We lend military our loved ones. Least they can do is feed them. | Opinion
Right now, military families aren't certain the contract to properly care for their loved ones is being honored ‒ not just in the galleys, but in all the ways that matter.
Considering how few guarantees accompany military life, sustenance is nonnegotiable. So when photos began to appear in USA TODAY and on social media of meager and unappetizing meals purportedly being served to sailors deployed to the Middle East, people took notice.
Taking care of our troops is more than just a necessity – it’s a point of national pride. An army marches on its stomach, the famous saying goes. A navy sails on its stomach, too.
I’ve been a military community advocate for more than 20 years. I’ve dined elbow-to-elbow with sailors in the galley of the USS Gerald R. Ford, where the food was plentiful and delicious.
I wanted to know if something had changed, so I started asking around. I heard more stories of sailors rationing food, care packages going undelivered for a month or more, and deployed soldiers not having enough food.
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!I had already seen posts in private military spouse Facebook groups about deployed service members not getting the pay they were due and going into debt. And I heard these stories told in desperate tones. People were eager to tell me what they were seeing.
One advocate put it plainly: “The military is built on trust. Leaders constantly speak about taking care of service members and their families, but when people feel they cannot safely raise concerns, the gap between those words and reality erodes something foundational. In an institution where trust is everything, that erosion isn’t a peripheral problem. It’s existential.”
Cookies, deodorant, socks. Iran war puts military packages in limbo.Military food complaints signal deeper problem
My husband, a retired U.S. Army command sergeant major, has a story he tells about buttpack straps – the straps used to tie down a soldier’s load-bearing equipment.
Early in his Army career, his infantry company’s commander – a grizzled, longtime enlisted soldier who commissioned as an officer – noticed a number of soldiers had left their buttpack straps untied, which they weren’t supposed to do.
The company had just completed a 25-mile march and everyone was exhausted. “You see that?" the officer said. "When a lot of soldiers deviate from the standard, it’s an indicator the company is under stress. Pay attention to that.”
It’s a lesson my husband carried with him through his 26 years of service. When people and systems fail to do what they normally do, it’s an indicator.
Morale problems arise when basic needs aren't met
Right now, the indicators are everywhere.
Military spouses who used to be outspoken are quieter. In online military community groups, people prefer to post anonymously.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan war years, there were often reports of service members living in rough conditions, with less-than-ideal food, but those reports were delivered in tones of pride, not get-me-out-of-here desperation.
The mere fact that military family members suspect their loved ones’ basic needs aren’t being met is an indicator. It tells us they don’t trust leadership to care for their people, and the data bears this out.
According to the 2026 Blue Star Families Military Family Lifestyle Survey, only 37% of active-duty family respondents say they would recommend military service to a young family member. Considering that about 80% of people who join the Army come from families with a history of military service, this is a real problem.
Your Turn: The US doesn't care about its people. Why go to war for it? | Opinion ForumThe military community feels the same sense of division that’s overtaken the nation, but the stakes are higher. Troops who feel divided from their peers still have to rely on them.
Military spouses who aren’t sure they can trust the people sitting next to them in a family briefing also have no one else to list as their children's emergency contacts at school.
When senior leaders are fired not for performance but for perceived lack of loyalty, military families literally do not know whom they can trust.
I don’t know if there really are problems with food on the USS Abraham Lincoln, the USS Tripoli or any of our ships. We have only the word of individual sailors and the word of military officials – and we don’t know whom to believe.
But I’ve toured several of our Navy’s ships. I’ve seen the tiny bunks sailors sleep in, stacked three high without enough headroom for them to sit up and with only small lockers for their possessions.
I know food is the one consistent morale builder for everyone deployed.
Military families must be able to trust leaders
For military families – parents, spouses, children, grandparents and all who love someone in uniform – there is very little inside our control. When someone you love agrees to serve, that loved one moves beyond your reach.
You rely on their leaders to take care of them. Right now, military families aren’t certain the contract is being honored – not just in the galleys, but in all the ways that matter.
The answer isn’t better food. It’s leadership worthy of the trust this community has always been asked to extend. That’s not a luxury. That’s the contract.
Rebekah Gleaves Sanderlin is a writer and a military community advocate who has served on the boards of several national military nonprofit organizations, including the USO and Blue Star Families. She currently serves on the communication team of National Security Leaders for America.