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Reporting from Iraq: Comfort food for troops can pack on the pounds
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Ventura County Star staff writer Scott Hadly is in Iraq for a month to report about U.S. troops. Hadly will spend most of his time with a Naval Mobile Construction Battalion — Seabees — based in Port Hueneme. He's also blogging about his experiences and shooting videos.Complete coverage »
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CAMP RAMADI, Iraq — There are many threats for the troops deployed here, but few as insidious as the bacon cheeseburger, French fries and soda.
Reflecting what's happening across the United States, the military is fighting fat.
Fitness is not just an ideal, it's a necessity in the military.
But troops sometimes pack on the pounds, just like civilians. Sometimes they skirt the mandatory three-times-a-week physical training or help themselves to a few more trips around the lunch line.
"When I was at home, I just wasn't exercising much, and me and my wife like to go to the buffets," Builder Utilityman Bruce Beebe said after finishing a 3-mile run around Camp Ramadi.
Beebe, who puts in 14-hour days tracking flights in and out of military bases, was able to pass basic physical tests, running a mile in less than 11 minutes and completing 60 or so sit-ups and push-ups in 2 minutes.
But it was his weight that failed him.
So he and 13 other Seabees with Naval Construction Battalion 3, who are based at Naval Base Ventura County but now stationed in Iraq, do "fitness enhancement training" five times a week.
At one point, about 40 Seabees with the battalion had failed the military's physical standards. But the fitness program trimmed down and shaped up all but 14 troops.
Battalion Cmdr. Tony Edmonds said his battalion is doing much better than the military as a whole. The odd thing about Camp Ramadi is that the food is so good that troops end up putting on weight, despite the blazing heat.
Beebe said his favorite meal is the weekly surf and turf — steak and crab legs. There's also an ice cream bar and a fast-food burger option at every meal.
Five years into the war in Iraq, Forward Operating Bases such as this one — and others much larger — have developed into mini-American towns.
On some bases, troops fresh off of a patrol can stroll in for a sandwich at a makeshift Subway, grab a pie at Pizza Hut or get a Whopper from Burger King. Even in the chow hall, where the meals are prepared by contractors, there are plenty of fast-food options — the kind many young troops typically reach for first.
Such amenities are meant to provide some comfort for troops wrestling with dangerous situations and long deployments, but they've also made it difficult for some to keep off the pounds.
Postal Clerk 1st Class Monica Adams, one of the leaders of the physical enhancement program, said sometimes it's not always about what people eat.
"Some people are just made different," said Adams, who tries to mix up the program, from running to circuit training.
If someone can pass the physical test but not make the cutoff for the Body Mass Index measure of body fat — 22 percent for men and 33 percent for women — they can ask the commander for a waiver, she said. But if a Seabee fails a physical test three times in a row, he or she can be booted out of the Navy.
That's unlikely for Beebe, who has dropped more than 20 pounds, to 213. The 33-year-old hopes to get his weight below 200 pounds.
Sweating in the morning heat after his run, Beebe talked with fellow Seabee Gabriel Rodriguez, 23, about food options. Rodriguez is partial to French toast, and they both like the fried shrimp. But when Rodriguez mentioned his daily ration of ice cream, Beebe hesitated.
"I've only had ice cream here once," he said.
Posted by stormcloud55 on July 8, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I've been deployed three times since 9/11. At the dining facility in Kuwait, they posted signs on each table, "you'll leave here in the best shape of your life or the worst". The food was abundant, BUT the workout facilities were first class. Hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream, and fries, the unfortunate diet of too many Americans be they deployed at a far off place or still living in the good ole US of A.
Posted by christafrankmiller on July 8, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
my husband is in afghanistan and i think that our troops deserve to have these small treats if they want to...they have enough to worry about over there without worrying about calories...this doesnt mean go overboard of course, but if they want a burger...let em eat it!! lifes to short...whether here or there!! i send my husband boxes full of goodies to pass around...let them enjoy the little things they can!
Posted by LC on July 8, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree, they have enough to worry about...without having to worry about having a heart attack. If you read IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY, you will learn how the dining facilities were set up to resemble the dining habits of the least healthy part of the US. Great way to "support the troops."
Posted by oxnardraised on July 8, 2008 at 1:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MATTER HOW MUCH THEY EAT? WHY DON'T THEY REPORT ON HOW THE TROOPS ARE STUCK IN THE DESERT FIGHTING FOR THEIR COUNTRY AND TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST OF THE WORSTE SITUATION OF THEIR LIVES?
Posted by NavalAviator on July 8, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I ate comfort food until a 4-way bypass suggested that I change my eating habits. Bypass surgery is a life changing event. Exercise just will not do it, you also have to change your eating habits. The French fry has killed a lot of Americans.
Also, despite what your dear Mother said, you do not have to clean your plate.
Posted by fungus on July 8, 2008 at 2:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
the article does not say that comfort food shouldn;t be made available to the troops. It does illustrate, however, that the problem of American obesity extends well beyond the continental US.
Furthermore, it makes an excellent point: "Fitness is not just an ideal, it's a necessity in the military."
Posted by christafrankmiller on July 8, 2008 at 3:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
they exercise PLENTY!! believe me!! my husband has lost over 30 lbs over there in 3 mos and even when hes home, he does PT 5 days a week...he runs miles and miles!!! i think that as long as its done in moderation...fast food/ junk foods ok!! like i said..if they want an ice cream to make their stressful life a little better...good for them!! they could be doing way worse things. oh, and i make my kids clean their plates...however its not full of french fries and burgers..they get all their food groups and i know how much they can eat so i do the right size portions for each one of them. i dont want to encourage being wasteful!!
Posted by mare523 on July 8, 2008 at 10:44 p.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by mrlee on July 9, 2008 at 12:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
juniormafia_ny..... I HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED... HAND TO HAND COMBAT CAN OCCUR AT ANY MOMENT... SOME SOLDIERS LIKE MYSELF ENCOUNTER IT... YEAH.... WE RATHER CHOOSE OTHER WAYS BUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, WE AS AMERICANS HAVE PRIDE AND ABILITY TO DEAL WITH IT... WE ARE TRAINED TO PROTECT THE U.S. I AM PROUD TO SERVE... I AM FROM OXNARD... I WENT TO HUENEME HIGH SCHOOL... I GOT A FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP... PLAYED ONE SEASON THEN 9-11 HAPPENED AND I CAME TO SERVE. NO REGRETS!!!
Posted by oxnardraised on July 10, 2008 at 7:07 a.m.
(This thread was removed by the site staff.)
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