Comparing Steak and Lobster for U.S. Troops to SNAP and Healthcare Fraud? Two MAJOR Reasons This Won’t End Well

Molly Jong-Fast, a contributor at Vanity Fair and the New York Times, took to X to boast about uncovering “frivolous” spending in the Department of War (DoW), specifically around food expenditures for our active-duty troops.

In the X post, she discloses that “under Secretary Pete Hegseth’s stewardship,” in September, the Department of War spent $2 million on Alaskan King Crab, $6.9 million worth of lobster tails (labeling it a “favorite” of Hegseth’s Pentagon), and $15.1 million on ribeye steaks.

Some of the frivolous September purchases made under Secretary Pete Hegseth’s stewardship include a $98,329 Steinway & Sons grand piano for the Air Force chief of staff’s home, $5.3 million for Apple devices such as the new iPad, and an astronomical amount of shellfish, including…

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 10, 2026

Jong-Fast’s post has garnered 2.6 million views as of this writing and has garnered “gotchas” and “whataboutisms” from several well-known anti-Trump voices, including a U.S. Representative on his official account.

Jemele Hill, a contributor for The Atlantic, reposted the “exposé,” stating, “But SNAP recipients are the REAL problem.”

Another contributor at The Atlantic, Thomas Chatterton Williams, simply wrote, “$6.9 million worth of lobster tail” in his repost.

Yet another contributor from The Atlantic, this time an editor, has weighed in on the post.  Norman Ornstein on X wrote, “It’s about the grift.  It is always about the grift” (to be fair, Ornstein could be taking a shot at Molly Jong-Fast’s grift post, but based on his colleagues, probably not).

U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) on his official government account posted, “But still no healthcare for you.”  Ironically, the cold-water lobster served by the Dept. of War is a critical component of much of the Massachusetts coastal economy.  Rep. McGovern, however, represents more inland counties in the Bay State.

Rick G. Rosner, a former Jimmy Kimmel writer and self-proclaimed “Genius” with the “World’s 2nd-highest IQ”, joked about whether FOX News would report on this discovery by Jong-Fast.

A Long Tradition in the U.S. Military

Rosner is probably correct:  FOX News won’t likely report on this ‘discovery.’  But not because of the politics of the ‘controversy’ in this “frivolous” spending or to prevent viewers from ‘finding out’.

No, FOX News won’t cover this ‘surf-and-turf discovery’ because it’s not an actual ‘discovery’ and it’s nothing new or exclusive to the Department of War under Secretary Hegseth and President Donald Trump.

In fact, this has been a tradition in the U.S. military with anecdotes dating back as far as the 1970s.  It became a staple during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars beginning in the early 2000s.

Online jokes began to surface in late February that troops were being served ‘surf-and-turf’ and knew what was about to happen: deployment.

But dating back to this writer’s personal experiences as a Marine infantryman serving in Afghanistan in 2010, 2011, and 2012, it wasn’t just a “last meal” as those claims allude to.  It was a staple for deployed Marines aboard Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan.

Most Fridays, the chow hall would serve steak and lobster to the deployed troops.  And for those of us that deployed to forward operating bases, it was something to look forward to in the weeks-long process to make it back to the States.

Often, Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen deployed outside main operating bases were subject to Meals-Ready-To-Eat, or MREs, for months at a time.  Pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed food that was often barely edible (God forbid you got a Veggie Omelet) and heated up using a chemical reaction with water served as the primary sustenance for the majority of meals.

For those returning after a seven- to fifteen-month-long deployment, that ‘surf-and-turf’ at the DFAC was the first taste of real food many of these men and women had in months after long, grueling days sleeping on the ground, dealing with the elements, and often engaged in life-threatening combat operations.

To be clear, this ‘surf-and-turf’ was hardly a ‘gourmet’ meal.  But it was an absolutely incredible treat after the hell they’d just been through.  This depiction of ‘perception vs. reality’ is quite accurate:

Civilian perceptions may be wildly… off:

Perception: Reality: pic.twitter.com/3PgIVCGoH1

— Undercover Brother (@RealUCBfosho) March 11, 2026

Troops Actually PAY For Their Food

No one enlists in the U.S. military to get rich (keyword: enlists).  An E-3 without dependents in the military currently makes around $2,800 to $3,200, or roughly $700-800 per week, depending on time in grade.

Their job entails grueling hours- often times waking up at 4 or 5 a.m. for physical training or PT, moving wherever the military needs you often with little notice or input, enduring ‘field ops’ for days or weeks at a time, random deployments for months or years at a time, and a 24/7 ‘on-call’ status.

Apparently, some people, including Molly Jong-Fast, Jemele Hill, Rep. McGovern, and Rick Rosner, aren’t aware that the troops actually pay for their own meals when in garrison.

Troops receive what is called Basic Allowance for Subsistence, or BAS.  BAS is usually deducted automatically from your pay for troops that aren’t deployed and live on base.  While deployed, they are not charged for food, however, they also don’t receive the BAS pay.

Current BAS pay is about $475 per month.  But when troops deploy and BAS is stopped, most will receive “Hostile Fire/Imminent Danger Pay” of about $225/month.  What a deal! Remember: you don’t enlist to get rich.

And to be clear:  troops living on base often times have to depend on private venues and grocery stores for food because the chow/mess halls have limited hours that often conflict with demanding work schedules.  If you miss those hours, you’re on your own.  But you still contribute (automatically) for that day’s rations.

Comparing these DoW purchases — end-of-the-year “use or it lose it” purchases for special occasions for the troops — to the massive fraud uncovered in Democrat sanctuary cities/states and the widespread SNAP fraud that’s been exposed is clearly not the “gotcha” that Jemele Hill, a sitting U.S. Representative, and contributors at The Atlantic imply it is.

 

A comprehensive list of commentators, public intellectuals, and journalists who don’t know anyone in the military, as indicated by their ignorance regarding the tradition of steak and lobster pic.twitter.com/S7Ml5zYsbh

— Luther R. Abel (@lutherabel1) March 11, 2026

Yes! I’ve been trying to tell ppl this but I’m just a very small account. I also know that the food choices on home base are often pretty dismal, limited hours, too, so many have to go off base to eat. Deployment food options are even worse, yet they get billed for it! pic.twitter.com/7dzuvYw3aS

— NHNative (@aNHsnowbird) March 11, 2026

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