{"id":57596,"date":"2019-07-05T14:00:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-05T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/05\/will-troops-be-able-to-use-that-meal-card-benefit-outside-the-base-dining-facility\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:06:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:06:58","slug":"will-troops-be-able-to-use-that-meal-card-benefit-outside-the-base-dining-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/2019\/07\/05\/will-troops-be-able-to-use-that-meal-card-benefit-outside-the-base-dining-facility\/","title":{"rendered":"Will troops be able to use that meal card benefit outside the base dining facility?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Soldiers and airmen at a several installations will soon start testing a new program that allows them to use their meal card entitlement to buy food at base locations outside the dining facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The expanded choices will be limited to healthy foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The test bases haven\u2019t been named yet, but will include the Air Force Academy, a joint base, and a mix of up to five other Army and Air Force installations, said Charles Milam, former acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, who has been working for years on the issue of healthy food on military installations.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept \u2014 similar to the flexible dining programs used by colleges and universities \u2014 is designed to encourage troops to eat healthier,<\/a> while saving them money. It will allow them to use their government meal entitlements to buy healthy items at other on-base locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While troops with the meal card benefit are entitled to eat three meals a day in the military dining facility, they\u2019re only eating an average of 1.3 to 1.5 meals per day at the DFAC, Milam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They\u2019re going out of pocket, outside the military dining facility to spend their own money. So that entitlement is not being used,\u201d he said, during a recent panel discussion at a conference of the Association of Defense Communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t care where they eat \u2014 we want them to use their entitlement and to eat healthy,\u201d Milam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept is similar to campus dining programs at colleges and universities, where money is loaded onto a declining balance card that allows students to eat at different places. In this case, the cards would be loaded by military officials at the installation. The pilot test will experiment with different mixes \u2014 such as loading half of the dining facility entitlement, if no more than half is being used, and loading another amount in monetary value. The cost of items bought outside the dining facility would be deducted from the monetary value of the card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the test concept, soldiers and airmen at these bases would be allowed to use part of their meal entitlement at certain eateries run by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, or AAFES, and healthy items at exchange convenience stores, or at other locations selling food operated by Morale, Welfare and Recreation, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bananas and other fruit, hard-boiled eggs and fresh salads are a few examples that are sold in AAFES convenience stores that are considered healthy. But a working group that includes nutritionists and dieticians, with representatives from AAFES, the Defense Commissary Agency and the Army Installation Management Command is determining the processes for determining healthy foods at convenience stores as well as other locations and eateries, Milam said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to use the meal entitlement elsewhere, similar to a campus dining program \u201coffers another option for our service members to be able to use their meal card, use the benefit that they have, to get healthy eating options without necessarily having to go to the dining facility itself,\u201d said Lt. Gen. Bradley Becker, commander of the Army Installation Management Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tests are partnerships with officials at the Air Force Academy, the Army\u2019s Installation Management Command, Army logistics officials, and AAFES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tests will determine whether the right systems and tools are in place, Milam said. \u201cThen we\u2019ll go back to DoD and Congress and really show proof of concept.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This effort is one of a number of moves by different installations and service branches that are trying to encourage troops to eat healthier. For example, some bases are offering healthy choices as \u201cgrab \u2018n go\u201d options at fitness centers, and food trucks with some healthy choices, said Becker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becker said he is passionate about the issue of improving troops\u2019 nutrition, and noted concerns about poor nutrition that, among other things, affected their bone density – and their ability to complete basic combat training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to be physically and mentally strong,\u201d Becker said, and that includes fueling.<\/p>\n\n\n\t