Fort Stewart will be the first base to allow meal entitlements at chain restaurants

Soldiers can soon use their meal card dollars at chain restaurants at Fort Stewart, Ga., as the opening of a new, privately managed dining facility is delayed until next year, the Army said.

Through the Flexible Eating and Expanded Dining program, known as FEED, soldiers can purchase preselected meals from restaurants that operate on base through the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. Soldiers who receive meal entitlements pay using their military ID card, just as they would at a dining facility.

Participating restaurants include Burger King, Subway, Starbucks and QDOBA, according to the 3rd Infantry Division, the largest unit at Fort Stewart. The program begins Aug. 3, according to Army Materiel Command.

“As part of the Army’s broader food ecosystem initiative, FEED is designed to give soldiers more choice in where they eat while maintaining access to nutritious meal options that support readiness and today’s operational demands,” the division said. “By becoming the first installation to fully implement the program, Fort Stewart is helping shape the future of Army dining and setting the standard for installations across the force.”

The program was first tested last year at Fort Hood, Texas, during a two-week pilot program to ensure that the payment systems worked properly with the Army’s systems for providing meal entitlements to eligible soldiers.

That payment system was then implemented by Compass Group USA, the company hired to open the Army’s first five privately run dining facilities, with the goal of all being open by the end of the summer.

Compass Group has opened bistros at Fort Hood and Fort Carson, Colo. A third will open July 30 at Fort Drum, N.Y., according to the Army. The fifth bistro is slated for Fort Bragg, N.C.

Each privately managed bistro operates in a renovated Army dining facility, and Fort Stewart closed operations in April at Building 512 to make way for a bistro later this year. However, that opening is now delayed until 2027, said Samantha Tyler, spokeswoman for Army Materiel Command. 

Once that new bistro opens, the FEED program will continue at Fort Stewart, she said.

During the pilot at Fort Hood, the Army also tracked what meals soldiers bought, which were preselected by nutritionists to meet the Army’s nutritional standards and cost limitations.

Using the Army’s “Go 4 Green” program that mirrors a traffic signal to label food green, amber or red, about 55% of the menu items Fort Hood soldiers selected in the pilot were green, Tyler said. About 23% were amber.

The FEED program and the private dining facilities offer soldiers flexibility on what time of day they purchase breakfast, lunch and dinner, whereas the traditional dining facilities have set hours for each type of meal and more restrictive hours of operation.

The Fort Hood pilot showed that 160 lunches and 30 breakfasts were purchased after 3 p.m., Tyler said.

“Our goal is to improve soldier accessibility to meal options when legacy feeding capabilities are limited,” she said. “This includes situations where soldiers cannot reach existing kiosks, food trucks or dining facilities. FEED aims to expand access points and ensure soldiers can use their entitlements regardless of location or operational constraints.”