Updated at 4:40 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2025
Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper joined more than 20 other U.S. senators in penning a letter to the Secretary of Defense this month demanding answers about apparent underinvestment in food options for members of the military.
The letter followed an investigation by Military.com that revealed millions of dollars taken from soldiers’ wages for food allowance was spent elsewhere.
"Our national security depends on a strong military. The Department of Defense needs to address the troubling reports of food access issues on military bases and support base leadership to resolve them,” said Hickenlooper in a statement to CPR News. “Our service members, like those stationed at Fort Carson, deserve consistent and high-quality meals.”
The military news organization began its investigation following reports of a lack of food and low food quality at several Army posts across the nation – including at Fort Carson, where soldiers reported receiving meals lacking in nutritional value in 2024. Photos of meals obtained by CPR News showed a soldier being served a meal of lima beans and toast, far below the nutritional value standards set for Army troops.
Each enlisted service member living in the barracks at Fort Carson has a “Basic Allowance for Subsistence” deduction of $460.25 per month, which is meant to pay for their breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Many troops make less than $30,000 a year as junior enlisted soldiers and do not have access to kitchen equipment in their shared living quarters.
"Senator Bennet believes that service members who dedicate their lives to protecting our country deserve access to high-quality and nutritious meals every day," Bennet's office said in a statement. "It is inexcusable for our service members to pay hundreds of dollars a month for their meals and then experience food shortages or be served poor-quality food with no alternatives. Our military readiness is jeopardized if they cannot access the basic nutrition they need."
According to the Military.com investigation, of the $22 million collected in BAS deductions from troops at the post south of Colorado Springs last year, only $5 million dollars actually went toward food they could access at dining facilities. It is unclear where the unused money was spent.
Senators said the numbers revealed by the investigation show the issue spread beyond state lines.
“The findings, which include 2024 financial records from eleven of the largest Army installations, show that more than $151 million of the $225 million in [subsistence funds] collected from servicemembers on these installations was not spent on food costs,” the letter from senators reads. “That figure does not include the additional garrisons under the Army’s control, nor does it include spending at installations managed by the other military services suggesting the issue may be much more widespread.”
The group of senators want Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to detail how the DOD is making decisions about on-post food service operations, what barriers the military is facing to provide healthy meals to troops, and what his plan is to improve food quality on military bases.
“If a servicemember is losing money from their paycheck because they are being given a meal, it is reasonable for them to expect that funding will be used only to cover the costs of providing it and to ensure it is of the highest possible quality,” the letter reads. “We trust you will move expeditiously to answer our inquiries.”
Most new recruits stationed at Fort Carson are required to spend their first two to three years in service living in the barracks with up to 8,000 troops housed there at any given time.
A Fort Carson official said in December that 4,633 of those recruits are meal card holders who rely on dining facilities.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet.
