Army chow...SOS in particular.

[blackhawknj]

Never cared for SOS myself. My experience with Army mess halls was-like so many things army-that they varied widely. Some would have put top flight restaraunts to shame, others-the people running them should have been flogged.

[Big_Al]

i was a 94B20 in the Army. That's first cook. In Vietnam I was also Assistant Mess Sgt.
SOS (I forget the official Army name) was always made with ground beef. It was served every morning.
Luckily, I was in a Field Artillery unit in the states so got plenty of experience in field cooking.
That came in handy in Nam, our base camp had no refrigeration, and we used WWII era M37 Fire Units, which ran on compressed air (via bicycle pump) and gasoline. The motor pool built us a grill out of sheet steel and angle iron, we served out of mermite cans. We made the SOS in the big square head pans, about ten gallons at a time.
All the good stuff like steaks never made it up to where we were.
Bacon came pre-cooked in a can. The eggs were "fresh"; as long as the yolks weren't black when we cracked 'em, we cooked them. Had to, or there would have been none to serve.
Sorry if I'm rambling on, but please know this - some guys I served chow to went out and never came back. Even after 40 years, sometimes this still hurts.
To the 444 KIA's of the 1st Infantry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mech): Rest easy, my Brothers. Big Al is keeping the faith.

[rider]

My mom used to make "creamed chipped beef on toast" when I was a kid, and when I first saw the stuff with ground beef I thought it was all wrong but it turned out to be alright. When you're living out in the field in winter, anything warm that comes out of a mermite can hits the spot. Our company cooks were good guys.

[John Sukey]

Mess halls, Airforce mess hall better than the army one but the BEST mess halls were in Canada.
Senior NCO mess at Cold Lake; table cloths, dishes,THREE different choices of food.
Mess hall at Halifax Nova Scotia was like going to a good resturant with a choice of entree.

[OldDoggy]

SoS, nothing better to start the day!!!!

Better with reconstituted scrambled eggs on top and tabasco all over it, yum, yum.....

Just Another Old Doggy, Don

[joem]

My mother made it with hamburger and served on toast. It was great.

My wife made it with chiped beef once in a while but it wasn't as good as my mothers. I didn't tell her that.

[Nick Marciano]

I was in the Air Force 68-72 and it depended who made it as to if I ate it. One cook in particular made the best SOS I've ever had. It was a creamy white in color and was great over toast. He also put in finely diced onions. I have never tasted anything that could compare.

Nick10Ring

[mike24d20]

The best ever made is with a old, well used combat boot sock added for that extra kick an flavor.

[John Sukey]

The BEST FOOD I had was in a CANADIAN mess hall! Once as a reenactor and even better the second time around in the Senior NCO's mess. You ACTUALY had a choice in the menu. Plus Real dishes instead of aluminum mess plates.

[Dolt]

I've been out now for 30 some years, but I still miss the stuff. I don't care what other people have said about it...that stuff was GOOD! We had 3 cooks in our Mess Hall. Depending on which one made it, it varied in colour. It was either grey, yellowish-grey or green-grey. I ate it every day and had them pour it over everything on my plate at break-fast. I've never had anything in civilian life that has come close in comparison. Anybody else out there a closet SOS lover?

Mike

I liked a lot of the recipes when I was in the Marines. Just found this little jewel that may bring back old memories: http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/jc...full_index.pdf

I will try some of the recipes to see if they are still the same.