, when an Iraqi suicide bomber dresed in a military uniform, detonated his explosives at a mess hall at Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, killing 22 people, including 14 U.S. servicmembers.