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View Full Version : Whoppers, DQ Removed from US Bases Overseas



DaGhost
03-25-10, 04:25 PM
U.S. bases in Afghanistan say goodbye to Whoppers, DQ (http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/25/u-s-bases-in-afghanistan-say-goodbye-to-whoppers-dq/)
Whoppers, Dairy Queen sundaes and the latest movies will soon disappear for U.S. military personnel serving in Afghanistan, according to a blog posting by Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall discussing changes to morale, welfare and recreation facilities on U.S. bases there.
In an effort to put more focus on fighting the Taliban, the military is cutting back on "non-essentials" in Afghanistan, Hall announced on the International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan blog this week. Hall is the command sergeant major for ISAF.
On large U.S. facilities such as the Kandahar and Bagram air bases, that includes closing restaurants such as Burger King, Dairy Queen, Orange Julius and Pizza Hut, dropping first-run movies from base theaters and cutting the amount of canned and bottled imported from the States, Hall writes.
“This is a warzone – not an amusement park,” he writes.
“Supplying nonessential luxuries to big bases like Bagram and Kandahar makes it harder to get essential items to combat outposts and forward operating bases, where troops who are in the fight each day need resupplied with ammunition, food and water,” Hall says in the blog posting. (http://www.isaf.nato.int/en/the-afghan-hands-blog/commanders-blog/command-sgt.-maj.-michael-t.-hall-morale-welfare-and-recreation-mwr-facilities.html)
Hall says eliminating the restaurants and other facilities will free up space to accommodate more than 35,000 U.S. and allied troops who will be arriving in Afghanistan in the coming months.
But troops shouldn’t feel neglected, Hall writes, as the military plans to increase fitness centers and Internet and telephone capabilities.
And they’ll still be able to get a good cup of coffee as the Green Beans Coffee outlets at bases across the country will remain open, Hall writes.


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><!-- <td valign="top">http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/sect/blogs/cnnbts/24x24_avatar.jpg</td> --><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 20px" vAlign=top>Post by: CNN.com's Brad Lendon (http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/tag/cnn-coms-brad-lendon/)
Filed under: Troops (http://afghanistan.blogs.cnn.com/category/troops/) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Garyius
03-25-10, 07:38 PM
This would mean so much more if the commanders screwing the troops didn't fly in and out every month, and enjoy a senior officer comfort pallet while doing so, in-between fine dining and booze at the embassy.

A friend who is a little racist is always proposing that before the US Congress passes any gun laws on America, they should force Israel to live under that law for two years first.

I think the same is called for here. US commander in Japan wants liberty limits? He and all O-6 and above should live the same way they want the E-2 to live, for two years.

Same with this jack-ass. He loves screwing the E-2 who is scared, lonely, and away from home for the first time? He should have to live exactly that way for two years.

firedog974
03-25-10, 08:05 PM
I think this is a great idea. I am all for morale, but this stuff just distracts from the mission....

Phantom Blooper
03-25-10, 08:34 PM
So the Sergeant Major is basically telling everyone that they can't have it your way anymore.....

I was always of the mindset beans,bullets and band-aids always came first....

Morale and motivation is from within and recreation was a game of hoops,weights or a good run.

I always seen the ten year flicks and at best "B" rated....

Different era...different time....but I agree with the SGT MAJ in his post....

Coffee,H2O and the occasional 1.5 beer....and Marine Corps chow...3 hots and a cot....what more can you ask for.:evilgrin:

bgsuwoody
03-25-10, 09:51 PM
How bout we pass all the **** out to the combat outposts, OP's and FOBs who dont see this **** for one single day that they are out there...sounds good to me

hrscowboy
03-25-10, 10:15 PM
nope aint no body need it.. get to killin ragheads and get your butts home... that my take on this..

Komenko
03-25-10, 10:23 PM
Phantom there is no beer! the war zones are a dry zone!

ABrevik
03-25-10, 11:37 PM
They do have beer there. Non alcoholic beer. Not worth the money to drink those though. BTW I know some Marines that received beer for the Marine Corps ball. Besides there is occasionally a Marine that gets alcohol through the mail.

Deduke
03-26-10, 09:56 AM
WTF? I went 11 months without a shower. The few times we had a beer, it was Carling's Black Label, hot, and in rusty cans.

I have often wondered how current warfighters can keep their head in the game when they have e-mail and phones. It is just too easy for a young wife back in the world to complain to Hubby that the water heater went out and the dog didn't.

This is not to say that our warriors shouldn't have everything they need. I just don't think Dairy Queen is a necessity we should be paying for.

DaGhost
03-26-10, 12:16 PM
It's funny I was at Bagram for two deployments. I was there when they started that BK &amp; Pizza Hut thing. I ate BK once. I dont even know why I partook of it. But the food at the chow hall was a hell...

rickyracer
03-26-10, 01:49 PM
I am not there, I am here..........I do not feel Quaified to say yes or no.

bgsuwoody
03-26-10, 08:15 PM
Yeah when you get out to the COPS and FOBS they dont have that **** at all. We didn't shower and we were lucky to get internet with a few months left, but it was rarely available, and you really didn't care because there was a job to do and we were always busy, I would only do it if the helos were flying like crazy or something else kept me up in the early morn

brian0351
03-27-10, 01:37 AM
He's right and I agree...we shouldn't have that crap in a warzone! I was up a Jalalabad...we wouldn't have shampoo in the PX...but you could have all the pizza from Pizza Hut you wanted!

Today's military is coddled with all the amenities out there. I'm not that far removed from the Marines (7 years) but there was little I wanted back then. In the chow hall, you grabbed your main meal or a burger, some bug juice or water and the occasional piece of cake. Eat, rinse and repeat.

NOW...The chow halls are full of $hit you don't need! Every soda you can think of, All the baskin robbins ice cream you can eat, pizza bar, hot wings bar, indian bar, pasta bar, taco bar, pastry bar.

Not to mention individually wrapped otis spunkmeyer cookies and muffins. Pop tarts, bags of chips. And there is NO limit to what you can take. You want to walk out of the chow hall with 4 sodas and pockets full of muffins...go for it.

...and since the chow halls are run by contractors, the servers are TCN and (rumor has it) KBR gets paid by volume of food prepare...portion control on the main line is out of control!

There is a reason the average military member GAINs 15-20lbs on a year deployment.