Don't even get me started on the Fraud, Waste, and Abuse that is making officers PAY for food while they're underway: one of the biggest crimes in the Navy.
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Porkchop shenanigans, allegedy crappy boat food, and the Great BAS Debate of 2020
- Thread starter Gonzo08
- Start date
Don't you pay for your food while not on deployment? Be it from a galley, Chipotle, or the grocery store, you're paying someone so that you can eat. I don't like mess bills any more than the next guy, and I get that many OCONUS DFACs ashore are free, but I've never understood the argument that you shouldn't have to pay for your food just because you're underway. Help me out.
Bazinga. It's a monopoly for one. I don't have any other choice of where to eat
FOD walkdown in a rain storm would solc
You are collecting BAS while deployed, no?
I thought it had to with BAS entitlements. Junior enlisted on the boat don't rate BAS. Officers and senior enlisted do, hence they pay wardroom dues. I could be wrong on that.
As an O-2 I was the SLJO for collecting wardroom dues from our deployed squadron, and it was a fucking pain in the ass dealing with the tightwads bitching about paying for breakfast, because they were too lazy to get out of the rack.
So you object based on the absence of free market principles? Absence of choice means it must be free? I still don't follow.
Mainly I object because of DFACs.
So you're really only upset that someone else is getting something for free - not that you are inherently entitled to free food. It seems like your argument should be that people who eat in DFACs should be paying their fare share.
I believe that they should pay their fair share, or we shouldn't be charged on the boat.
No doubt the military pay system is arcane. I would counter that you rate Sea Pay on the boat, so it all comes out in the wash...kind of.
If you're allowed to wash your flight suit (feeble attempt to get thread back on track)
How shall we rectify the other inequities that present themselves? Would you advocate for berthing every O3 and below ashore in a 6-man style room? Shall we remove WiFi access and slow their wired internet down to boat speeds? Should Navy adopt glow belts while embarked? I'm sure we can come up with others.
We should totally start a thread about this.
Orher annoying things:
Vending machines are refilled using the Navy’s supply system, yet where does that money go? The Navy has already “bought” the Coke...so what happens to the dollar I just paid? Is that the price it cost to supply me with the Coke, or is someone making money off this deal?
Here’s another example that makes me mad; onboard the boat we were told we couldn’t have any MWR fundraisers because it might compete with the ship somehow. (We had an officer plane wash that was deemed “illegal” after the fact). Our CMC dealt with the ship’s CMC and he explained that since we were coming back from cruise in early December we needed to raise funds for our Christmas party. No go. Meanwhile, thanks to the Avenger Cafe and the Starbucks coffee drinks that they sold (courtesy of the trained baristas who’d been sent TAD to some course) were used, along with vending machine profits, to fund their ship’s Christmas party. If I recall correctly, the air wing got some paltry sum of the vending machine money, but it was not doled out on a per capita basis.
@Brett327 I’m not opposed to paying for food on the boat. But if I’m eating the same thing that’s being served on the mess decks...who’s subsidizing who here? I’m paying for food that’s already been paid for, so is it really on a cost basis? I’ve never been refunded anything from the boat, and I have a hard time believing the cost of goods ACTUALLY provided comes out to exactly $11.35 a day or whatever.
Orher annoying things:
Vending machines are refilled using the Navy’s supply system, yet where does that money go? The Navy has already “bought” the Coke...so what happens to the dollar I just paid? Is that the price it cost to supply me with the Coke, or is someone making money off this deal?
Here’s another example that makes me mad; onboard the boat we were told we couldn’t have any MWR fundraisers because it might compete with the ship somehow. (We had an officer plane wash that was deemed “illegal” after the fact). Our CMC dealt with the ship’s CMC and he explained that since we were coming back from cruise in early December we needed to raise funds for our Christmas party. No go. Meanwhile, thanks to the Avenger Cafe and the Starbucks coffee drinks that they sold (courtesy of the trained baristas who’d been sent TAD to some course) were used, along with vending machine profits, to fund their ship’s Christmas party. If I recall correctly, the air wing got some paltry sum of the vending machine money, but it was not doled out on a per capita basis.
@Brett327 I’m not opposed to paying for food on the boat. But if I’m eating the same thing that’s being served on the mess decks...who’s subsidizing who here? I’m paying for food that’s already been paid for, so is it really on a cost basis? I’ve never been refunded anything from the boat, and I have a hard time believing the cost of goods ACTUALLY provided comes out to exactly $11.35 a day or whatever.
I object more to the quality of the food that I'm paying for. Ashore, like you mentioned, I'm able to choose what kind of food to purchase and how its prepared. Yes, I get its a military deployment, so I'm not expecting five star dining.
Contrast that with my last deployment, where we had (I kid you not) weeks straight of only five different kinds of chicken for lunch and dinner, and then weeks straight of only cold pasta, and you can see my issue. I understand factors outside of the Suppo's control, but in this case we had regular UNREPs and she just hadn't planned the food deliveries appropriately. I'm certainly not expecting higher quality food than the troops, and I know that CS does not equal gourmet chef. However, when the food sucks because the SUPPO is incompetent, I'd like there to be some accountability, or at least the ability for us to withhold mess dues until its fixed.
Which would be preferable - paid boat food or free MREs of 8 months?
Ohh...ohh...boat food! Boat food!