We have recently reported about the Navy’s recent troubles with keeping its submarines at sea as scheduled, here: Nearly 40% of U.S. Attack Submarines are Out of Commission, and here: Delays with New Strategic Nuclear Missile Submarine Program Could Damage National Defense, GAO Reports.
We also reported about the inability of USS Boxer, a large amphibious assault ship, to get underway as scheduled despite a two-year-long overhaul that was supposed to improve, not degrade, the condition of the ship: USS Boxer Unable to Get Underway after Two-Year $200 Million Overhaul, Symptom of Military Readiness Problems.
As the title of that post suggested, these failures to execute assigned missions are serious symptoms of problems with military readiness.
Lest it be outdone by the Navy, the Army is also having its own readiness problems in the form of a severe ammunition shortage, the result of our free-of-charge largesse to Ukraine as it attempts to ward off the Russian invasion:
And now, military.com reports that not only is the Army facing an ammunition shortage, soldiers at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, are unconscionably short on food:
Fort Cavazos Soldiers Have Been Without Proper Access to Food for Months
One of the Army’s largest bases has been barely able to keep its food services up and running for months, according to soldiers stationed there and dining facility schedules reviewed by Military.com.The situation at Fort Cavazos, Texas — previously known as Fort Hood — has left some junior enlisted with few options for meals, as top officials on base struggle to juggle logistics while most of its cooks are on deployments, missions or serving field training and other events.The base had only two of its 10 major dining options open every day for much of the summer, with three others open only during limited times. The closures forced many soldiers to drive long distances across base, sometimes an hour round trip for their meals.But not all junior soldiers have vehicles, and the base provides only a limited shuttle service, with none dedicated to dining facilities. The service is so limited that some service members interviewed by Military.com didn’t even know it exists.
I can’t even describe to you how unfathomably disgusting this situation is, especially with soldiers in Texas facing 100+ heat as they try to survive their work day on substandard, or nonexistent nutrition.
The cause?
At the heart of the issue is the dining facilities not having enough Army cooks to run them. A rotation to the National Training Center, or NTC, and support for a cadet training exercise at Fort Knox, Kentucky, took many cooks off base.
Something seems off about that excuse, and while I am not a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist, this explanation does not seem that outlandish:
In any case, the situation is unprecedented as far back as I can remember, and the Army should be ashamed of itself and fix this ASAP.
I could not have said it better myself.
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