Sept. 11, 2009
Q: I have reviewed Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka Instruction COMFLEACTINST 4601.1T – “Administration and Operation of the Commodore Matthew C. Perry General Mess, The Jewel of the East” and reference (a) of the instruction; NAVSUP P-486 – “Food Service Management for General Messes – Volume I.” With that said, please favorably consider allowing military retirees and their family members, federal civilian employees and their overseas authorized dependents to use the mess. If not, please explain the reason(s) why. Additionally, please consider publishing my question and your response in the Seahawk Action Line section, as this question “is of a general nature and can help others” to understand and be better informed regarding the governing policies of the general mess. Thank you.

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A: Thank you for your question about our award-winning galley. The rules are very clear in regards to General Mess patronage. Commander Naval Installations Washington D.C. General Administrative Message GENADMIN R 222105Z NOV 04 on the clarification of meals sold for cash states: “Ashore general messes are designed, staffed and operated specifically to provide meals to enlisted personnel authorized rations in kind. The funding that supports the ashore galley mission is congressionally authorized for the purpose of feeding active duty enlisted members. Blanket authorization to feed civilians (i.e., federal employees, dependents, guests, etc.) and retirees is not justified and does not support the congressional intent for funding the feeding of Sailors.” Furthermore, Commander Naval Installations Command Instruction CNICINST 4061.1 of July 24, 2009, paragraph 4(a) states “All waiver requests must provide justification against the following criteria: The shore galley is the only food operation on the installation and the nearest adequate civilian food operation outside the gate is 15 minutes by car or 10 miles from the installation.” Additionally, a policy statement I previously issued on galley patronage clearly explains my position and states: “As Commander Fleet Activities (COMFLEACT), Yokosuka, it is my responsibility to identify the costs associated with operating the COMFLEACT Yokosuka Galley and ensure our scarce resources are applied appropriately to execute the galley’s primary function: to provide quality meal service for active duty enlisted military personnel.”

 

I just read the referenced instruction (CNIC INST 4061.1 of 24 JUL 09). I noticed that the first paragraph states that this instruction's policy applies to galleys in the Continental United States only, which would assume that it doesn't affect overseas bases. I found the instruction at this link:

http://www.greatlifehawaii.com/docs...dUsers.pdf

As an enlisted Navy retiree with 24 years honorable service I am appalled by the attitude of CNIC towards retirees using the galleys. They could of, at a minimum, worded the instruction/policy towards allowing the retirees to use the galleys on a space-available basis once the active duty had all been fed.

Navy personnel now on active duty will be faced with this unfortunate policy once you retiree, so it will affect you as well some day. You have the power to influence this ridiculous policy while you're wearing a uniform, so don't wait until you're out of the Navy to think about changing it.  Let your CMC's know how you feel and ask them to forward your concern to the MCPON.

Here is the file you can download.

Thanks Mike!

Does anybody know if they allow civilians to use the Chow Halls in Atsugi, Sasebo, or Misawa? If so, it would appear that they are in direct violation of this absurd, capricious, and arbitrary policy.   This might even be a violation of the UCMJ!   

Sorry if I opened up a Hornet's Nest here, but military retirees have the right to know what's going on.   I have posted this question on CNFJ's Facebook page, let's see what happens.

The attached naval message to this post is what got the whole issue started back in 2004.  To get this message I had to email the CMC of CNIC in Washington who eventually provided it to me.   He wasn't pleased to hear from me I can assure you.  They didn't appreciate a retired Master Chief complaining about an issue that they knew would open up a BIG CAN OF WORMS.   At the time they considered this a local Yokosuka problem, however, it would appear that they are attempting to enforce it Navy-wide.  Makes you wonder ...

As an active duty service member, I think that it is great that we have this award winning galley to ourselves. If you like, sometimes you can catch an open galley meal avaliable to everyone, usually once per month and even on some holidays.

V/r HM2

Dear HM2 - First of all, I really appreciate your opinion (and your use of V/R) because the active duty folks should not be infringed upon, and rightfully so.    What I'm proposing is that just U.S. Military Retirees, not all civilians, be allowed to use the chow hall. On some Marine bases, there is an exception made just for the retirees to avoid what happens during those "once a month" events where the active duty can't even find a seat and have to arrive early at 1100 before the civilian masses arrive. I put my life on the line for 24 years serving the United States Navy on six warships and don't appreciate being treated this way.   Little by little retiree benefits are eroding, and this is part of it.   In this particular case, the policy won't change until and unless CNIC changes the Navy-wide policy, so it is not a Yokosuka-issue per se.   In 1951, upon General MacArthur's retirement after serving 52 years, he said to the U.S. Congress, "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away."   Well, I'm not dead, and I'm not fading away.   I will continue to fight for this cause.


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Hoorah!

I apologize for making it seem like only active duty should be allowed to eat at the mess. I was mostly focusing of use by civilians. I do agree that Retirees should be able to utilize the galley and any other facilities on base. I see that many benefits are eroding and I hope that when I retire I will have the same benefits or even more benefits of those who are currently U.S. Military Retired. Keep up the fight Master Chief,

V/r

HM2 (SW)

HM2 - Yes, the benefits are indeed slowly eroding. You guys on active duty do have a voice about these types of matters and all these reduction-in-service decisions will affect you-all when you retire. I'm not sure people wearing the uniform now realize that. It will hit them like a ton of bricks the minute they get out and retire. For example, I just read on-line that military retirees at some overseas locations are no longer able to use embassy post offices. Use your chain of command - get your CMC's to bring issues up at Regional CMC Conferences right to the MCPON.   That's the way you change things in the Navy. Retiree issues will be "back-burner" issues until they get the attention of higher-ups in Washington who truly care about the retirees who served faithfully for most of their adult lives. 

Hey guys, sorry to jump in an old thread, but I thought I'd pass on some info. As usual, the Captain's Corner answer is bunk. People that have been here for a while know that the Galley used to be open to all hands. It stopped in 1998 or 1999. The reason was one of the ships (O'brien, I think) galley was under renovation, so they needed a place to eat. Their Supply Officer requested that the Galley reserve an area for their ship. At first this was just going to be a temporary thing, but it ended up being permanent.

Dear ESP - No need to apologize about checking an old thread. This is a hot topic that base leadership hopes will go away soon. I did hear way-back-when that some ship complained about the place being full and they wanted their own piece of the action. The situation sucks because CNIC created a way for Base CO's to exclude everybody but the active duty people. In Yokosuka that means MWR and NEX can continue to make more profits selling their unhealthy, greasy, food to the masses.