AZ1 Charles Jimerson, U.S. Navy (1987-2007)

Ate some of the best chow at Naval Air Station Fallon – lunch and dinners were good – breakfast was over the top great! Don’t know that I could pick a particular ‘best’ breakfast meal – I didn’t eat the same thing every morning, because they had good options. Be it eggs made to order – like scrambled eggs with ham and cheese. Or an omelet with just what ingredients I picked. Shit on a shingle (creamed chipped beef on toast for those not familiar with the term) was another favorite.

It would be a toss up on worst chow – USS John F. Kennedy and NAS JRB Fort Worth – come to mind as the worst chow experience, mainly because our air wing did a two-week carrier qualification detachment so the pilots could practice their proficiency. Because this was a only a two-week detachment, only the forward galley was open. Three times it caught fire and was shutdown during meal hours. Because of the excessive wait time, our squadron had us eating box meals 3 times a day… nothing worse than dry as the Sahara bologna sandwiches twice a day (lunch and dinner) with no condiment packages!!

NAS JRB Fort Worth – my memories of the food from that chow hall was of them being flavorless and unappealing. They were also trying so hard to offer only ‘healthy’ options that the lunch menu seems to just consist of thin, dry, boneless/skinless chicken breasts everyday – which was often the only option if you weren’t there when they opened for lunch.

Read the Military Memories of our Runner-Ups.