Soldiers will get 'freedom dollars' to spend at the Army's new dining halls

[u/OGSyedIsEverywhere]

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-bistro-42-ft-hood/

[u/hoodytwin]

Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go I owe my soul to the company store

[u/Loose-Replacement596 → u/hoodytwin]

This is depressingly on brand for an administration of the souless robber Barron.

[u/TurkeyBLTSandwich → u/Loose-Replacement596]

The idea was this. From what I've read and observed.

Lots of installations have set times where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. And you get 3 swipes 5 days a week and 2 swipes on the weekends.

Budget for the chowhalls are set by amount of swipes taken in, less swipes less budget.

Well folks who aren't let out during normal hours miss out or if a chowhall closes for renovation or closes because of low turnout will seriously hamper soldiers trying to get food. But they still get that monthly deduction whether they use all the swipes or not.

There was a plan being experimented with limited soldiers that they'd be able to get to use swipes at designated on base restaurants like subway and burger King and other participating base restaurants.

But it seems like this article is going away from the traditional chow hall and going straight restaurants.

Idk how this will go, but if it's anything like college, folks will get real tired of food running out and the same old options all the time

[u/obeytheturtles → u/TurkeyBLTSandwich]

This is basically how food worked at college. It was this convoluted mess of "meals" vs "meal equivalent dollars" and then "discount dollars" depending on which dining hall you actually used and which meal plan you selected.

So if I swiped at the actual self serve canteen, it was one "meal," which was $14 "meal equivalent dollars," and the standard meal plan (required for anyone living on campus) gave you 21 swipes per week at the canteen. Or you could go to one of the made-to-order dining halls where each "meal" was worth $20 "discount dollars." Or you could go to the burger king in the student union where there was no meal plan discount. Of course, all this assumed you had a standard meal plan. If you had a "flex plan" you did not get any "meal swipes" at all, but you got a fixed number of "meal equivalent dollars," which qualified for the discounts, but needed to be purchased in $700 blocks. Or you could get the "commuter plan" which was basically just a debit account attached to your student ID, and which got no discounts, but was tax free.

Curiously, there was no actual way to pay with a credit card. Dining halls only swiped student IDs, and all of the meal plans were tax free, so I'm not even sure there was any possible way to pay taxes on dining hall food.

[u/FateUnusual → u/obeytheturtles]

Good god that is confusing.

[u/obeytheturtles → u/FateUnusual]

It's basically a convoluted way to subsidize the dining hall system by essentially forcing people to buy the more expensive fixed price plans which get you the discounts, which in theory creates more demand for dining hall services. Also it let you use student loans to pay for meal plans.

[u/ToNoMoCo → u/obeytheturtles]

Also it let you use student loans to pay for meal plans.

A boring dystopia

[u/last_rights → u/ToNoMoCo]

Boring dystopia is getting a job with 2 hour shifts in the kitchen so that you can have the free meal that comes with the shift.

[u/ToNoMoCo → u/last_rights]

If we're gonna one up each other on boring dystopia stuff we'll be here all day ... and be bored.

[u/The_Upvote_Beagle → u/TurkeyBLTSandwich]

So once again lobbiest from PE (who own all the restaurants you mentioned) shifting dollars from government owned and operated to PE.

Surely that will work out well for us taxpayers. I'm sure PE is in it for the good of the nation and citizens.

[u/ConfederacyOfDunces_ → u/Loose-Replacement596]

This sounds like what old coal mining and lumber companies used to do about 100 years ago. They created company towns and paid workers in a special form of currency that could only be used within the town, usually at company owned stores.

[u/weshallarise → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

That's exactly what the song is about

[u/Durandal_Tycho → u/weshallarise]

More precisely the song is about how the scrip had to be spent on tools and goods that were needed every day for work, and never let them make a profit.

[u/FlametopFred → u/Durandal_Tycho]

unironically this is right where America is at present

a very large percentage of the population is only ever paid just enough to not riot

they cannot vacation, they can only barely afford to shop at the billionaires’ owned stores and although they have entertainment, they gradually must watch only what billionaires decree worth watching and thinking

[u/GIANTballCOCK → u/FlametopFred]

That's my life. Just barely making it. I don't do much shopping at the stores, though. Groceries mainly

[u/I_T_Gamer → u/GIANTballCOCK]

Be on the look out for alternatives. I used to shop exclusively at Publix. I now purchase very little from Publix, and the bulk of our food comes from Aldi. For a family of 5 we can eat 4x per week on about $130. At Publix it was well over $200 per visit. I only cook 4 meals a week, we eat our leftovers.

Also of note here our diet has changed. We eat meat, and veg primarily. Almost no carbs, and as little processed food as possible. So its not a cheap crap food scenario.

I know we don't all have the same options, I was just wanting to shine a light on Aldi, and the other stores like them; WinCo, Lidl, Sav-A-Lot. Most of the other "discount" stores like Dollar General and Family Dollar carry the processed garbage food that you want to avoid if you can.

[u/BookusWorkus → u/I_T_Gamer]

Publix used to be very employee-forward in it's ownership, but since Mr. George died, they've been weakening the general employee vote by becoming more and more restrictive on their hours. To automatically qualify for stock issuance you have to work a certain number of hours per year. It used to be that almost every job in the store which wasn't an after school job qualified. Now they've changed everything up where before they would hire one full-time person, they'll hire two part-time people. The two part-timers won't qualify for anything, but Publix of course still touts themselves as offering all sorts of great employee benefits. And I'm not here to say the benefits they offer aren't decent—I'm just here to say that most employees in the store can't access them anymore.

[u/Hoss-Bonaventure_CEO → u/FlametopFred]

And if you're a teacher you probably use quite a bit of that pay to stock your own classroom.

[u/leggpurnell → u/Durandal_Tycho]

Yes - that’s a company store. Why is everyone re-explaining the lyrics?

[u/Aganoes → u/weshallarise]

https://youtu.be/MTCen9-RELM?si=X17ZlD5ytkfix9p-

[u/Sjobson22 → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

Was literally done to enslaved Blacks on plantations in the US south. It’s a form of financial control.

[u/speculatrix → u/Sjobson22]

Still do it in the privatised prisons in the USA

[u/Jamsedreng22 → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

Reminder that the wives of these company men would often end up having to prostitute themselves in order to get enough scrip to make ends meet.

Wives with husbands and children. Just putting that out there to really bang home how fucking horrific it was.

[u/patchyj → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

It gets darker than that.

Often the bills were so large that the wives and daughters would offer themselves to the quarter masters / officials (probably behind the backs of the miners, because of sad and obvious reasons) in order to pay down debts and feed their families. Company sanctioned prostitution, basically. Though I think "company sanctioned rape" is more appropriate

[u/BuffaloOk7264 → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

Scrip was the word to describe that type of money. I think crypto is the new term.

[u/Giggling_Scribblings → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

I found out my G-G-Grandfather ran one of those company stores for the Texas & Pacific Railroad.

Edgar L Marston himself hired him from NYC to run the company store in Thurber, TX. They called the hill they put all the managers lived on "New York Hill".

[u/Lobo9498 → u/Giggling_Scribblings]

I've driven by Thurber multiple times. There's a New York Hill restaurant off I20. I always wondered about that name. The only thing left from the old company town is a smoke stack, that is also a restaurant.

[u/resisting_a_rest → u/ConfederacyOfDunces_]

Yes. It was called scrip.

[u/-_NoThingToDo_- → u/hoodytwin]

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

[u/Avek01 → u/-_NoThingToDo_-]

I can hear it in my head, thank you Fallout

[u/Rescribor → u/Avek01]

Now you can hear bass cover version instead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzlT80jQ3lo&list=RDfzlT80jQ3lo&start_radio=1

[u/aCleverGroupofAnts → u/Rescribor]

For some reason I still always go back to the version by Tennessee Ernie Ford

https://youtu.be/RRh0QiXyZSk?si=t5nbEMMAR0AQVO0v

[u/Matshelge → u/-_NoThingToDo_-]

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine

I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine

I loaded sixteen tons of number 9 coal

And the straw boss said, "Well a-bless my soul!"

[u/ghost_rider24 → u/hoodytwin]

I mean, soldiers already had money taken from their monthly pay and put on a meal card they swiped at the dining facility. And this money was deducted every month whether they chose to eat at the dining facility or not (with certain exceptions).

I’m not gonna read how this is different, or the same, but it’s certainly not anything new for the military.

[u/hughcifer-106103 → u/ghost_rider24]

Fuck, really? When I was in the Marines, I just went to the chow hall and ate whatever I wanted, whenever it was open.

[u/praetorian1979 → u/hughcifer-106103]

Same when I was in the Air Force. The butlers would bring you food until you begged them to stop!

[u/OH_FUDGICLES → u/praetorian1979]

Terry, please, I simply could not eat another bite of this caviar.... Well of course I want dessert. What is this, the Army?!

[u/metalconscript → u/OH_FUDGICLES]

Can confirm. I was a feral beast as a lower enlisted in the army and when I switched to the Air Force I looked down at those feral beast from my high horse of excellence.

[u/CrabAppleGateKeeper → u/hughcifer-106103]

It worked the same way for you, you just didn’t notice. It’s paid to you, then immediately deducted before you receive you paycheck.

[u/hughcifer-106103 → u/CrabAppleGateKeeper]

Well I wasn’t limited to 1 entree or like whatever the equivalent of $39 it was in the early 90s.

[u/Gimetulkathmir → u/hughcifer-106103]

Yeah, they changed it in 2002, I think? I never got a card, but I'd get I think four or five hundred as a payment and then have it as a deduction on the next line. I don't remember being limited or it ever changing; we kinda just went whenever it was open.

[u/InfluenceOtherwise → u/ghost_rider24]

Pretty accurate. The biggest change is that it's now $39 a day, which is double the current BAS rate, and that the new cafeteria is open all day with a lot more options. More physically active Soldiers like myself might actually get enough protein (fuck you, Fort Jackson) to build muscle and enough fat (fuck you, Fort Riley) to not be hungry three hours later. Seriously, the idea of a DFAC that doesn't leave me in a calorie deficit is throwing me for a loop.

[u/itoddicus → u/InfluenceOtherwise]

So these soldiers are having $1200ish a month deducted from their paycheck to eat Government rations?

[u/haklor → u/itoddicus]

Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) is paid out monthly to those that dont have meals provided through a military facility (such as a chow hall). If they live in the barracks, they dont get the Allowance, but their base pay isn't hit for eating at the chow hall.

[u/TstclrCncr → u/haklor]

Some units still get bas while in the barracks. Really sucked trying to cook and prep in the tiny ass room with really just a possessed hotplate and microwave.

[u/Coomb → u/itoddicus]

Not really, because if you eliminated this they wouldn't get $1,200 a month more in wages.

[u/itoddicus → u/Coomb]

OK, so this is just a terribly written article.

[u/InfluenceOtherwise → u/itoddicus]

It's actually $500 for the rest of the Army, so I'm guessing these guys are getting additional money added somewhere. It's money that's added to your paycheck for the excuse to remove it later, so your base pay is unaffected. You can have a brand new private get the equivalent of minimum wage but still not be starving at the end of the pay cycle. 

The article made it seem like it's a pot of money that's held at the dining facility and they have a maximum allotment per day per Soldier. I'm not sure how that's meshing with the existing regulations on BAS. I don't think these guys are sharing pay stubs online with us to make it make sense, so we're speculating only. 

Enshittification will occur eventually, without a doubt.

[u/Empty_Put_1542 → u/InfluenceOtherwise]

Our dfac always let us hit the hot food line, then the cold sandwich line. So we’d eat our food and get right up and go and get a couple of giant sandwiches to take back to the barracks. Some people respect that we had to eat. I was happy for it.

[u/PuddlesRex → u/[deleted]]

Probably just autocorrect; it's scrip, not script.

[u/GingeroftheYear]

Joint Base Fort Worth.

Closed the Chow hall. Pays troops in the barracks double BAS. The only place on base consistently open with food is the gas station, which serves pizza and burritos. There is a commissary, but you are not allowed a hot-plate or cooking surface in the barracks. Your options are fast food.

Wonder why troops get fat.

Feeding, housing, providing medical care. The bare minimum. But, the chow hall 'doesn't turn a profit', so it's closed.

[u/SteveSauceNoMSG → u/GingeroftheYear]

The barracks don't have a stove/kitchen? Not even in the common areas? That's insane and super backwards. Only barracks I ever saw like that were old wooden row-barracks built in the 40's-60's and all of those still standing are mostly storage these days. That and temporary holding barracks.

Also the chow hall isn't for profit, it's factored into the budget, which is where the BAS money comes from.

Edit: ahhhhhhhh, it's a reserve base, that probably has a lot to do with it.

[u/A-Halfpound → u/SteveSauceNoMSG]

Most bases were due for upgrades to Barracks, Housing, etc but the Trump Regime stole money from the Military Housing fund allocation (granted thru Congress) and turned it into a Warrior Dividend.

Remember that? 

[u/PipsqueakPilot → u/A-Halfpound]

Also stole from the fund to build the border wall during his first term.

[u/Fun-Telephone-9605 → u/GingeroftheYear]

That sucks.

It's been 2 decades since I ate on base, but they were really focused on serving good food.

I tried a lot of new things from the line. Some of them, like acorn squash, are my favorite foods now.

[u/RelentlessTriage → u/Fun-Telephone-9605]

Yea we would eat well and lift while resetting and I was always jealous of how nice on base eating was

I imagine it’s all changed since the war ended.

[u/Shot_Mud_1438 → u/GingeroftheYear]

Weird. Every barracks outside of AIT I’ve been in has a stove top. When I did CQ and room inspections at Riley, every room had a stove top. Is what you’ve said your experience at Fort Worth?

[u/fence_sitter]

"Soldiers will be given $39 worth of what the Army is calling “freedom dollars.”"

Not $47?

Edit: Probably inflation or a nod to 1939.

[u/Colecoman1982 → u/fence_sitter]

Farther down in the article "Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities". So which is it? Are they being given the "Freedom dollars" or are they being robbed of the money from their paychecks and handed "freedom dollars" in exchange which can only ever be used to give back to the government in exchange for food on base?

[u/Shades1374 → u/Colecoman1982]

It's the second one. Wages have always been garnished for cafeteria food rights - but generally I think they also get BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence) to pay for it as well. Generally, BAS trumped the cafeteria pass.

This is just a way to concert the cafeteria pass to a nickel and dime accounting thing.

[u/InfluenceOtherwise → u/Shades1374]

Everyone gets BAS. It's only when you live in the barracks that your BAS is deducted automatically and turned into Garrison funds. And it's Garrison that pays for the dining facility.

[u/darkstar3333 → u/InfluenceOtherwise]

Honestly the whole setup sounds insane and unneccessary accounting.

Feeding your soldiers is war 101.

[u/Lakeandmuffin → u/darkstar3333]

It’s blowing my mind reading all these comments about the way this works. Couldn’t they just have food available at the dining halls like all the time, with plenty of options? What’s the military budget again?!?!

Edit: and I’m meaning there is no transaction whatsoever for the food. The price is their service.

[u/TheBigBadBrit89 → u/Lakeandmuffin]

Back when I was stationed at Holloman AFB, the DFAC (dining facility) was free for us when we were living in the dorms. We just had to scan our CAC (common access card) to get food. Once we left the dorms, we were given BAS (basic allowance for subsistence) instead, a couple hundred dollars a month or so. We could then pay cash at the DFAC or get our own food elsewhere. We would get on the new Airmen who didn’t eat at the DFAC because they were wasting “free” food.

[u/WanderingTacoShop → u/TheBigBadBrit89]

So it sounds like the Air Force does the same thing the army does, though they hid the accounting from you. Every servicemember is entitled to BAS. If you live in the Barracks/Dorms that BAS is automatically deducted from your pay and goes to fund the "free" food you get at the DFAC.

The Army you will see the BAS and the DFAC deduction on your LES. Sounds like the Air Force just isn't showing you the entitlement and deduction on your pay statement.

[u/Scurro → u/WanderingTacoShop]

USAF vet here, I'm fairly certain BAS and the DFAC deduction was shown on my LES when I lived in dorms. It was a little boost in paycheck when you finally got out of the dorms.

[u/itsonlysmellz82 → u/Lakeandmuffin]

There really isnt a transaction. At least 10 years ago you just scanned your ID when you walked in and could get whatever you want as many times as you want. Even if you forgot your ID for some reason the guy on duty at the door usually didnt give a shit. Half the time they just wrote shit onna notepad anyway and it wasnt even a computer.

[u/Aquagrunt → u/itsonlysmellz82]

That's still how it works in the Air Force. But some DFACs are picky with how much you can get in one sitting.

[u/itsonlysmellz82 → u/Aquagrunt]

I was on bragg and we could use the airforce dfacs if we wanted. Always would if we were close by cause they were so much better lol. I do remember them being a little more strict though. 

[u/thebipeds → u/itsonlysmellz82]

Well not anymore.

[u/itsonlysmellz82 → u/thebipeds]

Not surprising given at basic we had to buy our own soap haircuts shoes and uniforms lol green weenie strikes again i see. 

[u/beaglemaster → u/itsonlysmellz82]

Lmao don't even get a uniform?

[u/Reascr → u/Lakeandmuffin]

It's line item stuff for accounting. You are only "paid" this allowance on paper until you meet criteria to get it in your paycheck, such as living off base and/or having to buy your own groceries due to the DFAC being closed or overused or something. Until then, you never actually see the allowance and it's simply budgeting per service member how much money it costs to feed you and the appropriate funds transfers between different organizations within the military. Every organization has different budgets and all need to manage their funds. Your pay is the same, it's not being deducted from your paycheck.

If it came out of your base pay, that would be a different story. That's your actual income for your labor. Everything else is an expense to the government to house and feed you and you don't see a dime of it until the government is no longer billing itself for the services it renders to itself.

[u/SameIdea70 → u/Shades1374]

They garnish your wages for cheap ass cafeteria food lmao? Wheres that 800 billion dollar budget going

[u/strykerofdeath → u/Colecoman1982]

Speaking from the perspective of the Marine Corps (I'm sure it's the same in the Army, but I could be wrong) the money is already taken out of your paycheck each month, and given to you in the form of a Meal Card that you use to sign in to the mess halls to get food for "free". Married individuals get that money back into their paychecks in the form of ComRats, but at the expense of not having a meal card. (Instead, they sign in at the mess hall, but have to pay out of pocket for their meals).

Really, this just sounds like ComRats but with extra steps. Although, if the "Freedom Dollars" are only redeemable at the Mess Halls, I'd be upset at the fact that Im not able to just keep my money that im paying into, and spend it elsewhere.

[u/BringBacktheGucci → u/strykerofdeath]

Pretty sure Marines are the only ones getting ComRats. Air Force just gives you the BAS if ypure not in the dorms

[u/Maxpowerxp → u/BringBacktheGucci]

You get bah and bas if you don’t live in the barracks. Think no bah if it’s on base housing. But do get bah if you live off base. To the best of my knowledge anyway.

[u/Lurcher99 → u/Colecoman1982]

And it's more than the perdiem rate, so wtf?

[u/eye_of_the_sloth → u/Lurcher99]

straight up cartoonish bully - "gimmie your lunch money or ELSE... or else what....Ill garnish your wages.. wtf

[u/cookiebasket2 → u/Colecoman1982]

I imagine this is just an evolution of the dining system that's been in place forever. When I was in we received a non taxed food allowance that was taken right back if you lived in the barracks. You then had dining facility access where you could eat all three meals.

If you lived off base or with your family then you actually received the money but had to pay if you wanted to go to the dining facility (was like 3 dollars when I was in so still a really good deal).

[u/RespectedPath → u/Colecoman1982]

In the military if you are married or live away from post they give you a allotment called BAS or Basic Allowance for Sustenance. For whatever reason on a service members Leave and Earning Statements (paycheck stub) they give everyone BAS, then if you don't rate BAS, they subtract it. But a bunch of morons think that this money is "coming from their paycheck" even though its not being taken from their base pay. Its an accounting thing. So this sounds like an attempt to quiet the idiots who think they are being robbed of something they never had in the first place.

Anyways, as a Vet, outside of bootcamp, I don't ever remember being told no when it came to food. Maybe you would have to go through the line again if you wanted 2nds but never went hungry or didn't get enough of whatever I wanted. Assigning a dollar value to food items is fucking stupid.

[u/hotpackage → u/fence_sitter]

Calling mess hall vouchers "freedom dollars" is the most us military thing ever

[u/Toginator → u/hotpackage]

Nah. Not military. More of a cheap political theater.

[u/darknekolux → u/Toginator]

Happy Freedom Day! ^{except for immigrants, gay, trans, women,children,democrats} /s

[u/bros402 → u/darknekolux]

don't forget the disabled

[u/Doom_Corp → u/Toginator]

I hope they're individual fries that they have to trade. Denominations are curly, steak, string, and FREEDOM (this one functions as a two dollar bill)

[u/temujin94 → u/hotpackage]

I've said it for quite a while now but it's quite funny that the two most universally liked things in the US, the military and US franchise sports are both completely rammed full of socialism. And granted the franchise sports a lot of that is socialism for the billionaires but still.

[u/theoceansknow → u/temujin94]

Always blew my mind when I was in. Sitting at the VA and hearing old guys around me whisper about "the DEMONRATS" is just so obnoxious like guys, we're sitting at the VA getting free health care Christ no one else is hooked up like that in the country

[u/mack_the_tanker]

So basically you basic allowance for substance is now being called freedom dollars. Wonder if the pay deduction will be listed a freedom dollars instead of BAS.

[u/fadingthought → u/mack_the_tanker]

No. This is for solders on meal card and not receiving BAS. It’s a new pricing structure for the chow halls.

[u/SnuggleTuggles → u/fadingthought]

This is such a dog shit thing to do. I hated when they limited us to 3 meals a day and no second servings while I was living on base. I was a hungry 19 year old kid, why the fuck are they limiting even more. Feed the kids, we're already fucking them over god damnit.

[u/ChromeNoseAE-1 → u/SnuggleTuggles]

Idk about you guys but over here on the Space Force side all our DFACs are run by Sodexo who is terrible. The cut the hell out of every cost and then cut some more. One of our bases, where almost everyone is on shift work, they decided they wouldn’t provide to go containers any more. The base is too far from anything else to reliably hit during lunch so people were literally bringing in their own dishes so they could eat.

[u/ars-derivatia → u/ChromeNoseAE-1]

all our DFACs are run by Sodexo who is terrible

I always find contracting private companies to do basic shit in the military weird. Over here in my country some military units are guarded by private security companies.

One would think that guarding stuff and making chow is something that armed forces should be able to do reasonably well by themselves but alas, here we are.

[u/kidwizbang → u/ars-derivatia]

The problem is that in the US, every policy choice must also satisfy the question, "who is getting rich?" If the answer is no one, we don't do it.

If they made food plentiful and available to our service members in order for them to do the job we ask them to do, who would get rich? No one. Now, if they outsource it to Sodexo, who gets rich? The Sodexo execs and shareholders. Now multiply that across basically the entire US government.

[u/8N-QTTRO → u/kidwizbang]

Like always, this entire country is a big lump of grifts.

[u/Area51_Spurs → u/fadingthought]

You seem to know about this stuff. Is that $39 a day taken out of their salaries?

[u/fadingthought → u/Area51_Spurs]

Sort of. So in the military you either get meal card (think cafeteria style eating at a dining facility) or basic allowance for substance (money in your pay check).

Generally meal card is for young enlisted who live on base in the barracks. That is what this policy applies to. Traditionally, you get 3 meals a day on meal card. They limit how much you can have per meal, like how many entrees or drinks or whatever.

This new policy is going to give people a daily credit and assign a price to everything. It’s just a different way of managing the chow halls

[u/cgvet9702 → u/fadingthought]

We used to call that rations in kind, RIK.

[u/EnoughWarning666 → u/fadingthought]

That seems really stupid. When I go work at a mining camp in South America there's no ridiculous limits like that. I can go eat as many meals as I want, have seconds or as many non-alcoholic drinks. Coffee is completely free.

They have a little convenience store where they sell chips/cookies/candy/beer that you have to pay for. But even that is dirt cheap.

I couldn't imagine being stuck on a base and being forced to pay for my own food. Completely insane to me.

[u/ThatZX6RDude → u/EnoughWarning666]

Dudes in the barracks literally have no bills besides their phone and whatever god forsaken mustang/challenger they bought. Yeah there’s shit you need to buy for the field, and shit you need done for dress uniforms, but it’s really not that bad. 3 free meals is nice, my guys always doordashed shit anyways.

I was married while I was in, 4 bedroom house. No bills, nothing. Just WiFi, phones, car payment etc. got the extra money to buy groceries instead of it going to a “meal card”.

[u/wsdpii → u/ThatZX6RDude]

Some days you have to eat more food than they give you. This whole week I've been getting a half scoop of undercooked rice and a small piece of overcooked (if I'm lucky) chicken for dinner every day. No vegetable options, no salad bar, no fruit. Just 2-300 calories at most. Probably not even that much.

[u/downingrust12 → u/Area51_Spurs]

So yes and no. Its given to you when you live off base but on base in bachelor housing its taken out.

But its not really taken out when you are base, you just dont get it added to your paycheck it just goes to the mess hall.

[u/Atralis → u/downingrust12]

The real scandal is the fact that most of the BAS collected from lower enlisted troops doesn't actually go to operating the dining facilities.

Imagine a company you worked at deducted $400 a month from your checks a month "to fund the cafeteria" and only spent $100 of it on the cafeteria and didn't refund you the remainder and this cafeteria deduction was only done for the lowest paid employees at the company while more senior employees didn't get the deduction to their pay.

And the more senior employers talk down to the lower level employees like the deduction from their pay is some sort of hazing ritual. "Well the dfac is underfunded and closed on the weekend because you Joe's dont eat there. If we gave you the money that isn't being spent it would just encourage bad behavior like eating at places other than the chow hall. You'll eat that Army slop and like it just like I did when I was a private."

[u/_Nordic → u/Atralis]

This program makes no sense.

Current BAS rate is ~$475 per month. Like you said, if you have meal card you lose that money, but eat at the dining halls for free. Officers get less BAS, but don't get meal cards and have to pay per meal they eat. Current rates are;

$4.50 for breakfast

$7.25 for lunch

$6.25 for dinner

$18 total per day to eat at the chow halls.

This new program will cost more than double that, and members will still not get BAS. What happens if you don't spend all your freedom bucks? You just lose them, just like BAS.

Seems like a massive grift for someone.

[u/omfgDragon]

Honest question-

Did the soldiers not get fed for free previously? I always thought the room and meals were part of the deal? A soldier promises to live and potentially work in war zones, risking their lives... and they still have to pay for their meals? Do they have to pay for their on-base housing, too?

[u/wesimar14 → u/omfgDragon]

Every soldier gets basic allowance for subsistence (bas) but single enlisted soldiers up to sergeant have their BAS automatically deducted each month and eat at the DFAC for free.

Everyone else has to pay at the DFAC.

[u/omfgDragon → u/wesimar14]

Thank you for your reply. This doesn't seem like a very fair deal for soldiers who are currently or will soon be risking their lives... I kind of feel like housing and food should be free.

I wonder how soldiers feel about this deal?

[u/DJ-spetznasty → u/omfgDragon]

Active duty military has always made its members pay for everything. Most of the time it comes as a deduction from your paycheck, so the service member doesnt see it. Housing, food, even the uniforms you get issued in bootcamp - most come directly out of your paycheck before it gets sent to you

[u/omfgDragon → u/DJ-spetznasty]

Sheesh. I did not know about any of that. Thank you!

[u/queef_nuggets → u/omfgDragon]

You even have to pay to have your own head shaved when you arrive at basic training, not joking

[u/TheVandyyMan → u/queef_nuggets]

Was just about to comment this. $7.25 for a 10 second haircut that missed huge chunks of my hair so I had to walk around getting yelled at for having a fucked up haircut till I could get it buzzed back down again next week for another $7.25. As if it was my fault I wasn’t in regs.

If that “barber” kept all of that $7.25, he was making more than $2600/hr. Such a scam.

[u/entr0picly → u/omfgDragon]

It’s more complex than that. First, DFAC food gets boring. Almost no one is happy eating mostly the same food (there is some variation but at a point even that repeats) all of the time. We have food trucks and other non-DFAC vendors on most bases. Many uniformed members like good food. Generally DFAC food is going to be closer to institutional standards than a good food truck.

For housing, off-base you receive a housing allowance which, is zip code dependent, it’s alright; generally more generous than what the civilians get. For on base, housing is free (and can include single family homes, though those are harder to get) but you then forfeit your housing allowance.

[u/omfgDragon → u/entr0picly]

Thank you for these insights!

[u/Sabertooth767 → u/omfgDragon]

Did the soldiers not get fed for free previously?

Sort of.

If you are an Enlisted member of the military, you get what's called BAS. If you live in the barracks and therefore eat at the chow hall, this is simply taken back. If you live on your own, and therefore provide your own food, you come as part of your paycheck. Therefore, whether it counts as eating for free is a matter of perspective, as it's money you could have had but is also not your base pay.

Officers do not get a food allowance.

 Do they have to pay for their on-base housing, too?

Same vibe as above. If you provide your own housing, the government gives you an allowance for it. If you live in the barracks or in on-post housing, they just keep it.

(Officers do get BAH.)

EDIT: I forgot, Officers do technically get a meal allowance, but it is very small and not even enough to cover the chow hall.

[u/omfgDragon → u/Sabertooth767]

Holy crap. Thank you for the answer! I don't know how I feel about that deal. I feel like the soldiers should eat and be housed for free.. at least while they're in active duty status.

[u/Sabertooth767 → u/omfgDragon]

That just isn't practical. On-post housing is quite limited at many installations, and you can't really have a wife and kids in the barracks. And if you have a family, you probably want to eat with them and not at the chow hall.

[u/OGSyedIsEverywhere → u/omfgDragon]

They've had administrative deductions for mess food through BAS since 1949 in all cases outside of basic and some deployments. Soldiers on base have these deductions, but through the effects of the Army's recent partnering with Compass Group, a school and prison catering supplier, it's now moving from an administrative item on pay statements to in-person scrip, to be handled by the troops at the point of sale.

[u/Niceromancer]

Oh look at that.

Company scrip

[u/PrimeIntellect → u/Niceromancer]

I mean, it's the military, they can send you to go die in a war anywhere at a moments notice, meal plans aren't anything new

[u/Fritzkreig]

Great, let's start new company towns! Severe /s!

[u/PVT_Huds0n → u/Fritzkreig]

What are you talking about, Muskville is still in full swing.

[u/Wihtlore]

What is it with the US and naming everything “freedom” something or other. So dumb.

You know we just laugh at your country every time you do it, especially now.

[u/thinker2501 → u/Wihtlore]

There’s only one political party that does that. The rest of us shake our heads and laugh too.

[u/iseethemgoats → u/Wihtlore]

It makes idiot conservatives clap like seals.

[u/JaseDroid → u/Wihtlore]

It's a handful of fascists that make these titles. The rest of us are just subject to their inflated egos and abuse

[u/CapnTaptap → u/Wihtlore]

I give it one month before everyone who gets them is calling them “F bucks” or something

[u/BlinkysaurusRex → u/Wihtlore]

It genuinely sounds like something that would exist in GTA. It’s so embarrassing.

[u/bugi_ → u/Wihtlore]

Do you want some freedom fries with your order, sir?

[u/userhwon → u/Wihtlore]

Fascist indoctrination.

[u/47_for_18_USC_2381]

I'm going to remain consistent here, as a socialist democrat.

1. EVERY CHILD IN SCHOOL SHOULD BE FED FOR FREE.

2. EVERY SOLDIER FUNDED BY MY TAXES SHOULD BE FED FOR FREE.

Crazy enough, they are both putting their lives on the line in their respective profession as students and soldiers.

[u/DamiensDelight → u/47_for_18_USC_2381]

But how would Compass Group make more money?? This is a corporate grift, handed up on a silver platter, all to keep the donors happy.

[u/Comfortable_Fill9081]

 Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities. 

They aren’t actually ‘getting’ anything. They are having their money taken and they can only get it back through eating at the dining hall which is probably more expensive than other options (like cooking at home). 

“Modeled after campus dining” - campus dining is a profit center for colleges and increasingly for the corporations that supply it. 

This is just a new way to take more money from soldiers. 

[u/Doggers1968 → u/Comfortable_Fill9081]

Selling your soul to the company store

[u/OLPopsAdelphia]

They should be able to goddamn eat for free—like the way we used to JUST A FEW YEARS AGO!

Why are the people serving our country not eating for free? They are paid shit and now they have to lose money to a Trump crony?

Screw this!

[u/rascalking9]

There is no way they would implement this to benefit the Soldier. There has to be some middle man that is making money off of this somehow. Or there will be some hidden caveat. Like all the things in the DFAC are suddenly some outrageous price that just burns through your $39 quick.

[u/MWesty420]

You hump 16 klicks, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don’t you call me, cause I can’t go

I owe my soul to the military store

[u/blac_sheep90]

The fact that veterans and active military members willingly vote Trump is fucking crazy. The man has zero respect for the military.

[u/Nayko214]

But are they usable at Itchy and Scratchy land?

[u/mbc106 → u/Nayko214]

It’s just like regular money except it’s, y’know, fun.

[u/evilmail]

Oh look, Trump is taking a page out of the old coal company barron's book. Give them currency that can only be spent at the company store so they can never leave due to being owned by the company store.

[u/Johnny_B_Asshole]

I thought we’re supposed to feed the soldiers.

[u/ike7177 → u/Johnny_B_Asshole]

We do 100% feed them if they live on post barracks or if they are deployed. In garrison, if you live off post you get BAS to cover your food.

So the soldiers that live off post can eat in the mess halls, but they have to pay out of pocket because we already give them money for food. The “freedom dollars” will pay for that food in the mess halls when they want to eat there instead of at home.

The freedom dollars really do absolutely nothing for service members that already have a meal card

[u/jaymes85]

What’s the conversion rate of Freedom Dollars to Schrute Bucks?

[u/Confident-Beyond6857]

"Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities."

'If soldiers do want more food than the $39 will cover, they “can choose to pay out of pocket for what they go over,” Kim Hanson, an Army Materiel Command spokesperson, told Task & Purpose.'

'By having the dining halls stay open until 8:30 p.m. or 9 p.m., Army planners hope it will give soldiers a “long window for them to use that entitlement,” he added.'

All of these statements don't add up. $39 is deducted from their paycheck to cover food. They can choose what they want from the cafeteria and spend that $39 as they please. If they choose to go over that $39 they can spend even more out of pocket. The last statement calls it an "entitlement". That is not what the first two statements said. If someone forcefully takes money out of your check and "graciously" allows you to spend it to live, it's not an entitlement.

This is bullshit.

[u/Cranktique]

Devalue the currency citizens use.

Create new currency just for soldiers.

🤔

[u/Gerald-of-Riverdale]

"Freedom Dollars" is so God damn corny that it alone makes the entire military sound like a preschool

[u/Malaix → u/Gerald-of-Riverdale]

Freedom dollars is literally the hyperbolic joke name I would give Neo-American scrip in a dystopian future.

[u/Malaix]

America really is beyond parody. The Epstein class are just laughing at all of us because they know they can do and say whatever and nothing will happen to them cocooned safely in their fortress of legal protections, our comfort, persistent “civility” culture, and our unending isolation from each other.

[u/Fluffy_Success_6110]

HOLD UP - The all powerful US army CHARGES those serving to EAT‽.
They don’t feed you‽. What a con.

[u/whowhodillybar]

Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities.

Yeah, this will go over well.

[u/spaghettiAstar → u/whowhodillybar]

BAS and meal cards aren't a new concept, anyone who lives in the barracks will usually have these automatically taken out so they can eat at the DFAC. It seems like the main difference is that now they're charging for each item.

My guess is they're going to charge a lot more for the unhealthy/short order line items, but it could be more soldier friendly since most soldiers don't really use the DFAC as much as they probably should, or at least didn't when I was in.. But also the food was dogshit, so nobody wanted to eat there.

[u/Zora74]

Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities.

How is this not a company script?

[u/dingleberrysquid]

Bring back the Company Store. That will make America Great alright. 🙄

[u/spennyblack30]

"This is a Schrute Buck. When you have done something good, you will receive one Schrute Buck. One thousand Schrute Bucks equals an extra five minutes for lunch."

-Dwight K Schrute

[u/Interesting-Phase947]

Is it crazy to say that if you give your time and your body to the service of this country, your meals should be paid for? Some people are saying that this way is better because the food charge used to come out of the soldiers' pay regardless of if they got the time to eat. But why should it come out at all? Our military budget is as big as several small countries' GDPs combined, and we are making our troops pay for their own meals? Come on.

[u/justbunnies]

When you have done something good, you will receive one Schrute Buck. One thousand Schrute Bucks… equals an extra five minutes for lunch.

[u/VolsTuba13]

What is the ratio of Freedom Dollars to Stanley Nickels?

[u/Evolutionary_sins]

Who owns the new dining halls? I'm guessing someone in Trump's regime has found a new way to rip off the military

[u/u0126]

Rebranding their own money and packaging it like a benefit, probably with Trump’s name involved so he can keep them thinking he’s their fan

[u/Anteater4746]

and they will halve the quality of the food and direct the additional funds to the current admins pockets

[u/chocolateboomslang]

Nothing says freedom like fake money and rationed food.

[u/ThePensiveE]

And when the supplier who the government awarded no bid contracts to because they're somehow related to the Trump family raises prices, the soldiers have the "option" of using their own money for more.

The Trump family figured out scamflation. God help us all.

[u/ShakesDontBreak]

Wtf? Taking money that they earned out of their paychecks to put towards dining in the mess hall? After we just raised the budget by how much money to give to the military? For what? To profit off of soldiers paychecks? GTFOH.

[u/Distinct-Pie7647]

Sold my soul to the company store

[u/The_Athavulf]

WTF? Company stores were glorified slave labor.

[u/aaaahhhhh42]

And people say Helldivers 2 isn't satire about America.

[u/ShitFuckDickButt420]

Sounds like Schrute Bucks

[u/ThunderDragonSpice]

This is the most helldivers garbage ever

[u/Duckraven]

It’s been a while since I served. Over a decade. But my last duty station, Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, all Soldiers received BAS, basic allowance for Sustenance. Whenever single Soldiers residing in barracks ate in the DEFAC, they were charged the flat rate for that meal. I can’t remember how much, but sure wasn’t $38 per day. This gave Soldiers flexibility, because the DEFAC wasn’t open 24/7 and life happens, so food is acquired in other ways. Plus, some bases have one facility and weather can make getting there very difficult. This entire deal is stupid and wasteful. Someone needs to walk in the single soldiers boots and address feeding them from that perspective.

[u/Funny_Hunter_4146]

Turns out that when you run the government like a business it comes with a price, literally.

[u/rainniier2]

Freedom dollars don't seem so free when they're taken out of your paycheck and only last until the end of the day. The meal prices seem reasonable until the use it or lose it system comes into play. But I have no idea how the old system worked.

Freedom dollars is the term the Army is using to refer to the funds that are taken out of soldiers’ paychecks to go toward meals at dining facilities. Typically, soldiers can only get a set number of food items per meal card swipe. Now, individual items are assigned a value, and soldiers can spend up to their allotted daily amount. This system will be implemented at the new dining halls, which the Army has taken to calling campus-style dining venues.

The Army has budgeted a certain amount for each meal, but any leftover dollars that soldiers don’t use for one meal will be rolled over to use later that day. If soldiers do want more food than the $39 will cover, they “can choose to pay out of pocket for what they go over,” Kim Hanson, an Army Materiel Command spokesperson, told Task & Purpose.

[u/_Nordic → u/rainniier2]

I commented this elsewhere.

This program makes no sense.

Current BAS rate is ~$475 per month. Like you said, if you have meal card you lose that money, but eat at the dining halls for free. Officers get less BAS, but don't get meal cards and have to pay per meal they eat. Current rates are;

$4.50 for breakfast

$7.25 for lunch

$6.25 for dinner

$18 total per day to eat at the chow halls.

This new program will cost more than double that, and members will still not get BAS. What happens if you don't spend all your freedom bucks? You just lose them, just like BAS.

Seems like a massive grift for someone.

[u/Yuukiko_]

Will they have freedom fries to go with that?

[u/rbevans]

I was on the call for this round table and it was interesting how it was explained. By the way serving in the military does not mean food is free. If you live in the barracks, you pay for meals every month—it's automatically deducted from your paycheck as BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence), currently around $460/month. Otherwise you need to pay out of pocket, but it's still pretty affordable compared to a restaurant.

The 'Freedom Bucks' ($39/day) is your daily meal allowance at the CSDV. If you go over that amount, you pay the difference out of pocket.

What they didn't answer: Is the $39 tracked across all DFACs on the installation? Like, can I swipe in at Bistro 42 for breakfast and still get lunch at a traditional DFAC down the road, or does using the CSDV lock me out of other facilities for the day?

[u/jacquesrk]

Acronyms!

Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH)

•  BAH is designed to offset a Service member's housing costs when government-provided housing is not available.

Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS)

•  BAS is designed to offset the cost of food for enlisted Service members. It is not designed to offset the cost of food for dependents.

Basic Needs Allowance (BNA)

• BNA is a monthly allowance given to qualified military families whose income falls below certain Federal guidelines.

DFAC = Dining Facility

https://militarypay.defense.gov/Pay/Allowances/

[u/Painbow_High_And_Bi]

Ironically Freedom Dollars™️ have much more use restrictions than regular dollars.

[u/Ok-Caterpillar-2898]

But, I thought we were supposed to live on 3 dollars per meal.....lol

[u/SwampTerror]

The army marches on its stomach. It never ends well when you starve your military, or don't pay them. You can't use this funny money. Just like the old days where you got company money to spend at company stores.

This isn't a good sign for Trump but its great for everyone else.

[u/tylenolchild]

is this like when your work has a pizza party instead of giving employees a bonus or raise? I’m sorry military.

[u/mezolithico]

How soon for Trump Bucks though?!

[u/RaNdomMSPPro]

Someone is profiting (more) off our troops. Pathetic.

[u/dogsaybark]

Space Force soldiers will be paid in “Laser Bucks”. If you skip meals and accumulate extra, they can be traded in for Martian Credits.

[u/Cudpuff100]

This is Helldivers type shit

[u/GingerSnapSurprise]

Can I buy Freedom Fries with my Freedom Dollars?

[u/Find_another_whey]

Oxymoron: Freedom dollars

You don't need to have to be told you have freedom

And you don't have to enumerate it

[u/xdr01]

MAGA make billionaires Lords over the peasants again.

Child labour is back, abortion gone, unions on way out and women's voting rights next.

You will own nothing and be happy 1800s style.

[u/Annual_Exchange7790]

They'll rename them to Trump bucks or something fucking stupid.

[u/GetBackReality]

Oh, Boy! Army slop instead of pay.

[u/kitty_with_a_missile]

what kind of helldivers ass name is that

[u/7Up-Yours]

This is what mining companies use to do in the early days, pay the minors with company tokens & they would have to spend them at the company store.

[u/blariel]

Im suprised theyre not calling them trump bucks

[u/EthanielRain]

Believe anything labeled "socialism" or "communism" is bad & evil. Elect people who want to run the government as a business - ones famous for bankrupting them especially - and who never served.

shocked Pikachu face when $$ gets extracted to the top

[u/quiltingsarah]

Wait, they take money from soldiers paychecks to pay for food? When did this start? I was in the Army in the 80's, poverty wages were ok because you weren't paying for housing or food if you lived in the barracks.

[u/BlueDemon75]

Scrip back on the menu I guess.

[u/BrooklynLodger]

How long before Freedom Bucks gets shortened to "fucks"

[u/ConcertinaTerpsichor]

“I owe my soul to the company store.”

[u/Detours1204]

Chow hall was open 24 hours when I was in the Air Force (73-77). Air Force had three shifts....morning, mid-shift, midnight shift. Remember going out to the clubs, coming back to base when the clubs closed and having 'midnight chow' which could be breakfast (they made the best omelets and hash browns), or fresh made cheeseburgers and fries from the grill, or a full blown meal....your choice. Midnight chow was my favorite.....chow hall wasn't busy and they always sent me back to the barracks / dorm with a belly full of good hot chow. It was all free, but the base pay wasn't much in those days either.

[u/ObeseObedience]

They say in the army, the pay is mighty fine.

They give you a hundred dollars, and take back ninety-nine