Inside US Military's Largest MANDATORY Dining Hall 

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>getting yelled and put under stress Ah yes family style

I was in the Air Force and we had all four branches on our base and they all said the Air Force had the best dining halls, base facilities and housing out of the entire armed forces.

That formality of how to dish and eat looks like some odd torture

Air Force food can be a hit or miss depending on where your stationed. But I do think the Air Force has decent options for the most part. My only helpful criticism to give you is to look up nuclear submarine seamen diets. They get the best food overall to help morale since they don’t really get the chance to see the outside for prolonged durations

In the Army, they just put between 3000 to 4000 MREs strapped to pellets in the middle of a field. Then had a formation on the edge of the field. At dismissed, time started and every soldier made a mad dash for a MRE. It was over in 20-30 minutes, if there was enough MREs or nobody snipped the steel straps and it took 10 minutes to free them... Great way to get in shape or stay that way.

I ate at Mitchell hall @ USAFA for 4 years in the 80s - the food was excellent always. The video said only seniors can "relax" at the meals - that's not true - only the freshmen (doolies) get braced or knowledge checked. The seniors are in charge, but the other two years can also "train" the doolie-wads. In fact, most seniors are thinking of their first assignment and are "over" training doolies, and leave it to the sophomores and juniors. There is the occasional "stract" senior though.

"When you are starving, food tastes delicious anyway." - NWYT

I love how they have an MQ-9 chilling in the lunchroom

Long ago, 80s-90s, Air Force had the best chow halls and it wasn't considered close. The Air Force had a unique situation. If you find yourself in a war and want to survive it, Air Force is the choice for most so they had the least trouble getting recruits, if they could pass the higher intelligence test requirements. Anecdotal: I scored insanely high on the ASVAB (military vocational test). Afterward recruiters from every branch called my home and eventually visited... except the Air Force. My dad was in the Air Force so we called them, "Oh, yeah. We saw that. We were going to call you." That dynamic played out throughout my military service. The other branches paid very large bonuses to keep their members in but the Air Force kept people around with a higher quality of life... and food. I would expect the Space Force will likely take top spot on the military food chain if it hasn't already.

The Navy navigate by the stars, the army sleeps under the stars, and the Air Force pics there hotels, judging on the stars.

US forces: Sitting family style promotes comradely. Also US forces: Expect to be called duely which means slave.

People really have no idea the difference between enlisted boot camp and officers academy…. All branches academy have the same set up : National War College is probably the best since it’s set up for global diversity-yes they teach cultural customs through food to know about locals. Naval academy, West Point, US coast guard academy and Air Force Academy are all the same with food and routine.

A few things to point out: As far as the Army TRADOC installations go, AKA bootcamps, you were mostly spot-on. You eat at the DFAC three times a day, and every meal is a minimum of 15 minutes, per regulation. The food is color coded to show the trainees how healthy each food item is, and you can choose what you want to eat. What you didn't mention is that you are always marched to the DFAC in formation by the Drill Sergeants for every meal, while they call cadences. Filing in and out of the DFAC is a very efficient affair, with the servers being pre-determined before you go(the trainees volunteer or are volun-told for that) and the trainees at the back of the formation are the ones who hold the doors open. You have to side-step throughout the serving area, holding your tray the right way and whilst making the correct facing movements. The Drill Sergeants will probably make the experience 10 times more stressful for everyone, especially during Yellow/Red phase, just to see how much stress you can take, because after all, you're not guaranteed 15 minutes if you're in a combat zone and you have to eat in perfect silence lest your table is made to get up early, thanks to you. Bringing weapons to the DFAC? Stack your weapons outside, neatly, and post a weapons guard, who eats last. Once everything is done, you form up again and march back. How do I know all this? Because I was formerly a trainee in D Co., 4-39 IN BN, Fort Jackson, US Army Basic Combat Training academy. "Never Retreat!"

It looks almost otherworldy, but being able to feed 4000 people in 30 minutes itself is otherworldy sooo

"How did the navy solved the food allergy problem?" Not getting any personel with it, certainly not the answer I wanted to hear 😅

“That’s not my sexy voice” *SUBSCRIBED*

3:13 just wanted to say that the 'k' in 'kcal' stands for kilo, so most people eat 2000 kilo-calories per day, you would be starving with only 2000 cal/day

Most of these clips are from basic training at the academy with a lot more formality and rush. During the school year things are quite a bit different.

Thanks for covering this!

Submariners are supposed to have the best food or menu, to keep morale up. This takes all takes me back to my food service days in university, where the operations were nearly 24/7, as there were places open late and we had to begin hours before first classes.

The Navy always had good food. Even during boot camp. I can only imagine it's gotten better since I served 30 years ago.

You did forget the one service academy with the best food: the Coast Guard Academy. With 1/4 the number of mouths to feed, it's much more likely that overall quality is preserved. It's certainly nothing compared to a home cooked meal, but every exchange cadet/mid from the other academies that come to New London for a semester has consistently said the food at CGA is better.

I was in the Air Force and was stationed at Buckley, AFB, a joint command in Colorado. The other services were amazed at our food, and it was not even the best by far. In basic training, we sat and ate in a certain way too. We couldn't even look up or talk. not until the last week.

AMAZING! TY to ALL You Vets out there, I am Grateful! Thank You! 😍

i dont know why i love logistics videos so much, but i do!

submariner here...fast attack...deployments limited anything 'fresh'. Meat was frozen and 90% of everything else was canned. It became clear why the emergency antidote locker was located just outside crews' mess....

I don't know what it is, but your videos are so...watchable, you have a real knack for just telling stuff in an interesting way, even something as 'boring' as a cadet meal. Well done. Next time I want exploshons though!!

Interesting. Thx.

Great video! if anyone wants to see more of this, business insider youtube channel has a lot of this type of mess hall video.

I was enlisted active duty USMC 1986-1990. I know that I ate at the following chow halls/galleys/messes, listed in more-or-less chronological order: NOTE: I'm sure there were other places I can no longer remember. 1. Receiving Mess, MCRD San Diego, CA - USMC 2. Chow Hall, Camp San Onofre [School Of Infantry (SOI) / Infantry Training School (ITS)], Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC 3. Chow Hall, Mainside (HQ), Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC 4. Chow Hall, Talega (Recon), Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC 5. Chow Hall, Camp Horno (1st Marine Regiment), Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC 6. Enlisted Mess, USS Belleau Wood LHA-3, - USN 7. "Top of the Rock" Main Chow hall, Eareckson Air Station, Shemya, Alaska, - USAF 8. "Seafarer's Galley", Subic Bay, Phillipines, - USN 9. Mess Hall, Marine Barracks, Subic Bay, Phillipines - USN 10. Camp San Mateo (5th Marine Regiment/1st Combat Engineers), Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC 11. Enlisted Mess, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, CA - USN 12. Chow Hall, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), Twentynine Palms, CA - USMC 13. Enlisted Mess, Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA - USMC 14. Enlisted Mess, Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex, Virginia Beach, VA - USN 15. Enlisted Mess, Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Puerto Rico - USN 16. Enlisted Mess, NSGA Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico - USN 17. Enlisted Mess, Naval Station Norfolk, VA - USN IMO, of the places I listed above, the top 5 in food quality were: #17, #1, #2, #13, #3 In my experience, military food is generally better quality when the dining facility is closer to the mainland 48 states, or to a major military supply chain hub, especially when the facility is close to a headquarters. The exception to this generalization would have to be the mess facilities of Marine Corps Boot camp, and by extension, the chow hall at School Of Infantry (SOI) / Infantry Training School (ITS) in Camp Pendelton, CA, which also served USMC recruits meals when I was in boot camp and we did our 2 weeks of field training and our of Rifle/Pistol qualifications. When I shipped off to Boot Camp, I stood 5' 9.5" and I only weighed 138 lbs. The Doctors ALMOST prescribed me Double Rats, until they learned I was a farm boy. They accurately predicted that I would not need to consume the extra calories in order to put on enough weight to be more in-line with the Marine Corps guidelines for my height. I was 17 when I went to basic; 3 months later, we took our photos for our IDs prior to graduation (2 weeks before my 18th birthday), I then stood 5'11" and I weighed 158 lbs. The Corps stacked 20 lbs on me in just 3 months, and did it while I hit a growth spurt. The food on a Navy base is usually better than the food aboard a ship. If I had a nickle for every meal we ate aboard the USS Belleau Wood that was mainly Chicken and Rice, I could literally afford a Steak Dinner, even at today's prices! However, I do remember that after every major operation we completed (these were all peace time when I was in), they would serve us Steak and Lobster aboard the USS Belleau Wood. Another interesting note when I was stationed at Camp Horno (1st Marine Regiment), Camp Pendelton, CA - USMC, the chow hall there implemented a Baked Potato and Chili Bar, that was really well done. A lot of guys in my unit would smash that bar at least once or twice a week, whenever the main chow line had something else they didn't care for too much. And if we had 15 minutes to eat chow in boot camp, then I'll be a monkey's uncle. Our Drill Instructors spent some of the last few days in boot camp coaching us to count our chews when we went back home to eat with our families. A Marine recruit can literally inhale a 7 course meal in 5 minutes flat, through a straw if necessary!

finally i caught the glimpse of the iconic academy ever since viewing it on ra2

midnight meal was one of the best in the Air Force, eggs anyway you wanted them, pancakes, french toast with melted butter and hot syrup, hash browns, sausage gravy and biscuits, SOS, bacon, sausage, ham, danish, toast etc.

that food looks so good tbh

1971 Fort Dix Induction Center Mess Hall. We served 3000 Turkey dinners for lunch. I know because the platoon I was in got to pull KP that day. That mess Sargent knew how to run that place. Started at 3 am. Got breakfast ready, then started getting those turkeys into the ovens. I was really impressed at how well that mess hall was run.

I was USAF 75-95, and all the mess halls/dining facilities I ate in were excellent. By far though, the absolute best was at the base I was stationed at in the Nevada desert. Tonopah

Very interesting! I had no idea they are treated like this 😮. Thanks for the education! 😊😊😊😊❤❤❤❤

I was an Opticalman in the Navy 50 years ago. I always volunteered to do periscope maintenance whenever possible. Chow on a submarine never disappointed. Those guys were serious about their food.

I was a" 622" in 1975. We used Navy recipes in the main base kitchen. All the food was AAA grade ,even the eggs!😊

i was in the army on a field support group. one month we stayed at an air force barracks while the army aquired a new location for us. that month was the best for all 16 of us. we got to sleep late, eat the best food we ever had, got to have seconds and didn't have to rush through it. for that month we felt like we joined the wrong service. so yes the best food is in the air force.

Very enjoyable video. My family has every branch of the DOD covered to include Coast Guard and I can tell you FIRST HAND your research was correct. Air Force DFACs offer the BEST food of all the branches. Hell, we don't even go to war unless there is a 5-star hotel for us to billet. ;)

The videos in the Academy mess halls show freshman during their “basic training” in the summer; it’s much more relaxed during the school year. Also, the Naval Academy does have vegetarian options, although they are very limited.

Camp Schwab chow hall the best plus always seeing Schwab cat on the way up RIP

More content on Air Force 🔥

When I was in the Army in 1974-1977, the Army chow was great, on garrison. The chow at Ram-Stein Air Force base was the best.

I miss Sunday steak cookouts on the fantail of the USS Dale down in the Caribbean. Sunny skies, clear blue water, and good music. The good ole days. Swim call!

I just saw Full Metal Jacket last day, and there are so many vibes on this video. I really think it is counterproductive not to let them rest even when they eat.

the VMI dining hall is fantastic great chiefs working there

I was in the Army as an Airborne Infantryman and as a regular infantryman from overseas to state side. Army food was standard especially in combat arms mess halls with the exception of Cavalry. I visited a few times at Air Force mess halls and they were average like the Army but better decor. I grew up Navy when I was a kid, and got to try Navy food again and honestly the Navy and Marines have the best food in my experience because they have sea duty for 6 months at a time being on a ship or an aircraft carrier.

That's luxurious, 20 minutes to eat while the food is served to the table.

I had a hell of a piece of prime rib at the airmen's club at Eielson one time.

On an Airbase in North Dakota that I work as HR on, we have civilian restaurants and bigger brands at a commerce area, such a store we call BX comparable to a kmart or target, we have a popeyes chicken which was the only one in a local area until a one was undergoing construction very recently. There are other local owned resturants that are under 5SCC, and others that are coffee shops that are connected to airforce owned restaurants. Most airbases in the state (we have two) Minot AFB and grand forks AFB, Minot specializing in the missile wing (minuteman missiles) and grandforks in drone operations (Lockheed Martin) being stationed on these bases you will generally eat extremely well and get luxuries, bowling public swimming but Minot and Grand forks are comparable to small cities that are just closed off

They all look so happy - not!

I was in the air force, the New Zealand air force, and the manner of eating depicted here is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen 😂 Time to eat was for sure a pressure but we just staggered the times that every group starts lunch at. The USAF sure goes way harder than should be necessary. Oh, and here it was thought the navy had the best food and the air force the worst although our food noticeably improved a couple of years in-due to a rethink.

This is just a suggestion: pls also include in your content the dining hall inside the Philippine Military Academy or even in the Philippine National Police Academy so that other people can see the difference... square meal, reverse meal, 10 counts meal etc... plus tons of mental and physical exercises while eating...

Impressive ❤

The best meals on Ft. Carson, CO was in the hospital. At least it was in the mid-90's.

Having served in the Marine Corps. For a year I had the pleasure of working for the Navy while being stationed on an Air Force base. In my experience, Navy food on ships beats them all. Surprisingly, my second choice, would be at a particular chow hall at MCAS Camp Pendleton. Air Force is most consistent across all the bases I been too. Fort Sill Army base ranks up there for me.

Prior service Air Force here, our dining halls were pretty decent. Your first meal in basic will be the worst due to all the stress. But being yelled at makes all the food taste better. However, I've heard a rumor it that if you're in a sub, you have the best food. Can any Navy back that up?

As someone from the Army who married Air Force yea Air Force hands down best food especially for pilots however once you climb into officer ranks it evens out a bit

Sending 💖🛐 to our service people!

I was raised by a USAF career enlisted man, 30 years security police CMS. Every four years - starting when I was 6 mons old - we crossed an ocean.... and changed coasts. I served in the Navy during the 80s and we changed duty stations every fours years as well. However, we could frequently change commands - Ship, sub, airwing, shore duty - and stay at the same massive naval station. On submarines, the officers and chiefs eat from the same pots as the crew. The chiefs had a table on the mess decks and the officers had table service in the wardroom.

Served 12 years USAF and was at many joint bases, by far USAF had the best food and dorm rooms.

Weird that the military struggles with recruiting 🤯😞 Just look at how much fun those manakins are having 🗿💀

Only 30 minutes and they all look like slow robots pausing between each action or motion.

Was at Sheppard AFB Texas 63/64 on C Shift, classes 6PM to midnight. Marched to the chow hall for midnight meal. Sheppard had a squadron of B-52s, nuclear armed. In that winter I felt sorry for the plane guards, they came for meals at the same time as us. Even with parkas on, they looked like frozen icicles. That was rough duty, with Texas Northers blowing in from the prairies.

I still remember one of my Army march cadences…”G.I. Beans and G.I. gravy, gee I wish I’d joined the Navy”….

Any base with a large overnight work force usually air assests serves mid rats.

Nice

12:39 - Airforce has the best everything. Army and Marine Corp budgets are exhausted by machines and man power and the Navy by the ships. The Airforce has planes, but they don't suck down as much budget which is why some airforce bases have golf courses.

I’ve heard from my family (that has a history in all branches) that food on submarines is the best because you don’t get any sunlight, internet, or most other amenities in other bases or ships

Fast, neat, average, friendly, good, good!

I remember in bootcamp hearing “20 minutes and 20 minutes only!” screamed continuously during every meal.

On my last day of "Zero week", before Army Basic training started, I was picked to work at Battalion Mess, which served all the day's meals for 3,000 soldiers! I got there about 4 a.m. & didn't leave until 7 p.m. I don't think that I ever worked as hard, before or after, in my entire life! I can't imagine doing that, over & over again! p.s. (It was on "Good Friday" 1964, the same day as the Great Alaskan earthquake!)

This makes the Nobel Prize banquette dinner look easy

11:15 Oh god, I remember being told I had double rations in basic. I was so paranoid about standing out in any way that I refused them and sat with everyone else. Kids with double rats had to sit apart from everyone else and I don’t want that kind of attention. It wasn’t until near graduation that the drill got on my case because I was still underweight.

I don’t know that the Air Force FOCUSES on homesteading as much as it may allow it more than the other services. Part of that can come from how certain aircraft are only at certain bases. If you’re trained to operate or maintain a particular aircraft, it may make more sense to let you stay where that aircraft is than to send you somewhere where you’ll have to train up on a new one. But if your specialty is one that easily transfers to any base (electrician, medical, security, communications, etcetera), they’re much more willing to move you around every few years to gain experience because any training time would be minimal or nonexistent.

I was just at the Naval Academy, they have ice-cream machines running 24/7 in King's Hall

Old title: how to eat 4000 meals in 29 mins and 59 second

DAMN

In camp lejune while on guard duty I saw Charlie company coming for chow and I said I better get there printout because nothings going to be left the Kobe was like 1/4 mile long lol 😂

Heard of quite a few people saying Air Force food is the best, so are their facilities. I wonder what about the Coast Guard or even the Space Force, since the former is not under DOD and the latter is still kinda new, and they both don't get much attention as the other 4 services.

good

After basic when I was in (40 plus years ago) we ate c rats. You usually didn't eat for the first ten minutes, that time was spent trading. No one wanted the pork loaf or the scrambled eggs w/ ham chunks. Everybody wanted the pound cake; it was really good w/ peaches. We didn't have any of this good for you food crap, it started in 1985. Before that it was sh** on a shingle, fried chicken, spaghetti and meat balls and the thing I will never eat again veal parmesan. The thing you can always count on though was a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. The cooks went all out for the holidays, you may eat the same thing two or three times a week before and after. Most people don't realize the military works within a budget, and the mess hall is no exception.

Did I hear that 4000 were in the large mess hall? Can you imagine that D day allied losses kia was 4500.

Its called a Chow hall. FYI

8:52 that girl is hungry LOL

it is which military branch to choose, for the short term, one enlistment.....or a career.....the answer varies....eh....

This video honestly makes me hungry, while learning how military dining makes for solid camaraderie. Camaraderie and cooperation makes a huge difference, on and off the battlefield...

tbh this doesnt look like its very efficent

I went to the enlisted Great Lakes Naval ROTC Training facility end of december 2019 discharged march 2020, the food was meh, you go into your designated mess hall by division number and you are lined up by height, once your in the mess hall you probably get 5 mins to choose what you want to eat for eating session then you need to get to your seating by division number and you need to finish eating before the time the division is set to exit the mess hall, if you don't finish you have to throw it away. Also the ships which are division's dorms weren't well insulated so it gets really cold, the dry air also doesn't help.

I never knew food allergies wasn't allowed for the navy. But it makes sense as to why they have that rule in place.

They look super happy 😶

exquisite fine dining experience

All this stress at mealtime is enough to give indigestion.

This makes me even more glad I was never in the military.

I was a month in the Finnish army. I got really sick and had to return because of that. I will go back and complete my service at a later date. When we ate each company had a assigned time to arrive into the dining hall. We marched in formation in front of the doors and formed a line. Then we went though a line where we picked up our trays, cutlery, plates, cups. Then we have food in steel pans where we put as much as we wanted on our plates, walked to a table, ate, then we put our empty trays onto a conveyor and walked back to our companies in our own accord. The food was actually really good!

All that regimented bullying disguised as a proud tradition is what stopped me from considering that path for my education.

I dont have military experience nor do i live in thr US but i was under the impression submariners get better food "underway" than their surface ship comrades to keep morale high when stuck underwater with no sun!

The Marine Corps has the best food, if you can get to a Mess hall. That's the one nice thing they get.