In November 2024, soldiers at Fort Carson, Colorado, were served a single slice of toast and a scoop of lima beans for dinner. Of the $22 million available to buy food at Fort Carson, only $5 million was used for that purpose. At Fort Hood, Texas, only two of ten dining facilities were open for service.

A tale of one installation. One time is a mistake but multiple times within the last several months. @USArmy_FtCarson pic.twitter.com/t7QBPaWqDM

— hots&cots (@hotscots_app) November 20, 2024

Muleskinner DFAC at @drum10thmtn. Not the best way to fuel soldiers. pic.twitter.com/iAs2NEiOWK

— hots&cots (@hotscots_app) November 26, 2024

During 2024, the US Army siphoned off at least $151 million from the soldiers' food budget and diverted it to other uses. A review of financial records from just 11 installations revealed that $151 million, or 67%, of the $225 million Congress allocated to buy food for soldiers living in barracks bought something else, though no one is exactly sure what.

The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) payments, roughly $460 per month that is automatically deducted from the paychecks of service members who live in barracks and is intended to help cover food costs. For junior enlisted troops who earn about $30,000 annually, the cost can be consequential.

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"It's just returned to the big pool of Army funds, and it's used someplace else," one service official with direct knowledge of the situation said during an interview that was arranged by the Army public affairs office, referring to redirected BAS money collected from soldiers.

This investigation by Military.com covers only 11 of the Army's 104 installations, so the actual amount stripped from the budget to feed soldiers is much higher. The grift appears to have a local element because the diverted amounts vary wildly between bases.

At Fort Stewart, Georgia, for example, soldiers contributed $17 million, but the base spent just $2.1 million -- redirecting 87% of the funds. Schofield Barracks in Hawaii collected $14.5 million but used only $5.3 million, meaning 63% of the money was used elsewhere.

In the Army I grew up in, there were mess halls — they tried to make us call them "dining facilities," but no one did — and enlisted men and women who lived in the barracks got a meal card that entitled them to three meals per day. If you lived off post or were a commissioned officer, you were paid a "basic allowance for subsistence," which equated to the list price for three meals per day in the mess hall. When the unit deployed to the field, the BAS was stopped for enlisted men as they drew free food in the form of MREs. Officers continued to draw BAS in the field, but you were charged for the MREs you consumed; actually, you were charged for three meals per day whether you ate them or not.

By 2002, that system was gone, and single troops received cash BAS. But this money was deducted from their checks and used to support the trendy food "kiosks" that had replaced mess halls. Unfortunately, it looks like the payroll deduction for meals has created a massive pile of cash, and someone, probably wearing stars on their shoulders, has decided that money could be better spent elsewhere. 

There is no moral or ethical justification for this level of theft, for theft is exactly what it is. Facilities and food service staff are paid for from different budget lines. The BAS money is, by law, dedicated to buying food for soldiers. It can't be legally used for any other expense unless the Department of Defense goes to Congress and asks for a reprogramming of the funds.

This scandal represents an extraordinary betrayal of trust by the entire chain of command and the noncommissioned officer support channel. Everyone knew that not only was food in short supply but that the quality of the food was dog crap.

More than $151 million of soldiers' food money was diverted elsewhere. Many have seen the picture of the junior enlisted soldiers with toast and lima beans for dinner.

These reviews from our Hots&Cots community don't lie soldiers are struggling to get nutritious, hot meals.… pic.twitter.com/wElUnLOyOm

— hots&cots (@hotscots_app) February 14, 2025

As the old saying goes, "Nothing is too good for the troops and that is exactly what we give them."