Commander says he is working to fix problems with Guard's food

WASHINGTON — A change in food containers and a new delivery system may be responsible for some Oklahoma Army National Guard members missing meals during their shifts at a detainee camp in Iraq.

According to a memo received by U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin's office from the commander at Camp Bucca, in southern Iraq, the commander has begun a meal delivery system using insulated containers rather than the Styrofoam ones that were being used.

Though a dining hall at the camp is open around the clock, there had also been food delivery service to troops who were working their shifts.

The commander's memo, sent to the troops at the camp, says the food service at the camp had been "loading 2,500 Styrofoam containers at every meal with food that was often cold when it arrived, and did not meet any established standard of sanitation ... The food was exposed to dirt, heat and flies during transportation, and much of it was simply thrown out.”

The commander acknowledged that the new delivery system had some start-up problems and said he would go back to the Styrofoam containers for a week until people got used to the new system. He also said MREs (meals ready to eat) would be released to any troops who needed one between meals.

Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, began asking Army officials on Thursday about meal service after a television station in Oklahoma City received a complaint from the father of a National Guard soldier that his daughter wasn't being fed during her shift.