What is the worst meal you have had in the military? What was the best?

SN Vivien Roman-Hampton — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 21:55:47 -0400

Response by LT Brad McInnis made Oct 11 at 2017 9:59 PM

LT Brad McInnis — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 21:59:05 -0400

Best - the cooks made these bagel and egg sandwiches that were awesome!
Worst - I was at Quantico in the field, and opened up a ham slice MRE that had gone bad. Didn't think that MRE's could go bad. The Drill SGT was surprised, too, and said "Sucks to be you sir, I hope you like crackers!" Joke was on him, I lost a couple of pounds!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 11 at 2017 10:00 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 22:00:57 -0400

Hard to pick an exact worst meal but on my last deployment I swear the cooks put curry in EVERYTHING. After awhile everything just tasted the same. That smell was stuck in my nostrils for weeks after getting home. It probably ruined curry for me for the rest of my life.

Response by SFC Dave Beran made Oct 11 at 2017 10:13 PM

SFC Dave Beran — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 22:13:26 -0400

The worst was Reforger 1989 when they tried 7-1 rations. There was a lot of mystery food in them. The best I had several times. While stationed at Ft Lewis we often had to go to McChord AFB to load up or unload our equipment. While waiting we could have sent the AF mess. T-Bone steaks cooked to order and all the fixings.

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Oct 11 at 2017 10:40 PM

SGT Philip Roncari — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 22:40:29 -0400

Worse C rats - Vietnam
Best steak dinner - AirForce base on return from same

Response by MAJ Don Bigger made Oct 11 at 2017 10:45 PM

MAJ Don Bigger — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 22:45:36 -0400

My worst meal, bar none—the one I remember even now, 47 years later—was my very first meal as a new recruit at MCRD San Diego. We’d just spent all night in-processing and had just been marched to the mess hall. I can remember the smell of the recruits (yes, they have a unique smell—the brand-new uniforms, heads shaven, whatever) combined with the smell of the mass-produced food, DI’s yelling at you with about 5 minutes to get it all down; yeah, that was the worst.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 11 at 2017 11:13 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 23:13:45 -0400

Bagnasties weren't really nasty especially the jimmy Dean French toast sandwich it was awesome.

Response by SGT Jim Ramge, MBA made Oct 11 at 2017 11:26 PM

SGT Jim Ramge, MBA — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 23:26:39 -0400

Didn’t complain much about the food... It all was fairly bland due to health reasons. But if I had to boil it down, prolly the box lunch/dinners between Rhein Main and Saudi on the AMC flights! Cannot say I had a best meal. Some DFACs just did a better job at presenting the same stuff. The NCO Academy in Korea did alright with their burgers, but I guess if you consider a handmade burger over a pre-made “the best”, it’s still food. LOL

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2017 12:15 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 00:15:46 -0400

SN Vivien Roman-Hampton One of the best was a steak dinner that I had in Boot Camp. I volunteered to give blood, and was provided with a great steak dinner by Navy personnel who treated me with respect. It was a welcome break from Boot Camp, and for a little while, I was not a Maggot. This was my first experience donating blood, and I have since donated blood over 150 times. As mentioned by SGT Philip Roncari , the C rations that we had in Vietnam were bad except for the fruit cocktail and pecan cake roll.

Response by Maj John Bell made Oct 12 at 2017 12:17 AM

Maj John Bell — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 00:17:23 -0400

Tuna salad sandwich top piece of bread was dried out, bottom piece of bread was wet. The lettuce was the rib of the leaf, brown and bitter. The French fries were soaked by juice from the canned pears on cottage cheese. The carrot sticks were "flexible."

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2017 12:46 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 00:46:40 -0400

Worst meal I ever had was spaghetti with meat sauce canned collard greens and canned mixed veggies that was delivered on the back of a truck during a field exercise. The spaghetti was so overcooked, then sat and became gummy to the point that it could be molded like clay. The sauce was over-spiced and so salty it was not edible. The collard greens were mushy and cold. I would have eaten an omelet MRE instead, if given a choice.

Best meal was Thanksgiving on Ramstein AFB in Germany. It's typical for many DFACs to conduct a special Thanksgiving dinner that allows the staff to showcase how much they can actually cook if allowed to. This particular group of Airmen (I assume) made the best meal I have ever had in the Army.

Response by AN Christopher Crayne made Oct 12 at 2017 4:09 AM

AN Christopher Crayne — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 04:09:27 -0400

MRE pork patty with maple syrup. Stayed in too long whew...Lol, Best, steak and lobster on carrier.

Response by CPT Andrew Wright made Oct 12 at 2017 5:19 AM

CPT Andrew Wright — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 05:19:54 -0400

Worst meal: The cans of beef in C-rats looked, smelled, and tasted like dog food. Best meal: Surf and Turf night at the KBR contract chow hall at Al Assad Air Base, Iraq. They did a very good job on the steaks considering where and when it was.

Response by CPL Dave Hoover made Oct 12 at 2017 6:44 AM

CPL Dave Hoover — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 06:44:02 -0400

First meal in the army, Ft. Leonard Wood. Got fed after 0030 hours (cold sausage, cold mashed potatoes and cold gravy like substance, the cold coffee was good) . The Best, 2/23 Inf, coming out of three weeks training at Yakima Firing Center the night before convoy headed back to Ft. Lewis (steak, bake potato and a coke) .

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Oct 12 at 2017 8:03 AM

CPT Lawrence Cable — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 08:03:28 -0400

The worst has some competition. Let's see, the Ham and Lima Beans out of the old C-rations, the eggs in either C's or MRE's, the Barbequed Pork Patties in the original MRE's and the two bricks they used to put in them marked Freeze Dried Beef and Pork.
Best meal? That triple Whopper with Cheese and a Chocolate Shake at the Burger King after eating MRE's for three weeks or so always seemed memorable.

Response by SGT Mark Halmrast made Oct 12 at 2017 8:09 AM

SGT Mark Halmrast — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 08:09:52 -0400

Worst: orange nut cake. Projectile vomit. Haven't had any "orange" food since (mid-80's).

Best: coffee, in the field.

Next best: Thanksgiving dinner. Cooks did it right.

Response by SFC Dennis A. made Oct 12 at 2017 8:21 AM

SFC Dennis A. — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 08:21:05 -0400

Worst, Desert Storm, T Rat Chicken Cacciatore. Or better know as chicken catch a rat. Best was in the Marshall Islands, every Saturday night was steak night.

Response by CPT Christopher Coker made Oct 12 at 2017 8:30 AM

CPT Christopher Coker — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 08:30:45 -0400

Worst food was (and probably still is) the veggie omelet in an MRE.

I know, hands down, that the best food I ever had in the Army was the legendary blueberry pancakes they serve during the mountain phase of Ranger School. Would it be hyperbole to say they changed my life?!

Thanks for the nostalgia!

Response by CSM Richard StCyr made Oct 12 at 2017 9:55 AM

CSM Richard StCyr — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 09:55:37 -0400

The dehydrated pork patty from the first set of 1980's MRE meal selections.

Response by SP5 Lori Pong made Oct 12 at 2017 10:04 AM

SP5 Lori Pong — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 10:04:10 -0400

The best was in the mess at Fort Jackson. The Base Commander was supposed to visit our battalion that day so we were served lobster w/spanish rice. My buddy didn't like lobster so I traded her my spanish rice for her lobster! Not bad for basic training!

The worse was any meal at the mess in Fort Dix. Every lunch and dinner meal had some type of noodle soup. Day 1 Noodle soup w/chicken broth, Day 2 they would add some green beans, Day three they would add some carrots and peas (I don't think they've ever added meat to it).

Response by Sgt Wayne Wood made Oct 12 at 2017 11:09 AM

Sgt Wayne Wood — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:09:18 -0400

Worst, Cold c-ration spaghetti
Best, helicopter developed “problems” near a little Coast Guard station called Taira just off Okinawa. Lunch was the best roast chicken w/trimmings i ever had.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2017 11:38 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 11:38:06 -0400

worst... grits spiced with mogas on REFORGER. No one best, but I have had some great meals in my travels.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2017 3:59 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 15:59:38 -0400

The old omelet with ham MRE was pretty disgusting.

As for the best, I'd say the blueberry pancakes during mountain phase of Ranger school were pretty freakin awesome.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Oct 12 at 2017 5:14 PM

Cpl Justin Goolsby — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:14:43 -0400

The worst - veggie omelet MRE. It's literally vomit wrapped in plastic disguised as food.
The best - I think the best was during one of the shop's potluck get togethers. Someone made fresh bacon filled waffles. You could literally smell it down the hall. It made your mouth water. Then someone else brought in a pulled pork plate with a sweet potato sauce and the combination of sweet and spicy was delightful.

Response by CW4 Jeff Clater made Oct 12 at 2017 5:37 PM

CW4 Jeff Clater — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 17:37:22 -0400

Worst: Mess Hall; Phu Loi, RVN. Roast beef for breakfast, lunch, dinner for 30+ days straight. Usually was on mission for lunch. Somebody will take exception to this, but C rations for lunch was a welcome change. Best: Thanksgiving meal at Gablingen Kaserne, Germany.

Response by SrA Paul Driscoll made Oct 12 at 2017 7:31 PM

SrA Paul Driscoll — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 19:31:08 -0400

I'm not a fussy eater so I can't think of a particular worst meal, but once I ate in the WAF chow hall and I don't what the occasion was but they served pheasant under glass.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Oct 12 at 2017 7:45 PM

SGM Erik Marquez — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 19:45:03 -0400

SN Vivien Roman-Hampton So long two part response.
The WORST
Oct 1997 I PCSed to Alaska, left family in SC, went by myself to set up new home.
Thanksgiving meal served in 97 at Fort Wainright was awesome.. The atmosphere, the command climate and presence, and the food,,,all superior. So SSG Marquez decides when his family gets there Dec 24th (yes my wife, two young boys , two dogs flew in to remote Alaska on Christmas eve ) When they get there, we would have Christmas dinner at the DFAC....as it was awesome for the last Holiday.. Leave BEQ on the 25th, pack into my Bronco and roll to the DFAC...and its closed..ok, consolidated into the the other one on post, no problem,.... roll to that one and is almost empty.. no fan fair, no leadership, no big spread..seems in Alaska, no one goes home to the lower 48 for Thanksgiving but EVERYONE goes home for Christmas so no big meal is done... Only thing we can find open in Fairbanks to have diner is...Denney's...WORST Christmas meal ever.

The BEST
Thanksgiving 2007, deployed to Iraq, Im the company 1SG...On one of the daily patrols one of my platoons noticed a local had turkeys ..we bartered and bought 4 of them..
Made pens from HESCO's and we fed them what we could for 6 weeks.... We are in a patrol base we built from a farmers house and field.., the farthermost from a FOB of any US element in country..in a place no US forces have been stationed in many years.
I had three cooks assigned after we got the PB built up enough to have that level or support...the food service Sergeant refused to cook "them nasty birds" at first, but I ummm, convinced him it was a better idea to do as i asked then the consequences....and besides we compromised, we would cook them he just had to serve them...lol
He capitulated, we had "fresh" Turkey for dinner on Thanks Giving 2007 I had more then 225 SM on that company patrol base.. those 4 Turkeys fed..........about 90 people....LOL.. Luckily the DFAC SGT figured that out and had plan B. He fed all of us in style...... but those 4 scrawny birds they were more than just meat.... The boys found them, bought them, took care of them, fed them, and when it was time killed and prepped them for the cooking, then many of them to include the CO at the time, a new member of the team after a COC in country....... Those birds and a dedicated DFAC team made a very memorable Thanksgiving , best ever (away from home)

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 12 at 2017 8:19 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 20:19:56 -0400

Worst meal? It's a toss up of any of the mystery meats I got in the field with the Marines. The "chicken," the "turkey," the "pork," the "whatever the heck that was," were all shaped the same, and none of them in any type of natural cut.

Another competitor for the worst was the mess hall at SFOR headquarters in Sarajevo in the late 90s. As someone else mentioned already, curry in EVERYTHING. I think I'm still feeling the heartburn effects 20 years later.

Best meal? Anything at the mess hall in Taszar, Hungary while I was deployed for Operation Joint Guard. Spent a week up there from Sarajevo loading vehicles on the rail head to go back to Germany. Hands down the best mess hall I have ever eaten at.

Response by PO3 J.W. Nelson made Oct 14 at 2017 6:17 PM

PO3 J.W. Nelson — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 18:17:08 -0400

Boot Camp, Great Lakes, ILL. 1966 breakfast consisted of half raw eggs and half raw bacon. Best meal was onboard the USS Enterprise, dinner consisted of T-bone steak, baked potato and half a lobster tail !!!!

Response by PFC Joshua Siler made Oct 15 at 2017 10:53 PM

PFC Joshua Siler — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 22:53:33 -0400

Worst I drew the veggie omlight. Best was a snake I killed and ate I ever stan. Freaked out more Lt

Response by CW3 Kevin Storm made Oct 17 at 2017 10:20 PM

CW3 Kevin Storm — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 22:20:18 -0400

Some grilling I got to do in Tikrit. Rudy's BBQ had sent me a care package of sauce and rib rub. May not of been my best Q, but it was by far the most memorable. The guys all loved it, as it was head and tais better than anything the folks from the "Haliburned-q-ton" contractors were putting out.

Response by PVT Raymond Lopez made Nov 11 at 2017 4:53 AM

PVT Raymond Lopez — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 04:53:14 -0500

The Best meal I ever had was in Basic Training at Fort Dix New Jersey when a deer was accidentally shot during qualification at 400 meters and I had KP the next day an since my parents had taught me to cook I was helping the Mess Sargent to cook. The Post Commander reassigned him as his personal cook fortunately I was spared!

Response by CW5 Jack Cardwell made Nov 11 at 2017 5:09 AM

CW5 Jack Cardwell — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 05:09:38 -0500

Worst meal : Ft Irwin, NTC rotation. Chicken is the main course. Buddy gets a scrawny leg, small scoop potatoes, half spoon green beans. I get one section of a chicken wing, three greens !

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Nov 11 at 2017 6:43 AM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 06:43:47 -0500

Worst was the C-Ration eggs, best was at Ft. Lee while going thru phase II schooling, they had a great steak dinner one night.

Response by SSG Diane R. made Nov 11 at 2017 8:13 AM

SSG Diane R. — Sat, 11 Nov 2017 08:13:04 -0500

Sometime in the late 70s or 80s the Army got into ethnic foods. I can remember having schnitzel and Italian food.

Soul food had to be about the worse I can remember. Even the black guys in the unit complained about it.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Nov 12 at 2017 1:07 AM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 01:07:07 -0500

The hands down worst military provided meal I ever ate was in 2011. Redeploying from Afghanistan with NATO. We changed from French C160 to the Belgian Air Bridge in Dushanbe. The French had a small Staging base there. The meal, on paper, should have been great. It was steak with a variety of side dishes. Going through the line, you grab a sectioned prison tray. There is a planograph for what should go where on the tray, of course it is in French. So picture people from 28 nations negotiating the line. Some was self serve. So we served our selves, getting the stink eye every time we put something on the tray. Wrong place, you took too much, etc. so we finally squeeze in somewhere to eat. The steak was inpenetrable by all means known to man. We kept breaking plastic ware. I couldn't cut this with a Spyderco serratated knife. It was 110 degrees with 90% humidity.

Runners up for the worst:
1. Easter meal 2011 ISAF DFAC. Rabbit. They had rabbit. On Easter. Really. Everything tasted like rabbit. It was foul. Definitely a trip to the UK NAFI and foraged for other stuff. This was not unusual. This DFAC was on a seven day menu cycle. Stuff got old quick.
2. Breakfast in a Norwegian DFAC Madla Brracks. Fish. Fish in paste form in giant tooth paste tubes. big fishes cut in half. Fish. Oh what is that? Oh yeah Fish. Ate salami, cheese and bread every single day for three weeks. Every three days they would tease us with hard boiled eggs, except they put out like two,dozen. We were competing with their annual basic training class.

The best meal? Any Thanksgiving in an Army DFAC, CONUS or deployed. Any breakfast I had in an 11th ACR DFAC. They had the sausage gravy locked down. KBR Prime Rib in 2008-9 in Afghanistan. Don't know what they put on that, but it had this crust on it that was the savoriest, tastiest thing you could imagine. Probably 80% MSG, but man it was good. UK DFAC on a NATO exercise in 2010. We had Gurkha Signal Support. So kind of like Korean Food in the DFAC when you have KATUSAs, they have to have food from Nepal available. 15 minutes from closing time, it is open to all. That was wonderful food. Bang Bang Chicken.

the best, was in Iraq in July 2003. We had to convoy from Balad to BIAP to establish an AMC node there. We busted ass for about 20 hours. The LTC we were working for produced out of no where, a grill, frozen hamburger patties, rolls, chips and ice cold soda. That cheeseburger was the best thing I ever ate.

Response by TSgt J.L. Brown Jr made Nov 12 at 2017 2:45 AM

TSgt J.L. Brown Jr — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 02:45:59 -0500

c rations

Response by SPC Christopher Perrien made Nov 12 at 2017 6:52 AM

SPC Christopher Perrien — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 06:52:19 -0500

Diced abortion , 3/35 Mess hall Pt Polk. La. about 1989. When they got it right and I named it that day(it was usually just plain old mystery meat), 1 guy at the table threw up and another went outside. LOL

Best meals were at the Litchenfeld(sp) Barracks (old Liebstandarte SS Barracks) West Berlin. All german ladies cooking, killer Brotchen, as many as you wanted.

For a while our 5/77 chow hall in Mannheim had a "baker", his chocolate Eclairs were to kill for.

Best meal , was grilled Filet Mignon' while being stuck out in a tent on range detail for a couple weeks, while my tank unit did tank training. I was getting back at themfor putting me on the detail in the first place,. Filet kind of blows an MRE away when you smell one , and have been out there a couple weeks.
Chasing away the "curious" (including my captain,LOL)" was sublime. hey, they said take what you need out there for a week or so on this HMMV. So I took an ice chest of meat, charcoal, and a grill. They did not know what kind of hideous plan I could cook up.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Nov 12 at 2017 5:28 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 17:28:13 -0500

As an officer, I seldom ate in a dining facility, a.k.a., mess hall. We did get flight lunches from in-flight kitchens often. The worst were from in-flight kitchens that packed lots of meals in advance and let them sit around for hours and hours. The food was often stale. The best was breakfast at the dining hall at Columbus AFB, MS, in the 1970s. They put out a full spread of meats, eggs (real), sausage gravy, omelets to order, pastries, fruit. If we reported to the flight line before 0700, we were allowed to eat there and often did.

Response by Cpl Scott McCarroll made Nov 12 at 2017 7:52 PM

Cpl Scott McCarroll — Sun, 12 Nov 2017 19:52:48 -0500

The worst that's easy, the cold spaghetti from C-RATs while a Typhon was hammering Okinawa.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Dec 6 at 2017 12:37 AM

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 00:37:18 -0500

C rations are plain nasty, I never want to eat one again as long as I live. esp the ham and lima beans I did subsist a lot on C Rats in Viet Nam. When You eat in the Air Force Mess Halls the food was actually very good. ! Breakfast esp in the USAF Dining Halls was great. One meal I had at Hickam AFB, HI We were fed steak and lobster although that was a first but then it was when President Nixon met Prime Minister Tanaka of Japan at the base and We did Security and were assisted by Marine MPs most who had never ate in an Air Force Dining hall, they were all impressed favorable. The meals at that base were always excellent anyway and they received a lot of awards for them although We have had steak before that was the first time We had lobster served there.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 6 at 2017 1:45 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 01:45:04 -0500

Worst was probably the eggs from the heater meal. None of them cooked right and even with the salt, pepper, Italian spices, and hot sauce it wasn't good. At least it came with dehydrated fruit and nuts. Though I will admit the bacon, though I recall it being burnt was pretty good.

As for the best meal... Both times I had steak, those were the best. One was the morning after the 16K* Ruck in Basic. We got back in at... To be honest I don't remember what time it was. I remember marching up Infantry Hill by the 1-50 and around the barracks and finally to our own little home. Got the order to drop our rucks and I couldn't remember feeling so good. Told us not to bend over or sit down because some of us might not be able to get back up. We did the grog ceremony, which I think was a bunch of Monster & Hawaiian Punch. It tasted awesome and bad at the same time lol. We all felt sore the next morning, we march off to chow and we were given a steak and scrambled eggs for breakfast. It was awesome, best thing I had tasted.

The second was on the last night of a field drill and the BC and Cooks had sprung for steaks. All the Officers and SNCO's served the food to us. It had been a cold/hot and dusty visit to the desert. MRE's was mostly what we had and sometimes no meals at all. This final evening meal was awesome and we were very appreciative. I don't think the cooks got so many thank yous before, they always do a good job with what they have but this was great. On a messed up note one guy actually complained to the cooks that they couldn't give him a rare steak.

Response by SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA made Dec 6 at 2017 8:53 AM

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 08:53:13 -0500

The worst is possibly the ridiculously over-peppered chili-mac (it's seriously bad) served regularly around here. The best is probably Thanksgiving Dinner.

Response by SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter made Dec 6 at 2017 11:31 AM

SSgt Harvey "Skip" Porter — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 11:31:27 -0500

SPC Diana Dobbs the best chow halls I encountered was at two Closed Air Bases in Germany. One was at Rhein Main AB, the other was this small Air Base in Kerpen Germany the food there was like gourmet it makes me hungry thinking about it.

Peace!