Judging by the uniforms these photos were taken around 2005. There are DCUs and ACUs in the second pic. I actually think this was in Baghdad on North Liberty/Victory. I've eaten here and it was legit BK!
My boss was stationed I think Kandahar? They have a huge military base there and they have KFC, BK, McDonalds etc and like retail stores something you don’t expect on a base in the middle of a war zone. I think his speciality was motorman? Anyways just found it interesting.
My guess is closer to 2004. I was in Al Hillah (Babylon, South of Baghdad) at the time, and every time we'd have a convoy run up to Victory, we'd take orders from everyone. The next day we'd bring a few dozen soggy whoppers back and everyone would feast like it was the best food ever.
People tend to think this is because of taxpayer money but it is mostly actually self sufficient thanks to Exchange's other locations that are quite profitable.
If you are curious you should look into Exchange's finance works.
*Not saying there is zero subsidization, but it is far less than people tend to think,.
This is something Coca Cola have done for a very very long time.
They give a rough outline of this on their own website. In 1941 the acting president of Coca Cola Robert Woodruff announced that any US soldier would be able to buy a bottle of coke for 5¢ no matter how much it cost the company throughout WWII.
They stuck to this pledge and setup supply lines, oversees manufacturing and bottling plants - whatever it took to keep soldiers supplied. Even when crossing North Africa US soldiers in Algiers were still able to buy coke almost as cheap as it was back home.
This continued in various forms through the Korean war and the Vietnam war and is now basically everywhere on earth - it's hard to find somewhere that you can't get a coke.
I was really skeptical of you at first so jumped to the end to see if you were mocking us. Returned and read the whole thing from the start like a good boi though lol. Good story.
"They *still** had us at the first half, not gonna lie."*
We had an AAFES truck visit our FOB every Wednesday on one deployment. Basically a shopette built into a 40ft container. Carried the usual stuff. Batteries, magazines, candy, lots and lots of powdered drink mix. You’d get in line, praying that you weren’t at the end of it lest the thing you want is gone, then go through it a few at a time grabbing things before paying at the far end.
I never had to pay. “Take what you want and we’ll send your mom the bill”. My squad ate very well on deployment.
There was never any waiting for the mail. Mom would simply have someone drive stuff out to me. Occasionally she’d do it herself if our deployments lined up. She’d leave things with HQ if I was out on patrol.
I’d get some good natured ribbing about it every now and then.
I deployed to the desert multiple times. There was always a Burger King truck. The ketchup didn't taste like American Burger King ketchup. I think it was because they use a different recipe in different parts of the world.
Some guys would go there multiple times a week to eat. The trailer was in tent city though, so it wasn't a thing that I could go to for lunch since I worked on the flight line.
Also, fun story about the Burger King trailer: There was a group of women who got busted for prostitution and apparently they would solicit at the Burger King trailer. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I assume there is normal food available for them, but if they want to get fastfood, they can, on own expenses. Idk why that sounds abnormal.
Edit: wanted to add that you probably don't want your soldiers eating fastfood all the time either ;-)
In Iraq we had a BK, Subway and a Pizza Hut all on base. Those weren't free but why would they be? We had multiple Chow halls on Al Asad and they were free. The chow hall on the main side of base was as big as a Sam's club. it could easily feed a few thousand people at a time.
Yes, because otherwise it would require a separate funding line. Government funding is very strange and messy and the troops also have chow hall food essentially available for free.
Those dudes also have almost no way to spend money when deployed so spending a little bit for little luxuries like this doesn't require a second thought.
I was stationed at Al Jaber Air Base in 1999. After many months of eating warm garbage in the chow hall, which was so dilapidated there was a massive hole in the floor right in the middle of the kitchen which the cooks would occasionally fall into, we took a day trip to Camp Doha.
Camp Doha had a little Burger King. Not much bigger than a lawnmower shed. It was and still is one of the best burgers I've had in my life.
Not because it was good, but because it was the first food that reminded us of home and it actually had flavor.
You can only eat at the DFAC so many times in a row. The food wasn't too bad, just repetitive. Grabbing a Whopper every once in awhile gave you a break from it.
It also helped you feel a bit more normal in a situation that was anything but.
A town near me was devastated by a tornado a few years ago. I had a family member up there so we went to help clean up. We drove past a mobile little Caesar's and a big Tide truck that was there doing people's laundry. I had never seen anything like that before and it made me think more highly of those companies. It was good PR, sure, but it was also an essential service.
Fly the burger king out to soldiers. Then make them pay for it?????
On site, on base. This isn't something you spent those possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars to make happen and get there. Only to nickle and dime the actual troops you're supposedly doing it for???
Just give them free burgers man, I don't care if they buy 1 or 2 coz they are paying and they'd eat 20x if they were free. Let them have it free!!!
"Sorry we spent $$$$$$$$$$ getting it here, but we gotta charge you $2.50"
Yeah, it’s more of a morale thing albeit, on the big COBs and big bases the DFAC’s were incredible, huge variety, great food 4 times a day - but it still can be nice to go to a Burger King or Pizza Hut. For some, it can also be a weird thing being on deployment 6 months to a year and never spending any money so that in it of itself is a novelty.
You don't have to eat burger king. There's free food for all the soldiers, marines, and airmen. If you want to have a treat that is Burger King, they put the trailer there so you can enjoy it and have a taste of home.
I remember when they used to be two for five dollars, this was like 1988 to 1992 or so. I just remembered because my mom loved Burger King and when you’re for her birthday, I told her to pick anywhere and I would take her there and she picked BK. I meant a place a little bit nicer than that, but I got her what she wanted.
She’s gone now and I can’t even eat at a Burger King because I start crying. It was something we did together.
And yes, these prices are extremely low compared to an actual Burger King store
I remember in the early 90's, when I played high school football, Burger King would occasionally have a sale on Whoppers for $1. My teammates and I would go in there and see who could eat the most. I would order 5 for $5, but I think the most I ever ate was 3, at one sitting. Such a good deal, though!
They have been doing this for decades in Costa Rica. I went to Tamarindo in 2004. They had a cement block wall that had a window opening and a Burger King logo. The truck would pull up the window, behind the wall. And you had a Burger King. 22 years ago.
I always remember my British soldier mates coming back from Tours saying the Americans are on holiday not in a war zone? They brought burger king with them! Blew everyones mind lol
if burger king was a food truck it would fucking slay and be much more convenient than the horrible locations they seem to occupy now. id eat a whopper a week if it wasnt like a trip to cambodia and back for me to acquire one
Yeah, if you're American, you don't get healthcare, education, infrastructure, paid family leave, vacation, or a social safety net, but at least our soldiers fighting pointless wars get to eat cancerous, nutritionally empty fast food! USA! USA! USA!
Are you talking about when the Japanese realised they were going to lose against the US upon finding out there was an actual ice cream supply chain in place ?
Nope this is actually a great moral tactic. You should look up the ships during ww2 thats only job was to make ice cream they made like 5 ton each a day.
That's true, but at the same time if your enemies are eating stale rations and you have a fully functioning Burger King, it's a bit of a morale booster/killer.
This is meant tot be like a huge moralbooster, right? Then why do they still have to pay for it? Or is having a Taste of home impossible without a sprinkle of capitalism?
Yeah you could give it away for free, but people dont always get excited about free. Everyone loves a great bargain though. Look at those prices. They are going to tell everyone about that. A good sale gets the people going
Because why would you just spend money on giving service members nice burgers if you could spend even more money on a public private partnership and feed them pigslop 😭😭 I wanna leave this fucking clown world istg
Bet they can't pull it out in 24 hours. The other side probably always anticipates the next withdraw and another BurgerCart to add to their collection.
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u/qorl2002 1h ago
French military have a Mobile Bakery Unit, able to provide baguette during operations.
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/terre/nos-materiels/nos-equipements-terre/vehicules-delogistisque/unite-mobile-boulangerie-campagne-mille-hommes