NAVY CHOW

[SASABERANGER]

Navy Chow

I started as an E3 on the USS Randolph (CVS-15). A lot of the gear and equipment was straight out of WWII and Korea. Fresh food usually didn't last long enough to get us from Norfolk, VA to the MED. Milk usually went first.
Fast forward from 1966 to 1984 and to the USS Independence (CV63. I walked aboard as a senior E7 and was in for a real shock. Things had changed and The Chief's Mess was the envy of all on board. I had never seen anything like that in my previous 18 years.
I can't ever remember eating that well any where I had ever been.
And the storage and replenishing logistics were greatly improved. I can remember ever running out of any fresh food during my two years with the air group and deployments aboard.
And from what I heard back then and can only imagine today, the Nukes had it better than the oil burners.
Don't miss it a bit, and have no desire to see if things have changed since my day.
Thom Braxton
CPO-USN Ret. 1964-1985
SWCA #1474

 

[soFlaNative]

Thanks for the pics Old Nav.
Funny how no matter where the chow line, be it for bread at a soup kitchen or a school cafeteria the most popular pastime for the guys seems to be pocket pool.

 

[Baggy Wrinkle]

Murphy and the Master Chief are spot on. My first ship was a WWII era ice breaker, Staten Island. We operated independently in the arctic for 3-5 months at a time. After a week or so underway all the fresh fruit and veggies were gone and all that was left was dried, powdered, canned or frozen. Resupply was challenging because there no ports where we could dock so everything and everyone going on or off the ship was via our 2 small helicopters with limited range. To add insult to injury all the movies we drew from the Navy Motion Picture Exchange were also WWII era. How many time can you watch "An American in Paris" without puking?

 

[BearBio]

Except for the time I was half asleep and put milk and sugar in with my scrambled eggs (looked like oatmeal), mine wasn't too bad. But I was doing OJT as company clerk and everybody wanted something==I kinda got some special "treats" from the cooks!

 

[Murphy's Law]

OLDNAVYMCPO ....Concur with your comments about leadership. As to fires couldn't agree more. I experienced the ordnance fire on the "Big O" in 1965 where we lost 50 plus good sailors. To make matters worse, many of the OBA's were defective (old style that you started up by breathing in until the granules heated up). Secondary fires just about every day trying to limp back into Cubie Point in the Philippines. Sea rats the whole time which to me was better then the mess decks..LOL Enjoy Master

 

[tlawler]

Best chow in the Pacific was at Subase Pearl Harbor. We always looked forward to heading over there after docking at Bravo pier when returning from deployment.

 

[OMCHamlin]

OLDNAVYMCPO ... To make matters worse, many of the OBA's were defective (old style that you started up by breathing in until the granules heated up). Enjoy Master

Old style, huh? Our tender in LaMaddalena still used OBAs by the time I left in 2002. They were JUST starting training on Scott Air Packs. I would always knock the air outta the bladders with a hose, or hauling butt through a scuttle (I guess I was getting biggish back then...)

Being a periscope fixer, I can say without shame, I always tried to go down to a boat to do shipchecks at around 1030-1045. Amazing lunches on a SSN or SSBN in port!

 

[Frank46]

Chiefbob81, when were you on the swank franky?.I was there from early 65 to sept 67. E-3 in #1 engine room,generator room,pump room and thrust block. Made one med cruise ,then the westpac cruise, 2nd med cruise and last about a half med cruise cause I was getting close to my due date to rotate back to the states for separation from active duty. Frank

 

[Mydogmax]

I was in the Sea Bee's and even in peace time on Guam, at a table.......

I could not, get used to the taste of that powdered milk.
I had to give up dry cereal until back in the states.

Me too. First time I ate when back in the states, I had a big glass of REAL milk.

 

[joeintexas]

I have only been in 5 chow halls and they were all good.

I seemed to have missed those 5, Rusty.

 

[NYlakesider]

While in the Army, I had a buddy who served under Colonel (later MG) George S. Patton - the son of General George S. Patton, Jr. in Viet Nam. He said Col. Patton had a habit of prowling company areas looking for sergeants and officers who were hiding out "in the rear with the gear", rather than being out in the field with their men. He claimed he was once in a mess hall (tent) eating a meal before shipping out when Col. Patton suddenly appeared and walked towards a table filled with E-7 and above Sergeants who were sitting around drinking coffee and shooting the breeze. The tent got very quiet when Col. Patton asked the sergeants sitting at the table why they weren't in the field. All of the sergeants claimed to have medical profiles stating they could not eat combat rations. Col. Patton then asked to see the Mess Sergeant, and when he appeared, Patton ordered him to make each of the sergeants a sack lunch, and then ordered the MPs to make sure each of the sergeants were given a ride out to a field unit.

I don't know if the story is true or not - my buddy insists that it was - but if it isn't it sure ought to be.

Regards,

Dave

My cousin served under Chesty Puller, this sounds like his style!

FWIW my brief time in the Navy I found the food decent! It seemed better when aboard, than at land messes!

 

[CajunBass]

I've never been in the service, but I have memories of a "class trip" to the Navy base in Norfolk, Va. Must have been 64-65 or so. I heard that we were one of the last groups taken, as Viet-Nam was really building up fast.

We ate in a mess hall somewhere...no idea where, but I had always heard about how bad military food was. I remember being surprised at the variety of stuff as we went through the line, the same line the sailors were going through. I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and some green bean or peas...I forget which. It was just like Sunday dinner at home. Same rule too. Take all you want, but eat everything you take.

I don't guess I'll ever forget that.

 

[Thiokol]

While in the USAF I spent some time on Johnston Island for Program 437. The food there was the best that I'd ever had on a military installation. The mess was run by the Holmes & Narver Company and operated more like a restaurant than a military mess. Steaks were always on the menu and they were delicious.

When we left Johnston, we caught a hop on a USN EC-121 to NAS Barbers Point before going on to Hickham. The mess at Barbers Point was pretty good too..

 

[Simson-Suhl]

USS BULWARK (Mine Sweeper Oceangoing 425), won an award in the late '50's for being the 8th. best feeder on the Atlantic Coast. Our mess deck had three tables, five men to a side. The center table had four battle lanterns over it as this was also the operating table if the need arose.

When the sea was a little on the rough side. no containers of salt, pepper, sugar, or ketchup were visible while we were eating. Someone held it between their legs. If you ask for it, you held it until someone requested the same. Last request or the final man eating placed the items in a special rack mounted against the bulkhead. I have seen food from one tray slide into another man's tray! The one I remember the most was William S. Hartstern ET2, my friend, a late watch stander eating by himself, the ship took a hard roll and he slid down the entire length of the table, fell to the deck and dumped his tray into his lap!

 

[mtgianni]

USS BULWARK (Mine Sweeper Oceangoing 425),
When the sea was a little on the rough side. no containers of salt, pepper, sugar, or ketchup were visible while we were eating. Someone held it between their legs. If you ask for it, you held it until someone requested the same. Last request or the final man eating placed the items in a special rack mounted against the bulkhead. I have seen food from one tray slide into another man's tray! The one I remember the most was William S. Hartstern ET2, my friend, a late watch stander eating by himself, the ship took a hard roll and he slid down the entire length of the table, fell to the deck and dumped his tray into his lap!

Not in the Navy but crossed from Cape Horn to the Antarctic thumb in 25'-35' waves doing about 19 knots. My wife couldn't take it andd stayed in her room like many others. I went to breakfast and it was one hand on your drink and your forearm on the plate. If you weren't hanging on it was sliding off.
We were on a cruise and it was rough then had someone sick enough to be taken off. We turned around and headed for Puerto Williams, a Chilean naval base with no civilian access. It was too rough for a tender so back to Usuaia Argentina. We had a very limited window to be in the Antarctic so it was wide open across the ocean.

 

[johnt671]

*
I read a few years ago about the death on of the family; he was a USMCR Brig. Gen. Something tells me he had an awareness of the suck of the field, and spread that in the company.

Before we went out to the boonies we cleaned the mess hall of his hot sauce. Not even an open bottle left on a table when we were done with the meal.

 

[pmanton]

My wife makes SOS for me. I retired in 75 and still miss it.

 

[Old Seabee]

Chow

1965 MCB-7 sent two merchant marine ships loaded with equipment heading for Vietnam. There were four Seabees on each ship to keep equip secure it took thirty days due to boiler leaking .
I will have to tell you I have never been fed or treated better anywhere . There was three choices for each meal the oxtail soup was to die for.
Anyway end of trip could not button top button on greens , then the fun and sea rations started what a shock. OldSeabee

 

[Jeff423]

[QUOTE

Aboard carriers, messing was generally divided into four facilities. The officers had their wardroom, Chiefs (E-7 thru E-9) had the Goat Locker or Chief's mess, E-6's had the First Class mess and the troops had a general mess. Each mess had their own cooks and menu.


In the Tonkin Gulf, when we had the rare breaks from operations, the ship would throw a bar-b-que on the flight deck.
QUOTE]


Minor point but didn't Warrant Officers have their own mess?


I remember one of those bar-b-que's on the flight deck during a "stand down". I was waiting in line for some food and I looked up at the "Island" and thought to myself that I'd bet the Captain (J.R. Sanderson) had his steward standing in line for him. Good thing I didn't speak this out loud because he was the next person in line behind me.

 

[Golddollar]

In the Tonkin Gulf, when we had the rare breaks from operations, the ship would throw a bar-b-que on the flight deck.
QUOTE]

I remember one of those bar-b-que's on the flight deck during a "stand down". I was waiting in line for some food and I looked up at the "Island" and thought to myself that I'd bet the Captain (J.R. Sanderson) had his steward standing in line for him. Good thing I didn't speak this out loud because he was the next person in line behind me.

You saved yourself from a major case of "Foot-in-Mouth Disease"!