The US Military’s Fast Food Division

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Fast Food, Burger King, South Korea, Marshall Islands
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Fast Food, Burger King, Taliban, War
3. 6:00 – 8:04: Trade Coffee, Fast Food, Military Cuisine, Culinary Landscape

Notable quotes from "The US Military’s Fast Food Division"

• Important to cater to the troops' unique nutritional needs, no matter where oil is found next. That's why the US military is one of the largest fast food franchisers in the…

  about Fast Food · at 0:20

• The US military's fast food outlets exist within major overseas installations like Camp Humphre in South Korea, home to around 4,000 personnel and 40 million nuggets. Given…

  about Camp Humphre · at 1:44

• Regular ships and planes from Hawaii, which does meaning while costly, the sourcing is simple enough. The American military presence in South Korea, meanwhile, is so massive…

  about South Korea · at 2:59

• Bunks behind the restaurant. But even more incredibly, within months of opening, this Burger King became one of the top 10 most successful branches in the entire world, cooking…

  about Burger King · at 4:41

• Operate at TGI Fridays in the middle of a battlefield, the military had good logic for doing so. War's kind of a bummer. So, if you make war less of a bummer, the troops do war…

  about War · at 5:30

• Of their efforts to combat it, they're opening more fast casual restaurants offering Chipotle style slot bowls.

  about Chipotle · at 6:19

• Independent business rather than some global conglomerate. With the holidays coming up, a Trade subscription makes the perfect gift to the coffee lover in your life. You'll be…

  about Trade Coffee · at 7:32

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

Companies & orgs

• Burger King — Company · Core topic · 5 mentions · first at 0:53
  Discussed as a key example of fast food chains operating on US military bases worldwide.
• Popeyes — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:11
  Mentioned as one of the fast food chains available on US military bases.
  Of shops. Throughout this and other areas of the base, there are four Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an…
• Trade Coffee — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 7:03
  Discussed as a solution to poor quality coffee options.
• Rathon — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 0:16
  Mentioned as a company benefiting from US military operations.
  Learning about foreign countries. So, in order for the military to fulfill its god-given mission of growing Rathon shareholder value, it's critically important to cater to the…
• Duncan Company — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:13
  Part of the fast food chains mentioned as available on US military bases.
  Areas of the base, there are four Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda…
• Kdoba — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:13
  Listed among the fast food chains on US military bases.
  Areas of the base, there are four Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda…
• Pizza Hut — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:13
  Mentioned as part of the fast food offerings on US military bases.
  Areas of the base, there are four Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda…
• Chipotle — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 6:22
  Mentioned as part of the military's efforts to offer healthier food options.
• Kroger — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 1:58
  Referenced as a comparison for military-run supermarkets.
  Scale, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service operates a sprawling retail complex, including a supermarket pretty identical to any stateside Kroger's, a US post office branch…
• Antians — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:15
  Mentioned as part of the fast food offerings on US military bases.
  Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda Express, Quiznos, and Texas Roadhouse.…
• Arby's — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:15
  Part of the fast food chains available on US military bases.
  Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda Express, Quiznos, and Texas Roadhouse.…
• Panda Express — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:17
  Part of the fast food chains available on US military bases.
  Two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda Express, Quiznos, and Texas Roadhouse. And while of course South Korea has…
• Texas Roadhouse — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:17
  Mentioned as part of the fast food offerings on US military bases.
  Two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda Express, Quiznos, and Texas Roadhouse. And while of course South Korea has…
• Utopian Coffee — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 7:22
  Mentioned as a coffee roaster using Rwandan beans.
  Try the Rwanda Marundo Ciya which is sourced from a high altitude community in the country then brewed by Utopian coffee in Illinois. Unsurprisingly, it's a hell of a lot…

Products & tech

• Crispy Cream Donuts — Product · Referenced product · 1 mention · first at 3:45
  Produced by military-run bakeries for US military bases.
  Food franchises in the US. It also supplies militaryrun supermarkets in the region, producing crispy cream donuts and Wonderbread under license agreements. But perhaps the most…
• Wonderbread — Product · Referenced product · 1 mention · first at 3:45
  Produced by military-run bakeries for US military bases.
  Food franchises in the US. It also supplies militaryrun supermarkets in the region, producing crispy cream donuts and Wonderbread under license agreements. But perhaps the most…

Concepts & topics

• Fast Food — Concept · Core topic · 7 mentions · first at 0:25
  Central to the discussion on US military's global presence and cultural influence.
• War — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:33
  Discussed in the context of US military operations and fast food logistics.
• Military Cuisine — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 6:01
  Discussed in the context of US military's global fast food operations.
  Potato skins is coming under threat. In one of the worst things they've ever done, according to singleisssue military cuisine voters, the new administration in Washington is…
• Obesity — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention
  Discussed as a growing concern within the US military.
  Cuisine voters, the new administration in Washington is making troops trim down. Over the past decade, the portion of them considered obese has more than doubled to 21%. The…
• Culinary Landscape — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 5:44
  Discussed in the context of fast food's role in American culture.
  Disproportionate portion of troops come from rural and southern loc. And for better or worse, fast food is a big part of the culinary landscape in places like this. A relaxing…
• Taliban — Concept · Referenced concept · 2 mentions · first at 5:05
  Discussed in the context of US military operations in Afghanistan.
  Over in Afghanistan, Kandahar was a true nexus of conflict since it was the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban, the bad guys. The US military stronghold in the region…

Places & events

• South Korea — Place · Referenced location · 3 mentions · first at 1:47
  Country with significant US military presence and fast food operations.
• Camp Humphre — Place · Referenced location · 2 mentions · first at 1:47
  Major US military base in South Korea with extensive fast food offerings.
• Kandahar — Place · Referenced location · 2 mentions · first at 5:01
  Site of a US military base with unique fast food offerings.
  Over in Afghanistan, Kandahar was a true nexus of conflict since it was the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban, the bad guys. The US military stronghold in the region was once again.
• Quadilain Atal — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 0:39
  Location of a unique Burger King on a US military base.
  For example, this is Quadilain Atal.
• Kuwait — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 4:31
  Source of supplies and workers for the Burger King in Baghdad.
  Ingredients were sourced from licensed commercial producers in Kuwait, which had Burger King locations, and were trucked in via 3-day military convoys.
• Marshall Islands — Place · Referenced location · 2 mentions · first at 0:43
  Home to a US military base with a Burger King.
  It's pretty awesome. It's in the Marshall Islands. It's about a 5-hour flight west of Hawaii, and it's where the Americans test their missile defense systems for the next time Kim or Vlad or she feels cocked. More importantly, it's.
• Rwanda — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at 7:14
  Mentioned in the context of sourcing high-quality coffee beans.
  The US sourcing beans from all across the world. For example, a couple years ago I traveled to Rwanda and remembered how good the coffee was. So I decided to try the Rwanda…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 The US military is really, really good at shooting things. But it has a problem. Americans need their daily nutritional intake of microplastics and corn syrup or they start to get irritable and engage in dangerous activities like walking, empathy, and learning about foreign countries. So, in order for the military to fulfill its god-given mission of growing Rathon shareholder value, it's critically important to cater to the troops' unique nutritional needs, no matter where oil is found next. That's why the US military is one of the largest fast food franchisers in the world, operating some 3,000 branded restaurants on its bases and facilities worldwide and creating some of the most far-flung outposts of the most recognizable American brands.

0:39 For example, this is Quadilain Atal. It's pretty awesome. It's in the Marshall Islands. It's about a 5-hour flight west of Hawaii, and it's where the Americans test their missile defense systems for the next time Kim or Vlad or she feels cocked. More importantly, it's home to the most isolated Burger King in the world. The Outpost operates within the base's rather limited food court and not only counts as the only international fast food chain location on Quadrillean, but the only in the entire Marshall Islands. In fact, according to proprietary HI research that you really shouldn't trust, the next nearest location of a major international fast food chain, if we exclude the subway sitting right next to it, is this McDonald's 1500 miles away in the American territory of the Northern Marianas Islands. And this actually isn't the only instance where the military makes the only location of a fast food chain in a country. One of

1:29 the best known is at the beach resort where they're really obsessed with what you were up to in September 2001, Guantanamo Bay. The on-based McDonald's looks straight boomer era and even features a drive-thru, even though it's the only McDonald's in Cuba due to Cuban laws and the US embargo. But the bulk of the US military's fast food outlets exist within major overseas installations like Camp Humphre in South Korea, home to around 4,000 personnel and 40 million nuggets. Given this scale, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service operates a sprawling retail complex, including a supermarket pretty identical to any stateside Kroger's, a US post office branch that ships at domestic rates, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a massive mall with dozens of shops. Throughout this and other areas of the base, there are four Subways, three Popeyes, three Starbucks, two each of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell,

2:15 Duncan, and Kdoba, and an Arby's, BaskinRobins, Antians, Panda Express, Quiznos, and Texas Roadhouse. And while of course South Korea has branches of many of these chains, these are different. The OnBase variants are effectively outposts of the American divisions of these brands rather than Korean. So in addition to operating in English and accepting US dollars, that means for the most part they offer the American menus of these brands, allowing soldiers to munch down a cheesy chalupa right before Baja blasting the North Koreans into the 19th century. Now, in order to allow for these regionally unique menus and locations, the military works with franchisers to build bespoke supply chains based on what's available in the surrounding area. Guilan, for example, is in a country with no domestic supply chain for Burger King and Subway. But the island receives regular ships and planes from Hawaii,

3:01 which does meaning while costly, the sourcing is simple enough. The American military presence in South Korea, meanwhile, is so massive that Camp Humphre also acts as a regional logistics hub for their food and beverage services. And while most of what that means is processing and distributing US-sourced products onward to other bases, there's one key resource that can't practically be shipped in from the US, bread. That's why they built this massive $20 million wholesale bakery. You see, the way fast food chains typically work is that they don't actually have their own production facilities. Rather, they certify third-party facilities to produce their products. So, this military-run wholesale bakery is of the type that would typically produce breads for fast food franchises in the US. It also supplies militaryrun supermarkets in the region, producing crispy cream donuts and Wonderbread under license

3:48 agreements. But perhaps the most incredible capability of the military's fast food division is its ability to set up inactive war zones. There's a prolific internet meme declaring that the US military can deploy a fully operational Burger King anywhere in the world within 24 hours. This is not true, or at least is not something that actually happened, but reality isn't that far off. On March 20th, 2003, the US invaded Iraq, which was a really good idea if you didn't think about it too hard. Bush said they had weapons of mass destruction, which they didn't. Then he said, "Mission accomplished, which it wasn't." And 82 days later, the military opened its first Burger King in the country. The branch operated out of a trailer at Baghdad airport, which acted as the US's base of operations.

4:29 Ingredients were sourced from licensed commercial producers in Kuwait, which had Burger King locations, and were trucked in via 3-day military convoys. Workers also came from Kuwait, flying in for 3-week rotations while sleeping in bunks behind the restaurant. But even more incredibly, within months of opening, this Burger King became one of the top 10 most successful branches in the entire world, cooking upwards of 5,000 patties a day. Now, Baghdad, while spicy, was far from the most active city of America's so-called war on terror.

5:01 Over in Afghanistan, Kandahar was a true nexus of conflict since it was the birthplace and spiritual home of the Taliban, the bad guys. The US military stronghold in the region was once again at the airport. And despite the broader region gaining reputation as one of the deadliest during the war, conditions within the walls were downright pleasant. The military built what they called the Kandahar Boardwalk as their RNR hub. And its crown jewel was a fullervice, fully themed TGI Fridays. Now, as costly and complex as it was to operate at TGI Fridays in the middle of a battlefield, the military had good logic for doing so. War's kind of a bummer. So, if you make war less of a bummer, the troops do war better. A disproportionate portion of troops come from rural and southern loc. And for better or worse, fast food is a big part of the culinary landscape in places like this. A relaxing evening at TGI Fridays

5:51 after a long day of raiding Taliban outposts just always hits the spot. But this mission critical access to loaded potato skins is coming under threat. In one of the worst things they've ever done, according to singleisssue military cuisine voters, the new administration in Washington is making troops trim down. Over the past decade, the portion of them considered obese has more than doubled to 21%. The military has grown wary of both the optics and genuine effects of such statistics. So, as part of their efforts to combat it, they're opening more fast casual restaurants offering Chipotle style slot bowls.

6:24 They're not closing fast food places yet. They're only using the carrot approach. Even though carrots low-key suck. This appears prudent because if you can't finish your day of gunning down the baddies in the Valley of Kandahar on an Apache with a hot plate of loaded potato skins, then what's even the point of this whole war thing? Another unfortunate truth about the American culinary landscape is that the coffee often sucks. For most of us, the best option is some nearby independent coffee shop, which while great, involves shelling over 7 or $8 per cup. So, we make coffee at home and are faced with the options of bland and polluting pod coffee or whatever dismal beans our local grocery store offers. That's the problem Trade Coffee tries to solve.

7:06 They have hundreds of options from locallyowned coffee roasters all across the US sourcing beans from all across the world. For example, a couple years ago I traveled to Rwanda and remembered how good the coffee was. So I decided to try the Rwanda Marundo Ciya which is sourced from a high altitude community in the country then brewed by Utopian coffee in Illinois. Unsurprisingly, it's a hell of a lot better and fresher than my local grocery stores beans. And I also really like supporting an independent business rather than some global conglomerate. With the holidays coming up, a Trade subscription makes the perfect gift to the coffee lover in your life. You'll be helping to improve their morning routine every day for the next year. So, Trade is offering you 25% off gift subscriptions when you go to drinktrade.com/hi and 20% off gift sets at the same link.

7:52 Signing up there helps support the channel and gets you a big discount on a great gift. So head over to drinktrade.com/h ai.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "The US Military’s Fast Food Division"?

In order: 0:00 Fast Food, Burger King, South Korea, Marshall Islands; 3:00 Fast Food, Burger King, Taliban, War; 6:00 Trade Coffee, Fast Food, Military Cuisine, Culinary Landscape.

What is mentioned in this Half as Interesting episode?

29 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Fast Food, Burger King, War, Military Cuisine, Obesity, South Korea. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "The US Military’s Fast Food Division"?

The episode runs 8 min; the transcript is about 1,519 words in 12 timestamped sections.

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