i decided to enlist in the Marine corps. Have any of you been in the military. How easy is it to maintain a healthy vegan diet. I eat alot of beans and rice and vegetables. I like to use oil when I cook. After basic am I gonna be able to purchase my own food? Do I have access to some vegetarians folk products. Like soy milk or fruit and whatever else I would want.

Thanks and what branch did u serve.

Here's a thread on vegans in the military



https://www.veggieboards.com/boards/s...n-the-military

I'm Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor, from now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and the last word out of your filthy sewers will be "Sir"...

Just popping in to say I want to join the Marines in the near future, too! Eating a balanced diet is going to be tough during Boot Camp...

I went through Navy boot camp in 03 as a vegetarian. I mostly ate PB&Js for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I cant imagine going through as a Vegan. You dont have more than 10 min to eat and you dont have much choices. Good luck.

Well I hope with a vegan diet I can do fine. Peanut butter and jelly...well I hope they have seconds. I hope fruit is abundant. I'm sorta wishing for there to be salads and other sorts of vegetables.

LOL...no there are no "seconds." You barely have time to eat what is on your plate before the RDC orders "On Your Feet." There is no talking in the Galley...or Mess Hall {for Marines}. You will learn hand gestures. You dont want to get caught talking. There should be plenty of friut and salads {although I remeber salads being iceberg lettuce}. Good luck and have fun...I will never forget bootcamp.

No - there are no true vegans in the military. However there are plenty of hypocrites in the military .

You will find it basically impossible to keep a vegan diet in any branch of the service. And you can probably forget about being even vegetarian if you're deployed into a combat zone.



(No, I'm not in the service. One of my brothers just retired from the Army, though, and I've asked him about this before. He says there are a few vegetarian MREs, but he hasn't seen conclusively that there are vegan ones. And the dining hall options on post are VERY limited in terms of nutritionally sound vegetarian options.)



I'm also in contact with several Marines currently serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. The incredibly lucky ones are in decent quarters that don't smell miserable, have offices that have AC and a fridge and a freezer. But they still rely on the PX to buy snacks and stuff and they sell out quickly, and being choosy isn't an option. The lucky ones shower once a week and get one hot meal a day. The not-so-lucky ones basically live off beef jerky, MREs, warm energy drinks, and talking to each other. Some are low on everything from tactical equipment to food. The reality is we even have hungry deployed Marines who aren't even getting ENOUGH food to sustain them, never mind being able to be picky about what they eat.



Even if you've got someone sending regular care packages with vegan stuff, you can't rely on that. I send care packages to these guys and sometimes their mail is held up for weeks at a time.





You can make a commitment to the animals. And you can make a commitment to your country. But I assure you, when push comes to shove, the only legally binding one is to your country. If you haven't enlisted yet and you feel giving up veganism would be a no-go, then I urge you to reconsider making this HUGE service commitment. The two don't really mesh.

I was deployed to Iraq in 2007-08. Its not hard at all to be veggie. Like I said earlier I couldnt imagine being a vegan in the military. You simply cant. There are vegatarian MRE's. I can post a pic of myself with one. In our camp we had a galley with plenty of friuts and veggies. I am now medically retired from the Navy and an OIF Vet.