Posted on Feb 11, 2015
What is the funniest use of food you've seen/done while in the military?
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I have been out of the military for quite a while now, and my current career as an educator leads to lots of questions from my students. A lot of times the questions are along the lines of "What was the funniest/coolest/most memorable thing from your time in the army?" Many of my responses would not be appropriate for the classroom, so I tend to focus on the "funniest" aspsect of the question(s) I get. After a few stories, one of my students asked why food seems to come up so often? The more I thought about it, the more I realized the student was right. The best answer I could give this particular student is that in the field/on deployment/out to sea sometimes food is the only form of entertainment around. This leads to things like the MRE cracker challenge, new and disgusting food combinations (MRE cornbeef hash mixed with peanut butter comes to mind), eating only T-ration pudding for a week straight, and various other ideas. So, what is the funniest use of food you have seen or done while serving?
Posted in these groups: 
Food/Chow
Food/Chow
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 9
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From Basic I was sent to Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis for my AIT. Chow in Basic consisted of stuff and eggs, always scrambled. First morning for breakfast at Uncle Ben's Rest Home, I go to the mess hall, get in line and the Pvt. dishing out eggs asks me "How do you want your eggs?" Well!! This a pleasant change! Slightly dumbfounded I blurt out, "Oh...any way!" He then picks up two eggs, still in the shell, and tosses them to me! I caught one and missed one. The servers all had a good laugh.
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In Diego Garcia you could go to the Far Side of the Island (Old Coconut Plantation) and camp out for your entire break period that could be a 3 day weekend if you were a day snake. You had to make a few arrangements. Permit to camp from the Royal Police, Permit for a Bonfire and give the Chow Hall everyone's chow card number and they would send a pick-up out with food for you to cook on the grills out there. Well they always sent out lots of good stuff and they also sent out a 1 gallon can of "Mixed Fruit" nobody would eat it. The 1 Gallon Can of Mixed Fruit was usually thrown in the Bonfire and then everyone would back-away awaiting the inevitable explosion. The last time we did it the Lid ended up on the Roof of the Old French Guest House after the explosion.
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I never had any experiences with bizarre food in my time, but early at my first duty station, (NAS Whidbey), I got assigned mess duty. One day they were serving these chocolate chip cookies that I just loved, and someone else knocked the tray over and they all fell on the floor. Actually many never touched the floor, a couple did, and a couple plates broke. The order given though was that none could be used now, so I quickly volunteered to clean the entire mess up. I swept up and disposed of the broken glass mingled inedibles, and salvaged a nice sized bag of perfectly clean cookies to sneak back to my barracks. 5 second rule works, right? Those were always really good cookies!
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An E-4 in my section stole a gallon can of chocolate and a gallon can of vanilla puddings from the mess tent. 4 of us commenced to having a great time trying to eat all the pudding. Talk about feeling like crap about an hour later. Karma - 1. The 4 of us - 0.
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CPL Brendan Hayes
SGT Michael Bair I remember seeing something remarkably similar at the very end of a NTC rotation. I didn't partake, but man was it funny to watch.
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SGT Michael Bair
Been there to many times. This escapade happend at Graf or a Reforger. To long ago...
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I remember hitting port in Jordan and everyone in my platoon was eager to get off ship to try some of this meat on a rotisserie. I was reluctant an stuck to MRE's or ship food. Lucky for me because everyone who ate that mystery meat got food poisoning.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Ah a Sea Service Mans Old Buddy Salmonella. In 21 years had the "Cheerio" burbs 3 times. Every time Undercooked Chicken from some On-Base Vendor.
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CPL Brendan Hayes Enroute to Korea aboard the USS William Weigel “we” discovered an unused galley - fully stocked galley that is - the ship was not transporting a full load of Soldiers.
We enjoyed eating all of the ice cream we could stomach!
Do you suppose the returning RCP, (returning combat personnel), missed their ice cream on their return trip to CONUS?
My shipboard duty was to operate a garbage disposal during meals. A adjacent, small pantry contained boxes of Vanilla Wafer Cookies. An entire meal of Vanilla Wafers would fit into the baggy pockets of my HBT Fatigues blouse.
We enjoyed eating all of the ice cream we could stomach!
Do you suppose the returning RCP, (returning combat personnel), missed their ice cream on their return trip to CONUS?
My shipboard duty was to operate a garbage disposal during meals. A adjacent, small pantry contained boxes of Vanilla Wafer Cookies. An entire meal of Vanilla Wafers would fit into the baggy pockets of my HBT Fatigues blouse.
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3-day-old tepid left-overs used in polliwog/line-crossing festivities. Am told it's sadly watered down from the way it was in the good old days when I was in the Navy. Something about lack of calcium/hard-metal mineral content in the spinal bones(LOLOL).
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Gaegogi - Korean Dog delicacy. Of course there was always the joke whenever we would see a dog on the streets "Run boy Run! You don't want to become dinner!"... but curiosity got the better of me and I started actually trying to find a place where I could TRY it.
That turned out to be quite a challenge, it turns out that Korean's are sensitive about serving it to Americans after years or ridicule (go figure). Finally, after months a Korean civilian employee that I'd become friends with took me to a place.
Pretty good actually, not something that I find myself craving and drooling at the neighbor's dog over (it's actually a special breed of dog raised specifically for that purpose)... but definitely edible.
That turned out to be quite a challenge, it turns out that Korean's are sensitive about serving it to Americans after years or ridicule (go figure). Finally, after months a Korean civilian employee that I'd become friends with took me to a place.
Pretty good actually, not something that I find myself craving and drooling at the neighbor's dog over (it's actually a special breed of dog raised specifically for that purpose)... but definitely edible.
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CSM Charles Hayden Passed 7/29/2025
SPC David Hannaman Korea -1954/55. Gi’s dogs at Camp Casey were allowed to grow - until they qualified as trading materials.
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In I Corps; Viet Nam we would give the "Zipper and Slope Heads" some of our "C-Rations" to try out. Some would be curious enough to taste them. Then to see them spit it out and the face's on those "Gook's" was something to see.
Sgt M.B. USMC
Sgt M.B. USMC
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