A colonel wrote to Rep. Jeff Crank after an Army specialist alerted the congressman to low‑quality meals at the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin. In the July 27 letter, Col. Nicholas Sinclair acknowledged the specialist’s concerns as “valid” and explained that a local vendor, hampered by high employee turnover and staffing gaps, delivered sub‑optimal food to the 4th Infantry Division.
The exercise, which ran from July 20‑29 and involved roughly 10,000 soldiers, relied on the vendor for breakfast and dinner while troops used private vendors or Meals Ready‑to‑Eat for lunch. Soldiers reported long lines, small portions, expired salsa, and occasional inedible items such as questionable sausages and frequent protein shortages. After the issue was raised, the vendor received a Corrective Action Request on June 30 and began addressing the deficiencies. A soldier who left the simulated combat zone later said the food quality improved by about 65 percent.
Veteran Rob Evans, founder of the Hots & Cots app, noted that the NTC may have been unprepared for a division‑size deployment and that the complaints reflected a broader dissatisfaction. While the Army substituted MREs for some meals, officials have not issued a formal response beyond the vendor’s corrective steps, leaving the long‑term solution open.
