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Food in the field not for gourmets
But at least smaller camps get two hot meals a day
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Photos by James Lee / Special to The Star U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines file into the Rawa chow hall for breakfast at Forward Operating Base Rawa, Iraq. The notebook at top contains handwritten menus to be used at the Rawa food preparation trailer.
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More from Scott Hadly in IraqANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq — The line forms daily before 7 a.m. for one of two hot meals served to the Marines, soldiers and Seabees.
Unlike the array of food offered at big bases in Ramadi, Al Asaad and Fallujah, the military keeps it pretty simple in the small Combat Operating Posts, Battle Post and other encampments dotting the desert in Iraq.
Some offer the most rudimentary staple of Meals Ready to Eat, individual dinners that troops carry with them. After a base is established, a mess tent is usually set up where hot meals are prepared.
At Camp Rawa that job falls to Marine Staff Sgt. Juan Torresdiaz and his crew of seven. The menu isn't too complicated and it comes pre-cooked. Preparing meals consists of putting the packaged food into large potboilers, heating it up and then doling it out.
For breakfast the crew serves eggs, bacon and biscuits. Dinner might be pork chops, peas and mashed potatoes.
"Sometimes we try and add some meat to that, maybe fried chicken, or we'll barbecue something," said Torresdiaz.
The lunches, called MGRs, aren't terribly popular. Wrapped in cellophane, the meals consist of a bun, tuna or ham spread, juice and chips. A lot of it ends up in the trash, however.
— Star staff writer Scott Hadly
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