digression on first post

My first post reminded me of when I was deployed during the first Gulf War. I spent most of the war at a C-130 transport base well out of SCUD range. Although we were nowhere near a city and our mess hall was a series of tents that looked like something out of a MASH rerun. All of the cooks were fellow GIs we E-4 and below types helped out with KP. Although breakfast included the infamous powdered eggs, which introduced me to British cold cereals. Dinner was dinner with steaks every Friday. Lunch on the other hand, was different. In addition to the usual fare, they had a deli that would put Subway to shame. How they found and bought fresh lettuce, tomato, and other veggies out in the middle of nowhere, is still a mystery to me. A few months after the cease fire, my base closed down and most of us started going home. A couple of folks and I moved to another base that had nicer facilities and air conditioned barracks that were not tents. The food did not match the creature comforts. While I'm sure the underpaid and overworked Filipinos and Pakistani guys that worked for whoever had the contract did the best they could with what they had to work with, their bosses ensured that the menus were predictable. Grease burger and fries for lunch Saturday through Thursday. Grease burger and fries for dinner Saturday through Thursday. On Fridays we were treated to a beginners attempt at pizza reconstituted year old Pizza Hut. Either way, I started enjoying MREs until I came home.