Westover ARB, Mass.
Rating: 3
You know you're in for a world of problems when you open your box lunch and it looks like this....
Not being able to see the food is never a good sign. Once I dumped it out, I was even more depressed...
Yes, boys and girls, that's a sandwich, Cheetos, cookies, Juicy-Gel, granola bar, apple, and a can of grape juice. I can only speculate why they threw the fork in. Perhaps it's a backup incase the Juicy-Gel is out of date and turned solid. No mustard, mayo, salt/pepper, (or flavor) for the sandwich, and something about washing a strawberry Juicy-Gel down with grape juice seemed unnatural. Talk about your "mixed fruit". LOL
Other things that bothered me were that the flight kitchen doesn't deliver (the crew has to go back to the chow hall to pick them up), the price was 40¢ above the mandated price (it cost me $3.25), and while the box was stamped when it was assembled, the sandwich had no indication of how long it had been sitting in their fridge beforehand.
The only thing that could be worse than price gouging is the forced gouging at the hands of The Club. Before the place was activated the only meals were catered by the club and cost $5.50 each. While on the ground, their only option was a pax bus to the club for their buffet at a cost of $8.00 a head. SOMEBODY is making a killing there... For some reason they could conjure up a mess of pax meals but I was told they did not offer crew meals. I have no idea why.
So if you're in the Westover area, I'd play it safe by getting a sandwich from the local gas station and a can of soda. Supplement that with the emergency rations from your helmet bag. You'll be happier in the long run.
Update 9 AUG 03
Just got an energetic and enthusiastic e-mail from Major Zaorski, the Services Commander at Westover who says the kitchen is now serving a new and improved version of their meals. The photo below shows the attachment to support his claims. So if you get to Westover before I do, you may want to take a chance just this once and see if the box arrives as advertised below.
Thanks for writing in, Major Z! I'm looking forward to eating my words after eating my lunch.