http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/02/military_AAFES_afghanistan_mcchrystal_020510w/' Most Army and Air Force Exchange Service concessions serving U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be closed within 90 days under an order issued Feb. 5 by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in that war zone. McChrystal’s “fragmentary order,” known as a FRAGO, follows a review of morale, welfare and recreation activities in Afghanistan during which base and unit commanders completed a 60-day assessment and submitted impact statements and recommendations for closure or relocation of AAFES facilities. I see this as a very good thing. I never had any of that crap when I was in Afghanistan and I was no worse off for it. A PX would have been nice though.
I hope they mean the DQ and Pizza Hut and BK... I liked having a PX to get things like soap and toothpaste and the occasional Monster lo-cal.
Field PX is nice to have (toothpaste, tobacco, etc), but some of 'em were crazy. And BK needs to go...
Given, I still have not managed to come down on orders to Afghanistan, but from talking to friends of mine who have been deployed there in various capacities, the fast food concession stands have gotten out of hand. VBC in Iraq is/was the same way. Most of the fast food kiosks there are just pale imitations of the real stuff that we all left behind in the States. I do have to say though (knowing full well that this is highly hypocritical) that I would shed a tear if they took away my Green Bean. If it has to go, it has to go, but I'll miss it so. Everything else.....meh.
Considering they're trying to open a fuckin Chili's in Kandahar...i say go for it! Let all those fat fucks lose some weight. have the necessities (tobacco, monsters, protein, & toiletries) but lose bullshit.
Just, Your avatar is the SHIT! I wonder if the suicide rates are going to go up from them closing down all of this stuff ? The damn fobbits are going to lose it !
There's no fucking PX where we are... I say close 'em down. This military is full of pussies! This is the only decision by McChrystal that I can get behind. Necessities should be furnished by the military anyway. Why the hell should we be paying for toothpaste? Energy drinks and tobacco should be up to the individual to have shipped over. Pizza and hamburgers... really? WTF?
I agree my first deployment to Iraq was done with a once in a few months (if we were lucky) trip to BIAP where we would stop by the "Big" PX and get what ever we wanted. Soap, tooth brush and cig's were mailed by my family.
I'd rather have GEN M. shut down the superfluousness like "Salsa Night" and the "Pajama Jammie Jam" (yes, I actually saw an advertisement for that at a chow how in Mosul back in 2004). I think those things cause more problems than the BK.
I have mixed feelings on this. The Hq bases have become too comfortable, but the chow halls (at least where I have been) are not 24 x 7 affairs. Starbucks/BK/Pizza Slut gave me someplace to go when I missed chow. I agree with marauder that salsa night and pajama night probably cause more problems then BK orStarbucks. Gen McC better follow up with 24 x 7 dining facilities.
The enemy is up there, lean and hard and gritty like the rocks, in the cold, eating rice balls or sheeps eyes or whatever the hell it is he eats, thinking about ways to fuck you up. He thinks most Americans are soft fat pussies who rely on smart bombs and robot planes. Deprivation hardens a man, luxury makes him weak and useless.
But don't you think this is more a function of the man himself. I mean, take most of you guys on here, I don't think a sudden inheritance would decrease how you would act.
Yes. I think most of the guys on here are people who train hard, try to stay lean and reject soft living...by choice and habit. But when America goes to war it turns it into an industry. It brings along all kinds of superfluous bullshit to keep the troops happy, it tries to bring the hometown main drag along with it. You don't need all this crap. It makes a bad impression on the locals, it confirms what the enemy thinks about Americans and it dulls the edge of people who are not self disciplined.
They already do, sort-of. 4 hot meals a day with a sandwich bar in betwen the meals where you can grab a to-go box with whatever sandwich you make. HOWEVER.... You have to be a uniformed service member too use this (of any nation). Contractors and DoD civilians (regardless of nationality) are not authorized the sandwich bar and are not authorized to go boxes. We have different hours at the PX as well. ---- Closing the little shops isn't a bad idea, but I think it is only one part of the problem. Where's the initiative to prune the fobbits off of places like BAF or KAF? "Combat down days" or "low battle-rythym days" for office workers? Yes, it happens. The war may be 24/7 but for our fobbits it is a 12-hour a day, 6 day a week struggle. I get probably 5-7 emails a week from the "Camp Cunningham Marketing Manager" (no shit) advertising movie night, Texas Hold 'Em, Bingo, etc. The gym on Cunningham has something like 6 or 7 contractors to clean up and pass out towels. They don't teach classes, they pass out freaking towels and make you sign in at the front desk. (nor do they wash their hands after taking a dump, but I digress....) Closing the shops is only part of a solution, IMO, and unless other issues are addressed this won't really solve anything.
He already did, it's called an MRE!! :doh: Me thinky this Gen McC is going to beome the most hated General in the Army more over the US Armed Force and he is going to do it record timeing! Say 6 months, that shit takes talent... :doh: :uhh:
