# Is it true that submariners get the best food in the military? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591 "2014-11-25T14:13:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/21 "2014-11-28T01:49:58Z")
I suppose it’s okay, if you like submarine sandwiches. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/22 "2014-11-28T03:33:40Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > In the case of Navy chow, the one outlier were the Seabee chow halls, which served uniformly bad food. When I was serving as a seabee reservist (mid-1980’s) the Navy was cost-cutting and had jobbed out a lot of the Seabee’s food service to civilian contractors… a lowest-bidder situation and the food was terrible. OTOH, the galleys that were still run by naval personnel were generally pretty good, or so it seemed to me. One of particular note was the Seabee galley at the old Naval Station Puget Sound in Seattle, home to Reserve NMCB 18. It was renowned far & wide for the quality of it’s food. A lot of the experienced reservists around the region preferred to draw their annual ACTDUTRA there rather than in some more exotic locale, simply because they knew they’d eat so well for a few weeks. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2014, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/23 "2014-11-28T03:52:26Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I suppose it’s okay, if you like submarine sandwiches. they get mostly hot dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/24 "2014-11-29T00:06:09Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I think there might be some issues with oxygen content and air pressure which can affect a food’s taste. Absolutely. No cites, but chefs at NASA and for the airlines definitely account for it. They “overseason,” but I’m sure there’s more. I think NASA noticed it, or did something about it, before the airlines. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/25 "2014-11-29T00:54:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Chow-wise, I’d rate Air Force an A, Army a B, Regular Navy a C, and Sub Corps under C. :mad: {I ANOINT THEE WITH WITH A WET TROUT!} ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/26 "2014-11-29T17:14:58Z")
Shit that submariner/chef has to know about. Changes your appreciation of their skills. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/27 "2014-11-29T17:24:47Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Absolutely. No cites, but chefs at NASA and for the airlines definitely account for it. They “overseason,” but I’m sure there’s more. I think NASA noticed it, or did something about it, before the airlines. See [Post #16](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17929215&postcount=16). The air pressure doesn’t differ much from that of normal atmospheric air pressure for a submarine, certainly far less pressure difference than occurs with aircraft or spacecraft. Also, in my experience on submarines, the cooks tended to dramatically “under-season” the food to cater to the least-common-denominator sailor who preferred bland food and vocally complained if the food was in any way perceived to be “spicy.” ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/28 "2014-11-29T19:36:54Z")
My two cents: the Navy & Marine Corps have the best food. Seriously! I spent seven months in Afghanistan last go-around, six at Leatherneck, and one at Kandahar. The Marine Corps’ run DFAC was outstanding! They even had Class 1 draws for guys on route clearance patrols (multi-day missions). The DFACs at Kandahar made me want to find some old shoe leather to boil up. Air Force food? Meh. At Al Udeid it was greasy and overfried; made me want MREs. Tripler Al Udeid AB is the armpit of the world–and the food tastes like it too. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591/29 "2014-11-29T21:40:47Z")
I can’t speak for the submariners (I have the wrong set of bits), but the quality of food can vary widely from shore to ship, and even from ship to ship. My first ship was a destroyer tender that made hops from one port to another; since we weren’t underway for any appreciable length of time, we got a lot of fresh food and most of the mess management specialists (MSs) knew how to cook with them. However, the salvage and rescue ship I was on had better food overall because the entire crew was around 100 people, so it was more like a rush at a fast-food restaurant. The MSs would often make meals to order because they had the facilities and staff to do it that way, something that would have been impossible on a larger ship. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-true-that-submariners-get-the-best-food-in-the-military/705591.md?page=1)