This is Mitchell Hall, one of the largest mass dining halls in the world. During lunch time,
4,000 cadets eat here at the same time, and get this, it all happens in just under 30 minutes!
But how US Air Force Academy manages seat and feed such a large group in such a short time,
why these cadets look so serious and formal while sitting at the dining table,
why all branches of military serve half-rats and double-rats, but only the Navy serves mid-rats,
which US military branch has the best food, and finally, how the US
Navy solved the problem of food allergies for its sailors, is Not What You Think!
On weekdays, cadets at the US Air Force Academy, located just north of Colorado Springs,
are required to dine in Mitchell Hall for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is optional.
Since recruits have extremely regimented schedules, they only have a 30-minute window
between classes for meals. This means that they have 10 minutes to get in and out of the dining
hall and a mere 20 minutes to eat. That’s why everything is super organized and super formal.
The solution to feeding 4,000 hungry cadets in such a short period of time is to have a giant
1.7 acre dining area that hosts 400 tables with 10 people each. That solved the seating problem,
but the plan to feed this hungry bunch started 8 weeks prior to this. That’s when the menu was
finalized. On any given day everyone receives the same meal, although vegetarian options and meals
with dietary restrictions are also available. Everything is delivered to Mitchell Hall via two
loading docks, and is then transferred to a 13,500 square foot food storage area. And now the cooking
routine begins. Preparations for lunch begin as early as 3 AM. Some of the food is prepped inside
these giant 100 gallon kettles, while others are made inside huge ovens. When the meals are ready,
be it meatballs or salad, they’re put on trays, and then placed inside massive hot carts.
In order for the food to be served quickly, cutlery, cups and all the cold food items such as
bread, beverages and salad are set on the tables in advance. Then the hot carts are positioned by
the tables prior to the cadets’ arriving. As soon as they announce “wing take seats”,
wait staff have 5 minutes to deliver hot food to each table. Here at the academy,
lunch is served family style. This includes 10 servings of each item which are passed around
the table by cadets. Passing the food around the table builds comradery between cadets,
which is the whole point of serving lunch family style. On average, male cadets eat up to 4,700
calories and female cadets consume 3000 calories per day. This higher than average caloric intake
compared to the civilian population, is due to the extreme physical load on cadets.
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A unique aspect of Air Force Academy’s dining experience is that it is literally by the book.
Cadets are seated by squadron, and each table is organized with the upperclassman sitting at the
helm of the table, acting as “table commandant”. He or she can make you do stuff, like read
contrails, ask you to pass utensils to everyone or keep doing something over and over again. The rest
of the cadets are seated as they progress down the class all the way to the freshmen who sit at the
foot of the table. Freshmen are nicknamed doolies, which is Greek for “slave” or “servant”. In this
context, their job is to pour beverages and pass the food around to everyone else. But don’t worry,
they still get a little bit of time to eat themselves. Doolies must sit up rigidly,
which to someone like me looks extremely serious and almost robotic. They are constantly bombarded
with questions by upperclassmen during their meal, like what does NASA stand for. As a doolie, expect
to be yelled at non-stop, and a word of advice, when you receive your copy of Contrails, start
memorizing it immediately. Contrails is a small handbook issued to new cadets, and it contains
the history of the Air Force. It also won’t be a bad idea to learn names, ranks, and duties
of your upperclassmen and women. Expect more of the same in your 2nd and 3rd year, and only when
you reach your senior year can you be somewhat at ease. Heck, you can even have some Gatorade
if you want to, because you’ve earned it!. But just getting 4000 people to enter a cafeteria
and be seated efficiently and quickly, is an ordeal that deserves its own military formation!
The preparation to get into the dining hall begins in front of the dormitories, where cadet wings
line up numerically by squadron at 11:30 in the morning. They then form the noon meal formation,
as they march across the Terrazzo into Mitchell Hall, and that’s while music is played by their
Drum & Bugle Corps. It’s quite a show for just … wanting to have lunch! Historically,
the noon meal formation dates back to 1905 when the US Naval Academy started mustering their
troops prior to lunch, to make sure that everyone was accounted for. At the time,
this was the most efficient way to ensure that all midshipmen were present.
The US Air Force Academy is not the only academy that serves food family style. The
US Naval Academy and the West Point Military Academy also serve food after everyone has been
seated. At West Point, three meals per day are served family style inside Washington Mess Hall,
where 4,000 cadets eat their meal in about 20 minutes. Similarly those in
the Naval Academy gather every weekday at King’s Hall which also accommodates 4,000
midshipmen. They get 25 minutes to have their “mando meals”, which are breakfast and lunch.
You might be wondering which Academy has the best tasting food. I don’t have any personal
experience, but I do know that similar dietary standards are mandated to all the military
branches, and the budget allowance in the Air Force Academy is the same as at Annapolis and
West Point. But how is the military's food quality outside of the academies?
Enlisted sailors aboard a warship eat at the mess deck, which is pretty basic. Officers
eat at the wardroom which has better seating and some additional amenities. But by far,
chiefs have it the best. The chief's mess is somewhat exclusive and has
the best food on the ships. This is because chiefs usually manage
to order their own food and get all the extras for their fine dining experience.
A unique aspect of dining on US Navy ships is that you are almost certainly guaranteed to
have no allergies to the food. That’s because people with food allergies are not accepted
into the program in the first place. While it is possible to get a medical waiver and join
the Navy with a food allergy, it is very unlikely, especially when compared to the
other branches. That’s because it’s difficult to provide allergy-friendly foods on a ship that is
underway. Not to mention that it would be nearly impossible to guarantee that the food served would
not be cross-contaminated with allergens. As a result, unlike other military academies,
the Naval Academy doesn’t even bother catering to special dietary restrictions or allergies.
That said, the US Navy does cater to the servicemen and women who do
night shifts. Midrats stand for Midnight Rations. It’s the food that is served at
midnight for those who are starting their watch or being relieved from
one. Midrats are more often than not the leftover food from dinner.
There’s also half rats and double rats, but they are usually reserved for the
recruits who are at the bootcamp of any of the branches. If you are overweight,
you will receive half the rations, or half rats, to make you get in shape faster. If you are bony,
you may receive double rations, or double rats. Now that’s the kinda problem I’d like to have!
Speaking of bootcamps, if you are in the US Army boot camp, or just an enlisted soldier,
you eat at Dining Facilities Administration Center or DFAC for short. While the food varies
between locations, it’s generally compared to a cheaper breakfast restaurant. But don’t worry,
because when you’re starving, food tastes delicious anyway! Even if you don’t like it,
you won’t have much time to taste it, because it's as fast as 15 minutes from
door to door. That said, recruits don’t always go to DFACs for meals. They could
also consume their MREs while in the field. But for those who do eat at the facility,
all the food is color coded as part of a joint-service food-identification program
called Go For Green. All the healthy stuff like vegetables would be labeled green, meats and
bread would be yellow, and the good stuff … gravy, cheese and chips would be labeled red!
With all this said, which branch gets the best food? Rumor has it that the Air Force
has the best food out of all the branches. One explanation for this is that the Air
Force really focuses on the quality of life for their servicemen and women. For example,
most branches transfer their personnel to new locations every three years,
to gain more experience and shuffle talent around the organization so pockets of
excellence don’t stay in one place. In contrast, the Air Force focuses on
homesteading, that is keeping their personnel at the same location for the long term. This results
in savings that could be invested into better dining halls and golf courses. Now, that was
based on my online research, so if you have first hand experience, make sure to write us a comment.