Should the Army continue giving Soldiers 90 minute lunches?

CW2 Jonathan Kantor — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:43:27 -0400

To be fair, I loved taking 90 minute lunches when I was a junior Soldier.  Now that I am in charge of a mission, I hate them!  I have to lose productivity for 90 minutes???  That's ridiculous!  <br><br>Funny how we change our opinions of things when we advance...<br><br>What do you think?  Is 90 minutes too long?  Too short?  Goldilocks?<br><br>Not talking about combat operations here, just garrison.  I don't know
anyone who would disappear from their station for 90 minutes while
deployed.<br>

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Apr 15 at 2014 12:49 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:49:31 -0400

I say 90 minute lunches everyday is too long but maybe on a special day or as a reward to your Soldiers for great work on something the 90 minute lunch is a nice thing. Again, like most things in life, they are good when done in a controlled manner.

Response by CPT Brandon Christensen made Apr 15 at 2014 12:59 PM

CPT Brandon Christensen — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:59:57 -0400

That is funny. I remember being an E1 and took every minute of my 60 minute lunch on drill weekends. Now that I am in leadership, I take about 15-20 minutes to cram down my food and get back to work so I can leave at a respectable time at the end of the day.

Personally I think 90 minutes is too long for lunch. 60 may be the right number to allow for travel/traffic and allow sufficient time to eat and not "shove it down and taste it later" mentality. At the 90 minute mark, Soldiers could get complacent and bad things could happen in that time. Not saying it would, but I was an E4 at one time and I know their mentality.

Thought about talking to leadership about it and recommending a shorter lunch for this and this reason?

Response by CW2 Jonathan Kantor made Apr 15 at 2014 1:06 PM

CW2 Jonathan Kantor — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 13:06:19 -0400

I almost never take a lunch. If I do, I grab something and eat it at my desk, but more often than not, I don't have time to eat.

Response by SGT James Elphick made Apr 15 at 2014 1:27 PM

SGT James Elphick — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 13:27:33 -0400

Now that I'm in the civilian world, I miss them...

Response by SSG Robert Burns made Apr 15 at 2014 7:51 PM

SSG Robert Burns — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 19:51:21 -0400

I'm assuming you have at least 90 min lunches because you've started about 20 discussions today.  ;-)

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2014 8:11 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:11:39 -0400

I love them because it's quiet and I can get some work done.

Response by GySgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2014 8:46 PM

GySgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:46:15 -0400

90 minutes!!! And as a junior soldier! Wow!!! When I was a boot, my Corporal marched us to chow, watched us eat, then marched us right back to carry out the plan of the day. I am assuming that 90 minutes includes nap time :D lol

Response by SSG Daniel Deiler made Apr 15 at 2014 9:47 PM

SSG Daniel Deiler — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:47:07 -0400

Let's not forget the 90 minute breakfast as well. That's THREE hours folks...THREE HOURS!!! Those in the civilian world manage to get lunch and back to work in as little as 30 minutes. I for one would like to see a max of 60 minutes for both breakfast and lunch. I've lived off post AND on post and would have no problems showering, eating and being to work on time and in the correct uniform. Heck, You could even keep your normal PT schedule of 0630-0730, be back in for duty at 0830, break for lunch at 12 (I always thought that eating at 1130 was too soon after just having finished eating breakfast around 0840 anyway) and back to work at 1300. With the 60 minutes you saved by cutting breakfast and lunch a mere 30 minutes each, the duty day could end at 1600 with the same amount of hours being worked and back home to our families an hour earlier in the day!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2014 9:57 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:57:01 -0400

I don't take lunch normally. Give me 90 minutes at the school house and I will take a 5 minute lunch and a 50 minute nap plus commute.

Response by MSG Martin C. made Apr 15 at 2014 10:05 PM

MSG Martin C. — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 22:05:38 -0400

There is no such animal.... The mission dictates the lunch time allocated. Specially when you plan ahead you can rotate or let them know prior to the mission to pack their lunch..... There is no regulation stating 90 minutes.... I know you are kidding this must be a test.....

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 12:35 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 00:35:04 -0400

Sir,<div><br></div><div>A "90-minute" lunch is actually 75 minutes because they have to report back 15 minutes prior.  I don't use the full 75 minutes because I don't eat at the DFAC, but I know from being on KP duty that the line to scan your ID just to enter the DFAC can be 20 minutes long.  If you provide lunch for your Soldiers, then yes, 75 minutes is too long.</div><div><br></div><div>Every other year is spent on deployment working 12-hour shifts for 7 days per week. I'm glad that the Soldiers get some chill time because it increases their quality of life overall.  Soon enough they'll be NCOs and they'll be eating at their desks, so I don't begrudge them these few fleeting years of freedom.</div><div><br></div>

Response by SGT Tj West made Apr 16 at 2014 2:25 AM

SGT Tj West — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 02:25:30 -0400

Seriously? Apparently the army I served in was a bit different from the big army. If I would have disappeared for 90 minutes in the middle of the day as a junior enlisted soldier my team leader would have had my butt for lunch. If I had "free time" during the day it was to be used for the express and sole purpose of learning my craft. New privates were expected to carry fm 7-85 (Ranger Handbook) at all times so that they could use their free time wisely. Of course, every spec four with a tab took the opportunity to provide you with remedial training if you were caught using free time for unapproved purposes such as relaxing.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 9:36 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 09:36:45 -0400

I mainly bring my lunch with me, however I take that time
and go to the gym and do a small workout. Some days I am not able to do that
because mission dictates or something else needs to happen during that time, but for the most part I go to the gym.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 1:46 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 13:46:51 -0400

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</font><font size="3">Ninety minutes is not a lot of time when it comes to
lunches. You do not realize how much you miss that time to go run errands until
you do not get that time anymore. Give the Soldiers their time to do what they
need to during that lunch break. If you are a leader we realize that we
typically do not get the 90 minutes for lunch. We usually have meetings or are
trying to catch up on something and I'm with all the people that said those 90
minutes are their quite time to get things done. That was what I typically used
it for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, let’s be honest some units
are not that busy that they can't give their Soldiers 90 minutes for lunch. Oh
and someone mentioned 90 minutes after PT. It's for personal hygiene as well.</font></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Times New Roman">

</font></font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">

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Response by PO2 Rocky Kleeger made Apr 16 at 2014 2:27 PM

PO2 Rocky Kleeger — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:27:40 -0400

What? Hell, I rarely got to take a lunch when I was in

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 2:39 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:39:25 -0400

What is this 90 minute lunch thing you speak of chief?

My lunch in here is usually get something in my desk before the Soldiers get their lunch break from class and come see me. After they are gone, I might have a few minutes of peace and quiet before the next meeting.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 5:19 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:19:29 -0400

chiming in from Rose Barracks, Germany-
THE ARMY GIVES PEOPLE 90 MINUTE LUNCHES?!?!?!

Its few and far between you catch more than an hour around here.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 6:09 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:09:06 -0400

I guess you can take this with a grain of salt, because the last time I had a 90 minute lunch was 2000. If you are in charge of a shop and you aren't on a tight leash you control your section's OPTEMPO. If your OPTEMPO dictates that you can't afford a 90 minute lunch work with your crew to find a solution that works. At my Guard unit we also multitask through lunch by verifying our information on the Alpha roster and listening to mandatory briefings. We generally are given no more than 60 minutes, and the staff, like me, get enough time to eat it and then taste it later.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 16 at 2014 9:29 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 21:29:32 -0400

I think this just needs to be driven by the mission and the place you are at. Twice I have been at installations where there was only 1 DFAC for the entire post, you didn't have to drive to get there, and the mission was slow enough at times to allow this. So when this could be allowed why not, because while many may mention that in the civilian world this wouldn't be tolerated, also in the civilian world there are other things such as over time pay, triple time pay and your not pulling 24 hour duties. So while most times it can be far too much time for lunch the Army does do other things to recoup.

Me personally I eat at my desk or on the run to my next mission, but I don't expect everyone to hold to this.

Happy Soldiers will always work harder, with more precision and respectfully verses them being disgruntled making mistakes, working slowly and possibly making the mission a repeat mission due to their disgruntled attitude. Also this could cause you to have to monitor them more often.

I find when my Soldiers feel more taken care of they don't mind having to take a short lunch sometimes and that I don't have to follow behind them the entire time they are completing a task.

I guess in short, give them the time when you can afford to, because your gonna have to take time from them at some other point.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Apr 17 at 2014 12:06 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 00:06:13 -0400

Never even thought about it but I did have some high quality chow in the Navy and Plenty of time to enjoy it. Now there were lots of exceptions though. 90 mins is great until I became the OWC and had to coordinate lunch delivery to a location where no one could be away from their posits, Yeah I had 90 Minutes to coordinate getting the chow to the site. get my guys fed and then everything back to the chow hall. so no it was more of 20-30 mins for them and 90 minutes of work for me.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 12:09 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 00:09:01 -0400

Don't forget where you came from! The mission was still accomplished then and it is still accomplished now

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 12:11 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 00:11:08 -0400

This is the "good idea fairy" hard at work right here.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 7:34 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 07:34:17 -0400

I'm getting a kick out of a lot of the "Back in my day" stories.

Back in my day we had 5 minutes to run the 5 miles to the chow hall, uphill, grab an apple, and be back in Dress Uniform for special pt!

90 minute lunches in the Army allow time for the Soldiers to get to chow (whether it be the chow hall or food court, etc...) stand the 20-30 minutes in line, eat, and come back to work. It also allows for people to get small things done...today on my lunch I ran to the bank, did a short run, showered, changed back into uniform, and ate my lunch in my car as I awaited a mandatory 1 hr SHARP stand down training.

If anything is hampering "productivity" it's all of the mandatory training that gets thrown at us.

Response by SFC Douglas Eshenbaugh made Apr 17 at 2014 8:16 AM

SFC Douglas Eshenbaugh — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 08:16:21 -0400

On a base like Fort Bragg or Fort Belvoir it can take 90 minutes to get something to eat and get back. With BRAC cramming these bases to the rafters it's more than the infrastructure can handle. On days I know we're going to have a tight schedule I always tell my guys to bring a lunch. But on normal days it's just a matter of accepting the given.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 8:21 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 08:21:43 -0400

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</font><p style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;" class="MsoNormal"><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Calibri">I think 90 minutes lunches are good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>If mission dictates then cut it down for that
day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple management 101. During
recruiting lunch was something fast that you shoveled down.  funny thing is
station commanders never wanted you to go through the drive through window
because they want you to P3 WHILE getting your lunch…never rest...What I learned is remember
where you came from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Relax and enjoy the
company around you when you get the chance. Life is short!</font></p><font color="#000000" size="3" face="Times New Roman">

</font>

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 8:26 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 08:26:15 -0400

When we as a collective agency stop using up more time than is necessary for official business, then I'd say we could start looking at making lunch breaks more efficient. As far as while deployed, how else am I to take advantage of the great Pizza establishment we had?!

Response by SSG Laureano Pabon made Apr 17 at 2014 9:01 PM

SSG Laureano Pabon — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 21:01:21 -0400

Well Sir in the Civilian sector 90 mins is Gold if its with pay, however 90 mins is a rip off if its with out pay. In my case my lunch is with out pay so 90 mins of my personal time is way too long. I just assume work the 8 hours and leave 90 mins early instead.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 17 at 2014 10:54 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 22:54:54 -0400

90 minutes for us has already been cut down to 60. Most of the time, we are waiting on seniors to complete mission so a 90 minute lunch wouldn't make much of a difference anyways.  Chow hall for single soldiers wasn't prepared for the entire brigade to be shuttling through in 60 minutes, so alot of single soldiers just couldn't eat there within that time limit. They have gotten better, but most of the time if something needs to get done we are on pause because people can't push out the proper information, or someone above changes their mind about how, or what is priority. <br>

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 19 at 2014 7:59 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:59:06 -0400

Does anyone know why Soldiers are provided 90 minute lunches? There is a reason to it, I am just wondering if anyone knows what that reason is.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 19 at 2014 8:04 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 20:04:14 -0400

Lunch? When the heck did that start.

Work though it. I know I'm supposed to take lunch, but I'm a workaholic. I'll send the Soldiers to eat, I'll ensure those senior to me eat. I'll eat at my desk. Just like I have for the last 20 years.

Maybe tomorrow, I'll see about taking the 90-minute lunch. We should go back to the 2-beer lunch like they had up until the 1980's. Not sure why we stopped that.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 20 at 2014 1:28 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 13:28:53 -0400

There is no one size fits all answer. Let the NCO's manage their troops and man hours. If the mission is time intensive the NCO should have the option to send their troops to lunch in 30 minute shifts. On days when the mission is lighter there is nothing wrong with cutting them loose early to enjoy a 90 minute lunch break. What ever you do don't cut their lunch to have them sitting around doing nothing, or simple busy work. That will lead to low moral, which will potentially lead to "blowing of steam", which leads to SIRs.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 20 at 2014 3:31 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Apr 2014 15:31:47 -0400

In my opinion, the extra time is for Soldiers to accomplish those smaller tasks during the day (like haircuts, medical appts, run to post office, vehicle tags, etc..) as well as to get some chow. That way those little ankle biter missions don't interfere with the overall mission. If used properly, the 90 minutes can be productive. Additionally, have you seen the lines at the DFAC and at the gates during lunch? It almost takes that long to get back on post!

Response by MAJ Steve Sheridan made May 14 at 2014 9:17 AM

MAJ Steve Sheridan — Wed, 14 May 2014 09:17:08 -0400

I usually am eating lunch at my desk while working, would love even a 40 min lunch

Response by Cpl Glynis Sakowicz made May 14 at 2014 9:35 AM

Cpl Glynis Sakowicz — Wed, 14 May 2014 09:35:32 -0400

Can't speak for the Army, but in the Marines, we got long lunches, though we were expected to have PT during said lunch hours... of course group PT goes about 0500, but there were gym events and suchlike that you were expected to, if not participate in, at least to show up.

It was because of the "Zero Dark Thirty" PT formations that I ended up retired as a Cpl... short people in the front... trying to navigate around a large swamp-like puddle in the running track... run over by thirty larger Marines in a Keystone Cops event... but I digress... 90 minute lunches, unless necessary for planned actions, makes little sense, but that's just me...and I'm just saying.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 14 at 2014 11:15 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 14 May 2014 11:15:00 -0400

Yes! 90 minute lunches are a positive. All the above is correct, and I know team building exercises are also used at lunch (i.e. bowling with colleagues).

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made May 14 at 2014 11:54 AM

Maj Chris Nelson — Wed, 14 May 2014 11:54:17 -0400

I would pose the follow up question: if no 90 minute lunches, how else will we process the 2 beers during lunch and not be over legal limit upon return to work? and get in the lunchtime nap?

Oh, wait....My bad.... That was OLD SCHOOL military where you could have 2 beers during lunch. You will get UCMJ and drummed out for that now days!!

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 19 at 2014 6:31 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:31:30 -0400

Where is regulations does it say 90 minutes? I had a E-4 once tell me when I was doing change of command inventories that it was lunch time. I told her to quote the regulation that lunch started at 1130 and I would let them go. We then worked some more and I ordered pizza for the work detail and we had an hour lunch.

Response by PO2 Rocky Kleeger made Oct 19 at 2014 6:56 PM

PO2 Rocky Kleeger — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 18:56:45 -0400

90 minutes? Hell, when I was on active duty I was lucky to get 10 minutes

Response by SSG Maurice P. made Oct 19 at 2014 7:05 PM

SSG Maurice P. — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:05:26 -0400

CW2 Kantor the marine corps has a 90 minute lunch at least back in my day and it wasnt just so a marine could eat but he could P.T SHOWER AND EAT having said that i'm sure the army is geared along them same lines...

Response by 1SG David Niles made Oct 19 at 2014 7:58 PM

1SG David Niles — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 19:58:58 -0400

I sure did not get a 90 minute lunch while I was in.

Response by PO3 Shaun Taylor made Oct 19 at 2014 11:29 PM

PO3 Shaun Taylor — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 23:29:41 -0400

I didn't have that luxury when I was on active duty.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 20 at 2014 11:43 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 11:43:14 -0400

90 minutes is an acceptable amount of time for meal card holders because with the army cutting the funding for DFACs, long lines take the majority of the lunch break. For leaders, I've noticed a steady correlation between the leaders that take an hour and a half lunch and poor job performance.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 4 at 2014 4:54 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 16:54:12 -0500

Wait...When did they shorten the lunches ro 90 minutes?

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made May 27 at 2015 6:54 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 27 May 2015 18:54:00 -0400

90 minutes, wow. I'm getting 30 minutes if that at my current duty assignment but being a senior Warrant Officer in the maintenance field, you get use to it. If you add up the 90 minutes for lunch, formation times and smoke breaks, how much time does the average Soldier actually work during the week?

Response by Cpl John Debba made Jul 28 at 2016 6:34 PM

Cpl John Debba — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 18:34:25 -0400

Isn't morale among the biggest factor in mission, and does the 90 minute break boost morale of troops under your charge? You're not very much of a commander if you don't know your troops, and have to ask question to those with nothing to lose.

Response by SPC John Decker made Nov 17 at 2016 6:50 PM

SPC John Decker — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 18:50:23 -0500

90 minutes!?! We had 30 from the time the first guy walked in til the last guy walked out. (that was during basic and AIT). Once at duty station, we had 30 minutes from the time we left our assigned work area to get to the chow hall, eat and get back.

Response by SSgt Michael Cox made Nov 17 at 2016 6:55 PM

SSgt Michael Cox — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 18:55:30 -0500

As an aircraft maintainer our max lunch was 60 min if we were lucky a lot of the time it was 30 min. I have never heard of anyone getting a 90 min lunch. From this AF SSgt who was spoiled according to my Army and Marine friends it sounds like the Army was spoiled also.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2016 8:50 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 20:50:07 -0500

The 90 minutes kinda breaks down like this. 10 mins to get to the Car. 15 mins to drive to someplace to eat (DFAC/FOOD Court). Another 15mins to wait in line. 15 minutes to eat. Then another 15 minutes to drive back. 10 Minutes to park and walk back to the office. Which mean they arrive 10 mins prior. So if you really break it down, they don't actually have 90 minutes to "EAT".

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2016 9:35 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:35:53 -0500

Absolutely. Life is too short to spend every day vacuuming food in your mouth because you gotta be back somewhere in a hurry. Soldiers work hard all day (sometimes), and many eat in a DFAC that takes 30-45 minutes to get in an out of. There's also travel time to and from that cuts into the lunch experience. Making it short only leads to hasty eating processes and poorer eating choices.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2016 8:25 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 08:25:49 -0500

Getting rid of 300 dollars a month meal card would be enough.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 18 at 2016 11:22 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 11:22:49 -0500

90 minutes??? I was lucky if it was an hour! But whenever and wherever deployed, it was like eat when ya can, you got 2 mres, (1 for each cargo pocket); MOVE OUT! But since I was the 'doc' I never had to worry, too much...I was the one taken care of, cuz I took care of the troops.

Response by CPL Perry Olson made Nov 18 at 2016 9:03 PM

CPL Perry Olson — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 21:03:07 -0500

Productivity and garrison really aren't 2 words that should be together when describing garrison. Riley is a joke spent 75% of the day having don't rape female classes, don't drink and drive/do drugs classes typically and then go spend 10 days in the field sitting around all day and then have fake ambushes for an hour at night do an AAR and pat ourselves on the back for "serving" army should have 4 hour "lunches" to fill the time wasted for soldiers to jerk off in the B's if you ask me lol

Response by GySgt David Hernandez made Jan 30 at 2018 1:38 PM

GySgt David Hernandez — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 13:38:50 -0500

So what you're saying is you are now a buddy fucker after picking up

Response by GySgt David Hernandez made Jan 31 at 2018 7:57 AM

GySgt David Hernandez — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 07:57:54 -0500

Soooo.... what you're saying is that you picked up and want to change to a blue falcon huh?

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Jan 31 at 2018 9:35 AM

Capt Tom Brown — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 09:35:36 -0500

What is the standard workday length in Army garrison? We always had an 8 hour workday with an extra hour added on the end to make up for the hour lunch break. How does the Army figure in the 90 minutes?

Response by CW2 Jonathan Kantor made Jan 31 at 2018 9:54 AM

CW2 Jonathan Kantor — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 09:54:01 -0500

I was surprised to see folks responding to this question since I posted it 4 years ago. When I wrote this, I had a team of about 24 Troops who would all take a 90 minute lunch at the same time in the middle of an 8-hour workday. They would leave one guy behind. I put a stop to that almost immediately and split them into two lunch shifts, but I found it damaging to productivity to have half my workforce gone for so long during the middle of the day. It was an "unwritten" company policy that they take the long lunches, but it was too long so I cut it to 60. I certainly understand the need to get out and have chow, but given the options available to them, there was no justification for such a long lunch "hour".

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Jan 31 at 2018 11:36 AM

MCPO Roger Collins — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 11:36:53 -0500

Helps to make up for the many meals that were missed during deployments and equipment casualty situations.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2018 12:04 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 12:04:45 -0500

CW2 Jonathan Kantor where did you get these? I hardly ever got these, only really for unit functions such as farewell or family parties.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 31 at 2018 12:07 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 12:07:11 -0500

What is this 90 minute lunch you speak of?

Response by SPC David Willis made Jan 31 at 2018 1:10 PM

SPC David Willis — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 13:10:24 -0500

I cant imagine them being any shorter. At large bases you have many thousands of soldiers taking lunch at the same time. It wasn't unusual to spend 15-20 minutes standing in line to order at a pop-eyes or at the DFAC. Also a lot of individual admin tasks can get done during this time, hair cuts, doctor/dental appointments so on and so on. Not to mention most days folks work close to 12 hour days and it can be a good time to relax and see the family although I also preferred taking a quick nap.

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Jan 31 at 2018 5:03 PM

CSM Richard StCyr — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 17:03:07 -0500

Chief, I think it depends on the mission load.
I was a Combat Heavy Construction guy and we used the 90 minutes to rotate troops through chow when we had hot construction deadlines or on concrete placement days. It allowed us to have continuous manning and production and still get the guys through the chow line.
It also allowed the troops to get a lot of personal business done that would otherwise have eaten away at training and maintenance time on the standard duty days.

Response by PO1 Tony Holland made Feb 1 at 2018 12:24 AM

PO1 Tony Holland — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 00:24:40 -0500

Nobody said it would be easy dining on MRE's -- lol

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2018 11:05 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 11:05:22 -0400

Just because you're afforded 90 minutes for lunch doesn't mean you have to take it. Even better, if you get 90 minutes for lunch, go be productive and hit the gym, shower, then eat some food before you get back into the grind.

Response by CW2 Ashley Hendley made Jul 13 at 2018 4:47 PM

CW2 Ashley Hendley — Fri, 13 Jul 2018 16:47:06 -0400

Never heard of su h! From q956 to 1976, my lunch breaks (and those who worked "with " me) were 30 minutes. I admittedly did extend my own somewhat during my final year of active duty.