# Where Do I Find the MIL\_STD Specification for Chocolate Cookies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557 "2015-08-11T15:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/1 "2015-08-11T15:57:32Z")
I saw this document once, believe it was cancelled because of public ridicule. at any rate, does anybody know where I can find it? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/2 "2015-08-11T16:07:10Z")
[Google is your friend](http://liw.iki.fi/liw/misc/MIL-C-44072C.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/3 "2015-08-11T16:13:39Z")
Of course that document was subject to ridicule. Who the hell puts chocolate on oatmeal cookies? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/4 "2015-08-11T17:51:06Z")
I wonder if the public ridicule met the MIL\_STD spec for public ridicule? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/5 "2015-08-11T19:01:57Z")
I dunno… I don’t want an STD anywhere near my cookies… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/6 "2015-08-11T20:19:47Z")
I’m not really seeing any reason for ridicule. Given what unscrupulous contractors have foisted off on the government in the past (and on-going) strict standards are a good idea. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/7 "2015-08-11T21:02:23Z")
Yeah, this isn’t what an army chef out in the field is expected to follow. This is for the companies that mass-produce military rations. They’re going to do the absolute cheapest (and probably lowest-quality) product that won’t fall afoul of the official regulations, so you’d better make sure that the official regulations don’t leave any wiggle room. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/8 "2015-08-12T13:45:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, this isn’t what an army chef out in the field is expected to follow. This is for the companies that mass-produce military rations. They’re going to do the absolute cheapest (and probably lowest-quality) product that won’t fall afoul of the official regulations, so you’d better make sure that the official regulations don’t leave any wiggle room. Exactly. And I’d be willing to bet that just about any commercial enterprise contracting with a bakery to supply baked goods to be used as part of their products or to be sold in their stores has very similar specifications, for the exact same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/9 "2015-08-12T13:53:43Z")
As part of my job (logistics for the Navy), I have access to the ASSIST database (entirely unclassified), which also includes such gems of military standards as (titles cut and pasted without editing): File, Dog, Toenail Poultry, Live POUND CAKE, CANNED (why are you shouting, ASSIST database?) WHEAT BRAN, EDIBLE ORANGE NUT ROLL, CANNED TORTILLAS, TACO SHELLS AND CHALUPAS Cookie, Sandwich Candy, Bar, Chocolate-Fudge, Survival Type Chocolate Flavored Sirup; Beverage, And Topping PORK AND EGGS, CHOPPED, CANNED PUDDING, PINAPPLE AND RICE, CANNED Meat and Corn, Canned HEADCHEESE (yes, it has its own military manual) Flavoring, Imitation Maple, Tablets Hide, Cattle, Wet-Salted This was mostly from browsing the food and animal-related categories. There are thousands upon thousands of more, in pretty much every category of object you can imagine. I’d be happy to take requests. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/10 "2015-08-12T14:00:53Z")
I believe during the Clinton administration the DoD started to de-emphasize the use of Mil-Specs for everything in favor of [buying commercial stuff](http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/military/milperry.htm) where possible. So rather than buying mil spec cookies (and having to pay extra so that the vendor can meet that requirement), they might buy the same Otis Spunkmeyer cookies that the airlines given out. And, by the way, the database is publicly available [here](http://quicksearch.dla.mil/). ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/11 "2015-08-12T14:05:09Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > As part of my job (logistics for the Navy), I have access to the ASSIST database (entirely unclassified), which also includes such gems of military standards as (titles cut and pasted without editing): > […] > WHEAT BRAN, EDIBLE > […] There are thousands upon thousands of more, in pretty much every category of object you can imagine. I’d be happy to take requests. Is there a WHEAT BRAN, STRUCTURAL or WHEAT BRAN, SPILL ABSORBENT, or WHEAT BRAN, DECORATIVE, or really any other kind of WHEAT BRAN other than EDIBLE? ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/12 "2015-08-12T14:05:26Z")
I remember searching a military supply catalog some years ago. The listing for patient aids was, of course, aids, patient This was when AIDS was big in the news. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/13 "2015-08-12T14:06:36Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Is there a WHEAT BRAN, STRUCTURAL or WHEAT BRAN, SPILL ABSORBENT, or WHEAT BRAN, DECORATIVE, or really any other kind of WHEAT BRAN other than EDIBLE? That is the only entry that comes up from the search term “BRAN”. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/14 "2015-08-12T15:36:20Z")
Once again ralph124c asks an inexplicably strange question that turns out to have an interesting answer. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/15 "2015-08-12T15:47:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I believe during the Clinton administration the DoD started to de-emphasize the use of Mil-Specs for everything in favor of [buying commercial stuff](http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/military/milperry.htm) where possible. So rather than buying mil spec cookies (and having to pay extra so that the vendor can meet that requirement), they might buy the same Otis Spunkmeyer cookies that the airlines given out. This not only makes procurement a whole lot easier, but military types out on the sharp end get to see rations that remind them of Back Home, as opposed to always looking like the Big Green Machine. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/16 "2015-08-12T17:53:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I believe during the Clinton administration the DoD started to de-emphasize the use of Mil-Specs for everything in favor of [buying commercial stuff](http://www.sae.org/standardsdev/military/milperry.htm) where possible. So rather than buying mil spec cookies (and having to pay extra so that the vendor can meet that requirement), they might buy the same Otis Spunkmeyer cookies that the airlines given out. > > And, by the way, the database is publicly available [here](http://quicksearch.dla.mil/). The memo in the link mentions something called a “performance specification” which is apparently not a mil-spec. I assume that rather than specifying that a bar of mil-spec soap is no less than 2" x 4" and is made of no less than 30% sodium stearate, and so on, that it’s a spec that says it must be a commercially available bar bath soap, etc… It always did seem a bit idiotic that my father had leftover USAF chap-sticks for years that were in little olive-drab tubes, that said “Lip Balm, anti-chap” (or something similar) and said “Made by Chap-Stick corp”, and had the same exact Chap-Stick balm inside that you could get in a Chap-Stick branded version at any gas station or grocery store. I’m sure the USAF paid a premium for the things versus just buying however many pallets of the things commercially. The only thing I don’t quite comprehend is what the preventions against say… Dial getting an order for 25 million bars of soap, and then making some special corner-cutting less-than-retail version of Dial for the order, rather than just diverting some of their usual retail-oriented production for the order? Do they specifically buy from distributors instead of manufacturers? Does the performance spec somehow dictate that they can’t do that? ---
**Author:** ![ChickenLegs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@ChickenLegs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChickenLegs)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/17 "2015-08-12T18:16:05Z")
When I was in the aerospace industry in the pre-internet days, a favorite time killer for slow times was browsing the microfiche for funny MIL specs. My best finds, that I recall, were the ones for condoms and divining rods. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/18 "2015-08-12T18:21:12Z")
> [@ChickenLegs](#): > > When I was in the aerospace industry in the pre-internet days, a favorite time killer for slow times was browsing the microfiche for funny MIL specs. > > My best finds, that I recall, were the ones for condoms and divining rods. Couldn’t find any divining rods (searching for “divine” and “divining”, anyway). Lots of condoms, though. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/19 "2015-08-13T01:50:15Z")
The military has this strange habit of writing everything in Notation, Polish, Reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557/20 "2015-08-13T02:23:04Z")
I’m so glad this is not about Mother-in-Law Sexually Transmitted Diseases. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-i-find-the-mil_std-specification-for-chocolate-cookies/727557.md?page=2)