actual)  period,  and  soon.  Type  commanders  establish operational  endurance  requirements;  the  42-day  cycle can   be   easily   adapted   to   the   type   commander’s requirements. A first consideration in advance menu planning should  be  balanced  requisitioning.  Past  usage  records help attain this balance by showing what is on hand and  what  items  are  needed.  Planning  calendars  of stock  rotation  will  prevent  a  rewrite  of  menus  to incorporate  surplus  stocks  of  on-hand  items.  Items should  be  rotated  on  a  regular  basis,  oldest  stocks should  be  used  first. Menu-Planning Guides A menu plainer needs to be well informed. Sources of information kept within easy reach will be valuable in planning menus.   Previous menu plans on file will give  a  good  indication  of  what  is  practical  for  the preparation facilities and number of personnel served at a particular location. FOODSERVICE   OPERATIONS,   NAVSUP P-421.— Navy  menus  should  be  planned  according  to the principles of menu planning set forth in  Foodservice Operations,  NAVSUP  P-421.  In  the  Menu  Planning  and Nutrition  Education  chapters  of  this  publication, guidelines  for  Navy  GMs  are  given  that  will  meet  the nutritional  standards  established  by  the  Surgeon General. S T A N D A R D S    O F FOOD   SERVICE, NAVSUPINST 4061.11.—  Section I of this instruc- tion,   Menu   Planning   and   Food   Preparation, establishes  updated  menu-planning  standards  that can  be  attained  by  all  Navy  GMs  to  assure  whole- some,  nutritious  meals. ARMED FORCES RECIPE SERVICE,NAVSUP P-7.— The AFRS, NAVSUP P-7, consists of a file of approximately  1,800  recipes  and  recipe  variations printed on 5- by 8-inch cards. The cards are color-coded to make identification easier. The AFRS includes color photographs   of   certain   recipe   finished   products, guideline cards, and line drawings of bread and sweet roll  makeup  procedures.  The  recipes  are  standardized to generally yield 100 portions and include efficient preparation   techniques. The  Index  of  Recipes,  an adjunct to the AFRS, is a compact list of all recipes contained  in  the  recipe  service.  Continuous  use  of  the Index of Recipes in planning menus will help avoid menu  monotony  and  will  provide  ideas  for  new  menu combinations. Commands are encouraged to send their favorite  recipes  to  NAVFSSO  for  consideration  for inclusion in the AFRS. All recipes are tested and evaluated   for   militarywide   acceptability   and adaptability. The AFRS is a basic tool for requisitioning and planning  workloads.  Cost  records  for  individual  recipes and recipe acceptability factors may be added to the recipe cards. Recipe cards are also used to obtain a plan for the most efficient use of galley equipment. The use of  local  recipes  is  encouraged.  Local  recipes  should  be in  AFRS  format  and  approved  by  the  food  service officer. NAVY FOOD SERVICE,  NAVSUP P-476.—  This publication is a quarterly publication of NAVFSSO and is distributed to all activities having GMs. The publication   contains   useful   information   on commodities,  equipment  for  galley  use,  GM modernization,  revisions  to  publications,  suggested special   event   or   holiday   menus,   nutrition, sanitation,  training,  hints  on  food  preparation, foodservice  operations,  menu  planning,  and recordkeeping. Meal Attendance Predictions Ashore units use signature head counts to document actual personnel fed. Afloat units underway receive full ration credit for all enlisted personnel entitled to be fed in the GM. A mechanical counting device should be used to determine ration credit for in-port periods based on  the  number  of  meals  actually  fed.  There  are variations in meal attendance from day to day and meal to meal. Head count records should be kept to show how many people were served at each meal. Estimates of future  attendance  are  based  on  past  records  and experience. Factors such as weather, proximity to payday, and liberty trends must be taken into account when  predicting  attendance. CYCLE MENU SYSTEM The cycle menu system  is the menu rotation plan recommended for use in Navy GMs. The cycle menu is a series of menus planned to be used consecutively with some variations over a period of time. A cycle menu, rotated with appropriate changes on a quarterly or seasonal basis, is recommended for Navy GMs. They should be reviewed continuously to increase variety and eliminate  unpopular  dishes.  Cycle  meals  save  time  and are easier to analyze thoroughly and to perfect than those written  on  a  weekly  basis.  Cycle  menus  also  lend themselves  to  more  forecasting  of  ration  costs  and 7-16