Congress cuts breakfast for military in Afghanistan while giving themselves a raise.

[madfloridian]

Outrageous.

Found on Twitter today Hat tip @randyprine

[MannyGoldstein]

1. This is why we need a draft

So those wonderful residents of DC can screw their own kids.

[liberal_at_heart]

2. It's time to start firing some incumbent Congressmen.

Congress has some of its lowest ratings in history. It's time to shake things up.

[Newsjock]

3. Snopes says part true, part false

The letter cited above is said to be from January 2013.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/breakfast.asp

FALSE: Budget cuts have eliminated breakfast for U.S. troops deployed overseas.

TRUE: Hot breakfasts have been replaced with MRE for troops at some military bases in Afghanistan that are transitioning to local control.

The American Forces Press Service also reported that:

There is no truth to the Internet myth that Washington budget cuts have taken away breakfast for service members in Afghanistan, Defense Department officials said.

Americans serving in Afghanistan can have up to four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight meal, if one is needed.

The Internet myth’s genesis came from a few forward operating bases in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika province that are closing or being turned over to Afghan security forces. Instead of a hot, prepared breakfast, service members at those bases receive packaged meals known as "meals, ready-to-eat," or MREs. This streamlines the logistics for these closing bases, officials explained.

The original email that sparked the controversy vastly overstated the extent of the "MRE for breakfast" policy. The original email also said the reason for the policy was because of DOD (Department of Defense) budget cuts. This is not true, defense officials said. The vast majority of service members in Afghanistan are receiving a hot breakfast, officials emphasized.

[madfloridian]

5. After reading some of the comments, I think Snopes may be "partly false" Give them hot breakfast.

Give them hot lunch and hot dinner. For goodness sake they are in one of the most dangerous parts of the world for Americans. Give them 3 hot meals a day and make no excuses.

[Fridays Child]

4. It's not as bad as reported here but our soldiers should ALWAYS get a hot breakfast. Period.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/breakfast.asp

[madfloridian]

6. Read the comments. Dangerous assignments call for hot breakfasts....no excuses.

[madfloridian]

7. From the comments. Is everyone lying? I don't think so.

We've received similar reports from personnel stationed in Afghanistan (and their relatives):

I am at an outlying COP (Combat Out Post) that is neighbor to FOB (Forward Operations Base) Sharana where this is currently taking place. An email, which I am not able to forward, was sent out to all people in the Sharana area on 28 December stating that on the 30th of December breakfast and midnight chow will be stopped and you must pick up an MRE [at] lunch and dinner time in order to have a meal for breakfast.

The "rumor" about military breakfast being cut out is true. My husband, along with a few of my friends have been reporting (all from different FOBs) that they are no longer being served a morning meal. For a lot of soldiers, this means that, due to their shifts, they are only able to make it to chow for one meal a day now.

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/breakfast.asp#150OyOqo6gZgPdkY.99

[lpbk2713]

8. And these a-holes drive around with 'Support the Troops' bumper stickers on their SUVs.

Their $24 Billion shutdown would have paid for a lot of breakfasts.

[madfloridian]

9. FRG confirms...Can we not afford to feed our military hot meals?

From the comments section:

My sister sent an email to the FRG (Family Readiness Group) to confirm what seems to be an absurd policy. We received the following response from his company's Admin:

You are correct that a majority of the bases are no longer providing HOT chow to Soldiers for breakfast, including the base that I am currently stationed on. They are still providing each Soldier with an MRE and other non-hot meal related items to include cereal at most locations. Many Bases have decided to make the change to morning chow since this meal had the lowest attendance throughout the day. The Army is cutting back on several items in anticipation of the accelerated timeline to close bases throughout the coming year.

The Army is required to provide each Soldier two hots and a cot. Normally in a situation like this, the Army would serve Hot Breakfast Chow, MRE Lunch and Hot Dinner Chow, but since Breakfast had the lowest attendance, it only made sense to make that the MRE meal. There will be no additional Substance Allowance due to the fact that Soldiers still are afforded the opportunity to eat an MRE. If Soldiers choose not take advantage of the MRE, that is on them.

This very much does confirm that a HOT breakfast is no longer being supplied to these soldiers. And according to my brother who is on the ground at one of the Afghanistan bases it does appear that non-hot breakfast items in general are in very limited supply. It also confirms that breakfast in general and notification about MRE availability is not being handled in the same manner at each and every base in Afghanistan.


Read more at http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/breakfast.asp#150OyOqo6gZgPdkY.99

[madfloridian]

10. Seems the "partly false" is that not due to budget cuts, but to logistics.

There appears to be no denial of the lack of hot breakfast.

These guys are in danger zones.

[TwilightGardener]

11. In buildups and drawdowns, hot meals are a little spotty. Even my husband

has had to go without hot meals on deployments, and he was Air Force, for God's sake--home of the omelet bar! Most military take it in stride.

[madfloridian]

12. I guess they have to be accepting.

I do have a gripe with Snopes saying it is partly false because it is because of logistics not budget. The end result is the same. They are not fed as they should be fed when serving our country in danger zones.

[Brother Buzz]

13. Let out boys sleep till noon

then serve them a hot meal - problem solved. I guarantee there would be no complaints from our troops.