5
5
0
Do you use your installation's/unit's dining facility? Why or why not?
Posted in these groups: 
DFAC
DFAC
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 16
8
8
0
I use the DFAC all the time. It is an easy way for me as a leader to eat and still make it to my meetings I have which seem to fall arouns 1300. I also recommend to my Soldiers to eat there as well. Most DFACs have a bad rep but the ones I have eaten at are pretty good and you just can't beat the price.
(8)
(0)
8
8
0
I use the installation dining facility. It is a great way to sit for a moment and chat with your Soldiers to see what is on their minds and the prices are not that bad. $2.50 for breakfast can't beat that!
(8)
(0)
(5)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
Concur on the breakfast part. A lot of my meals are "family takeout" (which means my wife brings me lunch, or makes it and I pick it up real quick).
(5)
(0)
6
6
0
I use the DFAC once in a while...Foods always good and you really can't beat the prices.
(6)
(0)
5
5
0
After leaving Castle AFB, CA for Cannon AFB. I rarely ate in the chow hall there. Castle's chow hall was better by far. Being a former SAC base. Could order fresh hamburgers from the grill versus getting Hockey pucks that were pre-made at Cannons chow hall. Of course that was true for all fighter base chow halls. They all had hockey pucks for hamburgers. So after Castle, I pretty much stopped eating at the chow hall. Of course I got into an argument with an airman who worked at the chow hall, who said it was a Dining Facility. I told it now matter what you call it, its still a Chow Hall, or a Mess Hall, or a Galley (for those in the Navy).<br>
(5)
(0)
4
4
0
MSG Quick, there "seemed" to be better food served when the civilians were there. Once the budget cuts struck, they moved Soldiers in and the quality of the food and the hours seem a little less desirable. Not to mention, our DFAC serves at a lump sum cost, no a' la carte, which would be more beneficial for me since my diet is a bit different.
There are other locations on FT Bragg that are excellent I hear and have a lot more variety than the one at my location.
(4)
(0)
4
4
0
<p>Ahhhhh yes Sir thank you for posting this, I was wondering if their are still any chow hounds in the service?</p><p><br></p><p>What do I mean by chow hounds: It is the first few people who don't walk but run to be the first ones on line. </p><p>Appearance: The race can appear to be liken to the INDY 500 to the finish line lol</p><p>confession: I may or may not have been one my self. lol</p><p><br></p>
(4)
(0)
4
4
0
In my day most installation dining facilities offered quite acceptable choices. Sometimes really good. Early USMC service ('70-'72) was very often C-rats, but the mess halls were truly good (all services), and I rarely missed an opportunity to chow down at one.
However, schedule, workload, and sometimes distance often interfered with my ability, especially as a senior Army NCO, to take advantage.
In Korea the Mess Sergeant in my small Bn Mess, for lack of a better word, sucked. He sucked in field mess too. Absolutely unable to manage his budget effectively. And it showed - too often glaringly.
Career wise, I ate breakfast whenever possible and lunch often. Only an occasional diner.
In this day and age of cost cutting chow is a huge expense that needs addressed in a manner that's still easy for troops. Modernizing, consolidating (short distance), and a different meal planning model are all needed. Maybe some of this is, or has happened since my departure.
Have to compete effectively against installation commercial, generally incomplete nourishment, 'fast food'.
It is an honest and critically important morale and health issue.
(4)
(0)
SFC Benjamin Parsons
An aside: The Marine messes of my earliest years were often at least partially self service. Take as much bacon and what-not as you want. The mess officer stood by the trash cans. If you were going to throw very much away, best to put it in your pocket.
(1)
(0)
4
4
0
Working on a multi-agency federal complex now, we don't have our own dining facility. It belongs to somebody else, and there are hoops to hopped through in order to gain access. However, when I was assigned to a base that had a galley, I used it regularly but mixed in a wide variety of easily available options located right outside the gate. The food was good, and beat the price of eating out on the local economy. The down side was that the menu was fixed and you could predict what was for lunch based on the day of the week.
(4)
(0)
1
1
0
For obvious reasons SGM, people do not use the DFAC, but food service has changed. A lot of cooks don't like their jobs, or couldn't get in any other MOS so they serve the standard, just to get by. I chose to be a cook and loved everyday of my 14yrs.
The quality of food depends on the cook you have working there, the variety in the meals and of course the leadership. I loved to cook because my NCO's loved to cook and they were a huge presence in the kitchen. Good leadership makes you dining facilities, nothing can substitutes outstanding leadership no matter what is on the menu.
The quality of food depends on the cook you have working there, the variety in the meals and of course the leadership. I loved to cook because my NCO's loved to cook and they were a huge presence in the kitchen. Good leadership makes you dining facilities, nothing can substitutes outstanding leadership no matter what is on the menu.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google