Vegans in the military

[Loach]

@MsRobyn

You have to get your command’s approval for separate rations. When I was assigned to NTC Great Lakes back in the early 1990s, I and a few other people had demonstrable problems with gastroesophageal reflux disease. We were instructed by a medical doctor to apply for separate rations so we could follow an appropriate low-fat diet. We were also turned down because there wasn’t adequate storage or cooking facilities. The senior chief also told us that he didn’t want a bunch of people being paid to eat out all the time, and we could just eat what the chow hall served. :rolleyes:

Robin

I know you have to get permission. It’s not that difficult. Unless of course your supervisor is a dick. Or maybe its easier in the army. I was on separate rats the four years I was on active duty. I was in an aviation unit in a flight slot. There was never any guarantee that my schedule would coincide with the chow schedule.

[Sal_Ammoniac]

@Broomstick

Bottom line is that, although many vegetarian foods have a low nutrient density, it is possible to provide highly concentrated nutrients and calories without resorting to animal parts.

Here’s a suggestion: the military should create an edible uniform. That way, if things get tough, you’ll always have something to fall back on. Plus, it’s vegan!

[Cervaise]

@Sapo

Would a vegan join the Army at all? (you know, with the killing of people and all)

Vegans can kill all the people they want, as long as they don’t eat them.

[Guinastasia]

@MsRobyn

You have to get your command’s approval for separate rations. When I was assigned to NTC Great Lakes back in the early 1990s, I and a few other people had demonstrable problems with gastroesophageal reflux disease. We were instructed by a medical doctor to apply for separate rations so we could follow an appropriate low-fat diet. We were also turned down because there wasn’t adequate storage or cooking facilities. The senior chief also told us that he didn’t want a bunch of people being paid to eat out all the time, and we could just eat what the chow hall served. :rolleyes:

Robin

Heh-perhaps you could have used his bathroom for a week or so?

[Lanzy]

I have had two vegetarians that worked for me in the Army. Once the chow hall got used to them, they accomodated them just fine. Don’t think they were Vegans but I didn’t know the difference back then ('80’s).

[alterego]

I was a vegetarian in the Navy for a year while onboard a ship, often deployed. I ate eggs, but no other meat. They keep a pretty good salad bar on medium to larger sized ships. You can also bring food onboard, such as nuts, or whatever you want.

[MsRobyn]

@Guinastasia

Heh-perhaps you could have used his bathroom for a week or so?

I did use a communal bathroom, excuse me, head for a while. I was not popular.

I never did get my ration money, though.

Robin

[DesertDog]

@Loach

I know you have to get permission. It’s not that difficult. Unless of course your supervisor is a dick. Or maybe its easier in the army. I was on separate rats the four years I was on active duty. I was in an aviation unit in a flight slot. There was never any guarantee that my schedule would coincide with the chow schedule.

I had the opposite experience. My Naval career was all ashore at direction-finding stations, mostly as a “watch-stander” – One who works rotating watches to keep the 24/7 mission going. In every command but one, watch-standers were automatically put on CommRats (commuted rations) where we were paid a per-diem for food and either shelled it out in cash to eat at the chow hall, or rustled our own. The way I heard it was that regulations required a meal be supplied in the middle of an eight-hour watch and it wasn’t efficient to keep a Messman up all night to feed a dozen or two on mid-watch.

The one exception was Torii Station, an Army base on Okinawa where we were a tenant command. Torii was a communication and DF station for the Army, much bigger than any of the Naval stations I’d been to before or since so it was practical for them to keep a messhall open 24 hours a day, and they did. Problem was, our working site was eight miles down the road and we simply did not have the time* to drive to the food, eat it, and get back. Day watches, they would dispatch a truck up the hill with a hot lunch, but eves and mids, no such luck. Our skipper tried six ways from Sunday to get our ComRats, but the Army wouldn’t budge.

*Or the inclination, to be truthful; it was the least tasty chow I’d had since leaving boot camp. Although I was assured by the Army-types I was eating with that while Torii was not the best they’d experienced, it was far from the worst. I concluded that food-wise, I had joined the right service.