# Military question - the cooks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741 "2017-05-02T19:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/41 "2017-05-03T21:31:17Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Wait What?? > > A cook, who is food, is always edible throughout their entire term of service?? > > Ok > 1st wtf? nazi zombie army? they eat the cooks? > > 2nd how the bloody hell is the man to remain edible for X years? Even if he survived a few minor feedings, he will become a diminishing supply, and eventually die before he is all eaten. Is his enlistment 1 week or less? MRE: Man Ready-to Eat ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/42 "2017-05-04T00:06:02Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > So the Army Commendation Medal is the only real, tangible reward you have seen a cook earn? Along with certificates of achievement that counted for promotion points and Army Achievement Medals. An ARCOM is a pretty big deal for a junior enlisted or junior NCO to earn. Hell, the first one I got as an officer (with typical inflation due to rank and being in positions of greater influence) was a service award for 26 months of Company Command. A cook getting an ARCOM for achievement during a 10 day field exercise, which I have seen, is not minor. It’s a pretty big deal. In promotion point terms for E5/E6 the ARCOM (without the V device for valor) is[worth 20 points](https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-army-administrative-promotion-points-for-e-5-e-6-4057021). A Bronze star by itself (not for valor) is 30 and with V device is 35. That Soldier’s Medal that I advocated for, and still think he and the non-cook next to him earned, is worth more than the BSM with V device in promotion point terms. In promotion point terms a Soldier’s Medal is worth as much as a Medal of Honor - 40 points. That ARCOM, which you dismiss so lightly, is still worth half as many promotion points as a Medal of Honor. Having experience in duty positions where I was responsible for food service personnel, I also have to object firmly to the notion that they don’t put much effort in. They were almost always among my hardest working troops. They wanted to support they way they would have liked to be supported. They worked their asses off to try to do just that. Most Soldiers don’t see the effort behind a good meal cooked in a field kitchen when the cooks haven’t had more than a short cat nap in over 24 hours. Any bad day shows on the plate though. That doesn’t mean the cooks weren’t making an effort. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/43 "2017-05-04T00:20:52Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > I am told that they do not have mess personnel anymore. > The army anyway, i have heard it from enough people that i suppose it is somewhat true. Only because you included “somewhat true” in the second sentence is that at all accurate. 92G (Food Service Specialist) is still an Army MOS. In garrison environments they largely aren’t cooking anymore. The same has been true in relatively low intensity operations from fixed bases like Iraq and Afghanistan. Some are still there in the background inspecting the civilians that have been contracted for those duties. That means most won’t have had any contact with an Army cook inside a DFAC for quite a long time. For a conflict against a peer/near-peer contracting out the job is not really an option. That’s why we keep 92Gs in the system. Someone has to be able to set up the MKTs(Mobile Kitchen Trailers) and cook in the field. Otherwise it’s all MREs for the duration. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/44 "2017-05-04T00:25:48Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > In the documentary I saw called _[Under Siege](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Siege)_, Casey Ryback was a cook on a US Navy vessel who fought off a band of mercenaries. I’m not sure if he earned a medal but he should have. Not for his cooking though. Basil Fawlty got shrapnel in his leg serving in the Catering Corps. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/45 "2017-05-04T00:50:40Z")
> [@moldmonkey](#): > > Cooks are a seperate MOS. I was roommates with one who had won a pastry contest for all Army cooks in Europe. > > During my time (88-92), mess halls were a mixture of contractors and soldiers. I never once pulled KP or knew someone who did. When I was in Basic, I was the queen of KP. I served more than anyone else in my platoon. 13 times. Here’s why: when we did a training, if you fucked up, you had to retrain at some point. On a retraining day, everyone who was “good to go” on everything being retrained pulled KP. I never failed anything, except my first PT test (along with 53 out of 59 others in my platoon), and that was, well, because I wasn’t trying so hard on the run because I wanted to be in the slow group for morning PT, so I was always in the KP group. There were only two other soldiers who never failed anything, and they drew each one less KP than I did-- one because she had a hard-start MOS and left early, and the other because I got there earlier than she did, and did a KP while still in reception. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/46 "2017-05-04T01:16:35Z")
OY! kp and basic training! I messed up my ankle pretty bad running through a pothole in the dark the first week. (not broken though) They wanted me to opt for recycle (Fuck no, get stuck with another cycle of shitty reservist drill sgts??) So I spent a lot of time on kp. MMMMMM found out where all the cake and pudding we weren’t allowed to have until we passed out pt test went to. Heh Heh:cool: (seriously need a fat smiley for this post) As an add-on to never use kp as punishment, one year during gunnery our A battery 1SG put a guy on kp out at the range, not as punishment, just cause it was his turn. Well, this dude decided to piss in the water buffalo!:eek::mad: his career ended shortly after that. To the OP, yes there are awards, and competitions too, that are MOS specific in the military, for cooks, musicians and mechanics too (those are the jobs I think I know of that have these sorts of things) Granted that a lot of these are activities that are outside the military, but are recognized by the Army anyway if a soldier wins. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/47 "2017-05-04T14:21:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > When I was in Basic, I was the queen of KP. I served more than anyone else in my platoon. 13 times. Here’s why: when we did a training, if you fucked up, you had to retrain at some point. On a retraining day, everyone who was “good to go” on everything being retrained pulled KP. I never failed anything, except my first PT test (along with 53 out of 59 others in my platoon), and that was, well, because I wasn’t trying so hard on the run because I wanted to be in the slow group for morning PT, so I was always in the KP group. There were only two other soldiers who never failed anything, and they drew each one less KP than I did-- one because she had a hard-start MOS and left early, and the other because I got there earlier than she did, and did a KP while still in reception. In Navy boot back in the day, everybody had to do “service week”, which was galley duty serving chow and cleaning the place between meals. Because of the number of companies at the time, we had to do two weeks, and it was the most miserable part of boot camp. Up at 0400, work all day until evening, then have to go back and take care of the barracks, etc., finally get to bed around eleven, repeat. It was exhausting. One guy freaked out on the serving line and started throwing butter pats at people and shouting “Take the fucking butter! TAKE THE FUCKING BUTTER!” ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/48 "2017-05-04T15:07:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > In the Navy there is the Culinary Specialist (CS) rating. A newbie can be assigned to mess cooking duty, particularly if he has no rate designation. Also, fuck-ups are sometimes sent to work in the galley, but I’m not sure of the wisdom of that. The Army also has a Food Service Specialist MOS, and I’m sure the USAF does, also. Screw ups ended up in the deep sink washing pots and pans or in the skullery loading and unloading the big dishwashers. Very few non rates worked in the kitchen doing food prep. I spent most of my mess cooking detail delivering and serving food to the officer’s mess. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/49 "2017-05-04T15:36:01Z")
Well, there is also the (perhaps apocryphal) tale of the wartime Army cook who, while making an egg dish, ended up with a bit of eggshell stuck up underneath his eyelid. He reported to the medic, who easily removed it. And later was surprised to receive the Purple Heart, due to the medic’s report that the cook had had a “shell fragment removed from his eye”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/50 "2017-05-04T15:44:33Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > Screw ups ended up in the deep sink washing pots and pans or in the skullery loading and unloading the big dishwashers. Very few non rates worked in the kitchen doing food prep. I spent most of my mess cooking detail delivering and serving food to the officer’s mess. Actually mess-crankers on my ship did do plenty of food prep; from cracking eggs to actually grilling if on the midnight shift. I was in the bakeshop for over a month and I did a very large amount of the food prep and baking. They also did all the shit work but I guess if you showed any aptitude you would get a better job for your time cranking. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/51 "2017-05-04T18:29:12Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > MRE: Man Ready-to Eat That fails to cover being edible for the entire duration of his enlistment ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/52 "2017-05-04T20:40:10Z")
At such time as he failed to be edible, his enlistment would be over. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/53 "2017-05-05T23:08:27Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Psst. See post #20. What – you expect people to read _the entire thread_ before responding to something?? :eek::dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/54 "2017-05-05T23:12:10Z")
You know, sometimes it’s like people think that I expect people to read the entire thread before responding to something. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/55 "2017-05-05T23:31:54Z")
actually if you were on fort ord 74-76 you probably ate my dads cooking or someone under him as he ran the mess hall and won several contest and awards… His secret ? he knew how to grow good pot which he traded for fresh supplies when the mood suited him (the menu being what ever he felt like eating that day) well one day he was tired of instant mashed potatoes (which was like eating powedred soap from what I’m told ) so he called a couple of people and brought in 40 pounds of potatoes His superior said well that’s all well and nice but he could only have them if they were peeled before dinner … my dad and his assistant supposedly peeled all 40 pounds in a little over an hour using the standard issue army knife needless to say he had some happy people eating that day To this day he peels them faster than anyone I know (he also cuts French fries by hand almost as fast) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/56 "2017-05-06T00:33:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is there necessarily even some specific individual who is “the cook”? My understanding was that everyone would take their turn on kitchen duties, whether voluntarily, as part of an ordinary duty rotation, or as some sort of punishment. Most soldiers would probably be afraid to eat food cooked by someone who was cooking as assigned punishment. At the least, it couldn’t be anything tasty-special to look forward to. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/57 "2017-05-06T12:43:50Z")
Most soldiers are afraid to eat food cooked by _anyone_ in the Army, and don’t consider it tasty-special or look forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/58 "2017-05-06T18:09:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Most soldiers are afraid to eat food cooked by _anyone_ in the Army, and don’t consider it tasty-special or look forward to it. Varied in the Navy, some smaller ships had pretty good food and Chief’s Messes are general very good. but on a Carrier like me the mass produced food for 4000-4800 was usually only edible and not good, but we did have some excellent stuff come out of the bake shop at least. Fresh dinner rolls, excellent cinnamon rolls, pretty good donuts, some of the cakes were very good and some were basically sponges. Also varies by how much time we’ve been at sea, short cruises mean real milk and eggs, long cruises mean eventually powder milk and eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/59 "2017-05-06T23:28:35Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > His secret ? he knew how to grow good pot which he traded for fresh supplies when the mood suited him (the menu being what ever he felt like eating that day) well one day he was tired of instant mashed potatoes (which was like eating powedred soap from what I’m told ) so he called a couple of people and brought in 40 pounds of potatoes > > His superior said well that’s all well and nice but he could only have them if they were peeled before dinner … my dad and his assistant supposedly peeled all 40 pounds in a little over an hour using the standard issue army knife needless to say he had some happy people eating that day > > To this day he peels them faster than anyone I know (he also cuts French fries by hand almost as fast) It occurs to me a clever cook has almost as many opportunities for under the table deals as the supply sergeant. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741/60 "2017-05-06T23:47:41Z")
Is a cook allowed to freelance outside of official supplies, legally, by bringing in his own Tabasco/truffles/heirloom mushrooms/whatever? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-question-the-cooks/785741.md?page=4)