So I'm planning on going into the air force after I finish college, but I haven't gotten a chance to ask my recruiter if they offer vegan or even vegetarian meals on their bases.

Do any of you guys know if they do or not?

They did not at the time I was in the service, Meat was a big thing. I think that Vegetarians are in the military on a DADT basis right now

Well that's a bummer
How are you supposed to choose between serving your country or sacrificing some of your beliefs.
Eh I'll figure it out somehow lol

*snort*

It's fully possible (and easy!) to be vegetarian in the military. Vegan would be a little bit harder, but still doable. If you live in the barracks, see the chaplain and tell him that you have moral/religious reasons for abstaining from meat, and ask for a memorandum to receive separate rations. This means that instead of being on a meal plan for the on post dining facilities, you will be given money to buy your own groceries (but you would have to pay per meal if you decided to eat at the dining facility).

The commissaries on all the posts I've been to carry a wide variety of Amy's meals and morning star farms, etc.

Good luck.

ETA: All my coworkers knew I was vegetarian, I got some good-natured ribbing, but over all, it's wasn't A Big Thing.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely talk to someone about that.

I got plenty to say on this after work, give me a few hours

Ok first, realize that your recruiter is going to make it sound like they go out of their way to provide you with veg*n meals. The recruiters won't necessarily lie, but they will stretch the hell out of the truth.

That said, if you're looking to join the military as a veg*n, you are choosing the right service. Unless you plan on going special forces or something and spending your Air Force career making every effort to be deployed and running around in the boonies, you will likely spend most of it on large bases with exceptional facilities to match. Every Air Force dining facility I've been to (they get mad if I call it a galley or a chow hall) has as much variety as your local Country Buffet, and like Kibbleforla said, if that dining facility is unable to meet your dietary needs they will put you on commuted rations, which basically means instead of eating for free where they want you to, you are given a monthly allowance and you're on your own for food.

This would not be realistic for other services (especially Army or Marines) where half your career is spent either deployed or training out in the middle of nowhere, playing with guns, blowing things up, etc., and it is for that same reason that the macho factor is not as prevalent in the Air Force, meaning you probably won't get harassed half as much about being vegetarian as I do. In the event that you do find yourself out on the field and away from civilization, every box of MRE's contains a couple vegetarian options (though I've never seen a vegan one before). In such situations, everyone else will be thrilled to have a vegetarian in the group because it means if they happen to get the crappy vegetarian one (in their eyes), they can just trade with you.

The hardest part is probably going to be boot camp, and maybe even your initial training. After that, you'll probably have the military equivalent of a 9 to 5 office job except you'll be wearing cammies instad of khakis.

Also, I would highly suggest staying in top shape. When most people fail a fitness test, it is blamed on laziness. If you fail a fitness test, it will be blamed on your diet. If you steam roll every fitness test they send your way, however, there isn't much they can say except to acknowledge that you must be doing something right.

On a side note, not sure if you've already decided what job you want to do, but when walking into the recruiter's office having a degree equates to leverage. Your recruiter has a quota, and his or her preference is going to be to put you in whatever happens to be the most undermanned position that you qualify for, and not necessarily where you belong or where you want to be. If your ASVAB scores are high enough, don't settle for anything less than exactly what you want. An enlistment bonus and a free rank or two upon completion of boot camp are almost always available to those joining with college degrees.

Unless it's been changed, the Air Force fitness test is a joke. According to Air Force people stationed in South Korea in the late 90s/early 00s, you ride a stationary bike for a few minutes.

When I worked for the Post Office last December, there was a guy who wanted to join the Marines after college, and he said to pass the fitness test, you had to do 3 push-ups. I'm not sure about the rest, though. Just in case, I'd take a lot of physical education while in college--weightlifting, things like that. Good luck, and I hope you make it.

Not sure about the details of the Air Force's test, though I've heard it involves a heart rate monitor :/ The Marines have pullups instead of pushups, and you have to do 3 for the minimum passing score. That may have been what your coworker was referring to. Still not exactly difficult, though some people do have difficulty with pullups. I have been in both the Navy and the Army, and for both of those we have pushups, situps, and a run (Navy had the option of a swim instead, facilities permitting).

As far as the entrance exam, from what I understand the Air Force requires the highest score, followed by Navy, Marines then Army.
When I went in the Navy we had the run, pushups, and swimming. Im pretty sure that included everyone. I was EOD so what the tortured me with was just a bit beyond that. I had to dive, got kicked out of a perfectly good airplane, endured survival trainings, and generally had to push till there was no pushing left.

I'd think the Navy would encourage swimming, considering they're mostly based in the water.

I was actually amazed at how few people could swim, let alone swim well. Very few people could pass the swim version of the PT test.

As for the ASVAB test, yes overall the air force has higher scholastic requirements. But every service has individual jobs with different requirements. I was crypto in the Navy (before going traitor and joining the Army ), which required a very high score overall and extremely high marks in math and electronics.

The Air Force no longer utilizes the stationary bike with heart rate monitor test. We now have to complete a 1.5 mile run, push ups, and sit ups. I would agree with Nomad888 Basic training will be by far the hardest part of maintaining your diet. The past 6 months I have been in various locations and had either the dining facility or MREs as options for food. When I am at the base I'm assigned I buy my own food and am not required to partake in the dining facility. If you enlist, you will most likely be provided free food to eat at the dining facility and though the food provided will be boring after a while you will have fruits/veggies/beans/rice and such available to eat. You don't have to eat their but, they will not necessarily provide you with the allowance to get your own food.
If you get commissioned you won't be provided food at the dining facility and wil have to provide for yourself, minus Basic and deployments and such.
In my experiences as a veg, the worse I get is some ribbing, but its all good since I do it right back to them.
In case you were curious I am currently active duty Air Force enlisted, and I am 6 months from ten years in.