Does the military teach you to work through lunch?

SGT Ben Keen — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:22:32 -0400

It's no secret that any job you have can require you to work long hours, sometimes even through lunch. Today, while working on scheduling a working session to test some things here at work, I was trying to get a conference room with VTC gear and the only time left for most of the rooms was between 11:30 and 1:30, aka AEO Lunch time.

Does our prior/currently lives in the military teach us to deal with missing a meal?

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 8:30 AM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:30:20 -0400

I know I work through lunch.

Response by PFC Jonathan Albano made Mar 22 at 2017 8:35 AM

PFC Jonathan Albano — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:35:48 -0400

From my experience I would say not on a regular basis. With that said, there were times it was required to accomplish some missions. I believe the military teaches you to do what you need to in order to get the job done and, as the saying goes, "Work smarter not harder."

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Mar 22 at 2017 8:39 AM

SrA Edward Vong — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:39:58 -0400

I usually have lunch at my desk, and pull away from work. I am however ready to engage at any given point if need be. It's a good midway point.

Response by SGT David T. made Mar 22 at 2017 8:40 AM

SGT David T. — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:40:09 -0400

I usually eat at my desk while I am working lol.

Response by TSgt Joe C. made Mar 22 at 2017 8:44 AM

TSgt Joe C. — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 08:44:21 -0400

Nope, I get out of the office at lunch time!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 9:20 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 09:20:07 -0400

The military is a terrible place to learn how to manage the time of employees. That's because they don't actually pay for their employees time, and overtime, and their employees (ie soldiers) dont generate revenue for the "company" so to speak. Aand there are no legal labor requirements for hourly employees like a mandated lunch break and breaks during the day.

So that is why the military is famous for the hurry up and wait management style. Believe me, if those soldiers were paid extra for hours after 8 per day, there is no way you would have dozens or hundreds of soldiers showing up hours early just to make sure no one is late. Or sitting around at 1700 waiting to get he word. And there wouldn't be endless meetings consuming huge blocks of time if it meant that no products or sales were being made during those meetings.
After I retired I ran a software company as its COO for 5 years. Then later I went back to work at USSOCOM HQs a civilian. The time wasting management style of the military was shocking after being in a profit driven company. You would have 50 senior officers tied up in a three hour meeting just so each could brief their 3 minutes worth of stuff, and sit there the rest of the time doing little just in case something in their area came up. Collosall waste of talent and time.

Working through lunch is in most cases simply a sign of poor time managemet. It ahould be viewed as a deficiency to fix, not something to be praised as "dedication". Same with working late. So IMO the military teaches very poor time management and covers up for a lack of plannng and preparation by being able to cause soldiers to work late at no extra costs.

And to get back to the example in the original post about the conference room, why do you suppose the room is only available at lunchtime but booked all the other times? It's because those organizations planned ahead to schedule the resources they needed without having to screw their employees and expect them to skip aa meal to cover up poor planning.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Mar 22 at 2017 9:32 AM

SGT Dave Tracy — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 09:32:27 -0400

When I'm on Army time, I'll eat on Army time; which means sometimes one must be flexible. In my civilian roll, my boss can suck it when it comes to my breaks and my lunch (not that my boss expects us to work through our breaks).

Sure its important to get things done, but in the end, all my efforts--no matter how much I would have done--aren't going to build monuments to the glory of my work ethic any more than it will build monuments to the people for whom I work. Just remember that 10 minutes after you retire/quit/get fired, no one will even remember your contributions. So I have no intention of looking back at my life and thinking "I did all this work, and the fruits of my labors expired so long ago, that no one but me remembers how I was the hardest working little cog in the workplace." So why give them extra at no cost?

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Mar 22 at 2017 9:56 AM

SGM Erik Marquez — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 09:56:16 -0400

SGT Ben Keen "Does our prior/currently lives in the military teach us to deal with missing a meal?"
Absolutely, and early hours, late hours, coming in on "off hours"
We do it with hardly a thought, or , we bitch about it, WHILE DOING IT.
Its a foreign concept to many ... "Hey sorry guys I have to bail on the ride, have a job I have to get finished so working late, and then going in tomorrow to finish"..."Huh?? What, but tomorrow is Sat... Who works on the weekends?????"

" Grab me something while your out at lunch, I need to make some calls "
"What do you mean.....its lunch time, go get your own sandwich, or better join us"

Not to say plenty of civilians don't know what its like to work extra hours, or wired non standard times ...Management mostly... but plenty of clock punchers have no concept of working when you can (your VTC availability) , or until done

Response by CPL Beth Allsop made Mar 22 at 2017 10:19 AM

CPL Beth Allsop — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 10:19:45 -0400

I ate at my desk, now that I've returned to the Hospitality Industry, I eat standing up, in 5 to 10 minutes, I belive I was taught to work through or skip meals in the Hospitality industry, long before joining the Military.
Upon securing my next Corporate Position, I'd like to say, I'm going to try to be better to myself and take lunches, but it usually turns out to be several breaks throughout the day rather than an hour lunch.

Response by Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen made Mar 22 at 2017 10:21 AM

Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 10:21:10 -0400

Well to an extent they may. I know you certainly don't pull an aircraft over to a convenient cloud just because it's time for lunch. Sure the same goes for ground pounders in certain situations. However when not doing some operation that prevented it, most of us would go to the club for lunch and when I was in positions where I needed to schedule routine meetings the time between 1100 & 1300 were generally off limits. Even in Battle Staff and CAOC situations time was set aside for lunch breaks. The same was pretty much true in my civilian job, but in that life there were hardly ever things going on that would remotely require working through lunch. I often had lunch at my desk, but that was my choice, not something the employer required.

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made Mar 22 at 2017 10:29 AM

Maj Marty Hogan — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 10:29:09 -0400

What is lunch?

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Mar 22 at 2017 11:09 AM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:09:33 -0400

Ate at desk at desk when I was a staff officer and later as Govt Contractor. Used time to read non-business stuff and later on emails and web pages. Went to lunch more often as Army Civilian. Culture recognized need for actual break during day.

Interesting sidelight. As contractor I logged all my work time because the hours were billable. Never paid overtime because I was salaried. As Army Civilian I seldom logged overtime. Worked many unpaid overtime hours because command couldn't afford overtime. Made sure my employees got compensatory time off or overtime pay if I asked them to work extra hours. Happened mostly when they traveled overseas.

Response by COL Vincent Stoneking made Mar 22 at 2017 11:14 AM

COL Vincent Stoneking — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:14:04 -0400

I have meal replacement bars in my bottom drawer.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Mar 22 at 2017 11:22 AM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:22:58 -0400

No and I think you are misreading the situation. You couldn't reserve a conference room except during the chow time hours. This is most likely due to the other people who were thinking specifically about their chow time reserving conference rooms ahead of you.

Now when I was in, I was a motivated go-getter who thought the world would fall apart if I wasn't in the shop. So there were many times where I'd work through chow or not eat anything at all.

I've actually had my SNCOs order me to go get chow because they knew it was the only way to get me to stop working. If I happened to bring my chow to work, they would order me to stay out of the office between so and so a time.

I understand why they did it, because my brain wouldn't turn off any other way.

Another thing to consider is a lot of this comes from personal pride. We are taught to function with less so in case of an emergency we can survive with less. But it tricks our brain into thinking we don't need it. We feel hungry, but if we're busy, we brush it off and tell ourselves that we've gotten by with less.

The military doesn't want us working through lunch, it just trains us to be able to live without it. It's our personal drive which forces us to sit behind our desks during chow time. Believe me, I've known people who are counting down the minutes until the chow hall opens and they're the first ones to ask to go to chow.

Response by SFC Andrew Miller made Mar 22 at 2017 11:24 AM

SFC Andrew Miller — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:24:13 -0400

It took me almost 5 years after retirement to start ensuring that I go somewhere else for lunch and occasionally walk around the building for a break once or twice during the day as well. I do still shift lunch left or right depending on appointments, because veterans are my customers and I accommodate as much as I can, but still make sure I take those breaks.

I now do either a quick breakfast or fast for the morning, but take a good lunch break and have dinner with my family most nights. Before I retired I was averaging 10-12 good, sit down meals a week counting weekends.

Even if only for 5 minutes, stepping away and thinking about something else or just going for a short walk and letting your mind wander helps make stress management a little easier.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 11:33 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 11:33:31 -0400

Sometimes working through lunch is unavoidable, whether that be due to deployment, training, VTC/conference calls with multiple time zones, or just something really hot that needs to be completed, but for the most part I make it a habit of getting away during lunch, if not to eat then to get some exercise or fresh air or just recharge. When I have been in command I made it an unofficial policy that all my Soldiers stopped working and left...just get away from work for an hour or so. Like I said initially, sometimes this is impossible, but for the most part there is no reason to work through lunch.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 12:21 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:21:43 -0400

In the military, I missed meals, ate on the go, or had them delayed. In my civilian career, I often had to eat my lunch while working. I frequency had to give presentations or hold meetings. Most of the conference rooms would be booked solid except around lunch or after hours. That would be the only time that I could go in and makes sure the equipment was operational and to conduct a dry run. Unless there were openings in the schedule, you were not allowed to take valuable conference room time to check over the equipment and conduct a dry run. If I had time, I would take my lunch and eat at a park. If I tried eating in my office, I rarely had an uninterrupted lunch.

Response by SPC John Lebiecki made Mar 22 at 2017 12:51 PM

SPC John Lebiecki — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 12:51:08 -0400

It really depends on where you work and how your pay works. Non-exempt in the civilian sector you are forced into mandatory lunch breaks IAW local laws. Exempt it has become alot easier to either miss or atleast change the lunch schedule.

Now that I am salaried, I eat lunch when I have the window of availability.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 1:09 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 13:09:43 -0400

What is this lunch thing you speak of?

Response by SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM made Mar 22 at 2017 3:19 PM

SFC William Stephens A. Jr., 3 MSM, JSCM — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 15:19:03 -0400

NO ITS JUST INSTILLED

Response by SFC George Smith made Mar 22 at 2017 7:10 PM

SFC George Smith — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 19:10:35 -0400

NO... But is sure seams Like it... Especially Just before or after Deployments...

Response by SPC Saundra Teater made Mar 22 at 2017 8:04 PM

SPC Saundra Teater — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 20:04:20 -0400

I think it depends on the situation. When I was working with children, I ate with them. We would have another twenty minute break, but most worked on their class planners. I enjoyed it so didn't really see it as working on break. I was able to joke and talk and have a break from my preschool class.

When I worked expedite in freight transport, if I had time, I would take lunch. But that wasn't often. It wasn't because I wasn't allowed to. It was more that I saw the need to finish what I was working on for a customer. I would miss scheduled breaks all the time.
HR would yell, then we would scan out for break, go back to work and most times forget to scan back in. When we needed a break, we would decide to go take one. But my coworker and I could never leave with a job still not finished. But when we could, we took off for a break. So, what does that say? The army totally enabled my perfectionist ways. But who's fault was that? I can't say either one of us. I do have problems with others who do not have the same work ethics. I can't leave with a job half finished. I've been ordered out of office because of hours, but when called I would work it without pay.

Response by MCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2017 9:14 PM

MCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:14:08 -0400

After over 26 years of service, spread over 30 years, I learned that sometimes you don't get lunch. Sometimes you get five minutes - and you use all five minutes. Sometimes you get 30 minutes - and you use all thirty minutes. Every once in a while, you get 90 minutes - and, come hell or high water, you use EVERY ONE of those ninety minutes.

Response by CPO Bill Penrod made Mar 22 at 2017 11:59 PM

CPO Bill Penrod — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 23:59:08 -0400

Guess it's brown bag time.....................

Response by SGT Patrick Reno made Mar 23 at 2017 10:45 AM

SGT Patrick Reno — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 10:45:53 -0400

Not just the military but also certain carriers. I have spent 30 years working maintenance in sawmills. If the plants broke down you don't stop until it's back up and running. Some times we will have the reg. labors helping us and break or lunch comes and they just walk off. We have had days where you end up taking both breaks and lunch all at one time, or still be there working when everyone else go's home.

Response by SFC Dennis A. made Mar 23 at 2017 7:32 PM

SFC Dennis A. — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 19:32:06 -0400

I worked through many lunches while in the Army when the job and mission took priority. I've be out of the Army for over 20 years and I still work through lunch when the job takes priority. Not my bosses choice, my choice, it's the way I was raised.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2017 1:46 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 01:46:55 -0400

SGT Ben Keen you mean some people enjoy their lunch not at a desk or have a lunch every day?