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Rations-in-kind. This is the term used to describe
meals furnished to enlisted personal from the GM at
government expense.
RATION ENTITLEMENT.– Regular and
Reserve enlisted personnel of the armed services, officer
candidates, cadets of the armed forces academies in a
duty status, and prisoners of war are entitled to
rations-in-kind at government expense under various
appropriation acts.
Retired enlisted military personnel confined in a
hospital or dispensary are entitled to rations-in-kind.
Destitute survivors of disasters, refugees, civilian
evacuees, and American seamen may be fed without
charge in Navy messes. Entitlement is determined and
action taken to effect reimbursement by NAVFSSO as
appropriate from the data furnished in the certification
required for this category of personnel.
Rations are furnished to foreign government
personnel on a cash basis, except when the invitational
travel orders authorize other means of reimbursement.
Enlisted personnel in a travel status who are receiving
per diem instead of subsistence are not entitled to
rations-in-kind unless their orders are endorsed showing
the number and type of meals authorized.
Cash sales may be authorized to various types of
personnel. Usually, approval of the CO is all that is
required and, in some instances, this approval can be
obtained in the form of supply department instructions.
Only those personnel entitled to rations-in-kind are
authorized to eat without charge; all others must pay for
each meal consumed.
AFLOAT PROCEDURES.– On the first day of
the month, the executive or personnel officer should
advise the FSO of the estimated daily number of
personnel entitled to be fed in the GM. The FSO should
be told when any significant change to the number of
personnel entitled to subsist occurs during the month.
When rations for foreign or other personnel are
included, the FSO should be informed also.
The FSO uses the daily expected number of rations
allowed to accomplish the following:
. Post the General Mess Control Record, NAVSUP
Form 338, each day at sea.
. Plan the quantities of food to be prepared on the
following day based on the actual number of persons ex-
pected to be fed using the current acceptability factors.
. Prepare certifications as required and arrange to
have them completed and signed before departure of
personnel requiring certification. The FSO signs
certifications when signatures of persons in charge of
groups cannot be obtained.
During days at sea, ration credit should be taken for
each enlisted member on board. Ration credit also
should be recorded daily on the NAVSUP Form 338 for
all meals sold for cash. Days at sea includes the day of
leaving and the day of arriving regardless of the time of
departure or return.
During in-port periods, ration credit should be taken
only for the personnel actually fed. Any convenient,
accurate method for determining this number is
permissible; usually, a hand counter is used by the
master-at-arms as personnel pass through the serving
line. Full ration credit may be taken in port while
simulated at-sea exercises are being held and all
personnel are remaining aboard overnight.
Ration allowances are adjusted to compensate for
the change in the calendar day resulting from crossing
the 180th meridian. When the time is set back 1 day in
crossing from the west (Japan) to the east (United
States), rations are credited for the extra day. When time
is advanced 1 day in crossing from the east (United
States) to the west (Japan), rations are not credited for
the lost day.
ASHORE PROCEDURES.– To provide uniform
and equitable procedures in accounting and estimating
military feeding costs, the policy that such programs
will be based upon actual food costs per person was
established by the Assistant Secretary of Defense. Such
costs are essential to the planning of budget
requirements and for the development of absentee rates
for congressional presentations. The development of per
capita consumption costs is based upon the actual
number of persons fed in Navy GMs ashore. This is
accomplished by the signature head count method
whereby a daily count is made of all personnel fed at
each meal.
Activities with GMs physically located ashore
include the following:
. All shore activities except naval hospitals
operating hospital messes
l All mobile construction battalions and
detachments eating in GMs ashore
. All fleet and force commands operating GMs
l All cargo-handling battalions eating in GMs
. All inactive service craft facilities
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