The Army Can't Feed Its Soldiers Stationed at Texas' Ft. Cavazos—And That's Not the Only Problem There

(Rodolfo Gonzalez/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Things at Fort Cavazos are not optimal.

Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) is located not far from Killeen, Texas, and is the home to the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division, with over 34,5000 uniformed personnel and 48,500 family members. It is a city unto itself. And it can’t feed its residents.

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The Military Times reported that the sprawling base had only two of its 10 major dining options open every day for junior enlisted personnel. While the hot Texas summer rolled through central Texas, the base wasn’t able to provide its men and women in uniform with convenient dining, leaving thousands to spend an hour on the road traveling to and from a dining hall just to eat.

Although many enlisted have cars, many do not. Those who do not have a private car or could carpool with mates were left to find transportation via shuttle. Shuttles were available. Just one problem – that information wasn’t generally knowns to hungry soldiers. Many of the enlisted interviewed by The Military Times were not aware of the shuttle service. The publication reported:

“For months, one [dining facility] was open and was a more than 30-minute drive for my soldiers,” said one noncommissioned officer, who spoke to Military.com on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. “All the soldiers were going to that one. It’s unmanageable during the workday.”

In some situations, the base posted conflicting schedules or confusing guidance on what meals were being provided at which dining facilities. One facility had a sign on the door stating that it was “closed for dinner,” but it didn’t note which specific days it was closed or days when other meals were not available.

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A lack of cooks has been blamed. Army cooks have been deployed elsewhere in other states, leaving no one to man the kitchens in Texas. As absurd as that sounds, that is why enlisted personnel were hunting for dining options and traveling up to an hour just to get fed. Since the Army is not deploying vast arrays of personnel to war zones or on a moment’s notice, the lack of logistics, and the lack of planning to man kitchens at Fort Cavazos seems unconscionable and shameful.

The Pentagon can send billions of dollars—and billions of dollars’ worth of equipment—to Ukraine but it can’t staff its own kitchens in the middle of Texas.

The lack of cooks isn’t the only problem at Fort Cavazos. There is also a lack of transparency and accountability and, it appears, a potential coverup.

Back in April, barracks housing the 1st Cavalry Division were defaced with racial slurs, and drawings of a penis and “The N-word.” Fires were also set in a laundry. The Army quickly identified the two soldiers responsible, but no discipline has been meted out and the soldiers have yet to be charged. With the obvious racial undertone of the incident, and the Pentagon actively searching to remove white supremacists from its ranks, it would seem that the Army would have quickly announced, at the very least, the race or races of the vandals.

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But, it hasn’t. The Army claims that the investigation is ongoing—and that is the reason for the non-disclosure of the soldiers’ names. And after four months, the last report of the “investigation” was in June, the Army still has not released even the race of the soldiers.

Additionally, even though the soldiers can face general discipline under the code of military conduct and criminal statutes, their commander could independently punish them with reductions in rank and extra duty. But related facts about their identities including rank, unit, and race have not been revealed nor has anything about punishment, or as The Military Times reports, punishment. With the Army reporting in 2021 that punishment for racial minorities has been harsher than for white contemporaries, one would assume that the Army would jump at the chance to identify white soldiers for harsh punishment to equal the scales. But the Army is silent.

Maj. Tim Watts, a spokesperson for the 1st Cavalry Division, said in a June statement:

The Army does not condone these deliberate acts of vandalism as they run counter to Army values and standards of conduct, It is Army policy not to comment on open investigations. The Army will take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate disciplinary action is taken against those involved once the investigation is completed and provided to the command.

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That statement is a carefully worded dodge and answers no questions.

One wonders: is the Army dealing with white racists in the ranks, or two individuals wanting to foment racial divides by perpetrating a “Jussie Smollett” false flag?

At this point, one can only speculate, but at the very least, this is starting to smell.

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