Recent reporting by Military.com regarding the Army’s Campus Style Dining Venue pilot program is inaccurate. The article, published June 25, 2025, misrepresents the scope and intent of this initiative. The Army is currently evaluating proposals for this pilot program, with the Request for Proposal period still open. This program is focused on modernizing dining options and improving the quality of life for Soldiers – it does not involve privatizing dining facilities, departing from dietary standards, up-charging for food, or introducing alcohol sales.*
Key information:
- The Army is leveraging the experience of industry experts to operate dining venues on installations that provide Soldiers more options with better service, ambiance and hours. The new pilot program is supplementary, in addition to traditional Dining Facilities and other food options on installations, including Meal Prep Programs, kiosks, food trucks and more.
- Soldiers will not pay upcharged prices. No. Soldiers only pay the applicable DOD discounted meal rate as they would in traditional Dining Facilities. The contractor will only charge Soldiers for items that are above and beyond the standard meal, or not authorized in their standard meal plan.
- DFACs cannot and do not sell beer or wine. The contractor may request authorization to sell beer and wine, like other MWR restaurants.* If the contractor asks to sell alcohol, we will consider the contractor’s request to ensure it aligns with the goals of the pilot.
- Yes, the contractor for the pilot program must adhere to DOD nutritional guidelines. They have been granted an exemption for processing standards which have been found to be overly restrictive and time-consuming. For example, the contractor could use bags of chopped lettuce rather than having to spend time chopping heads of lettuce.
We encourage the public to await official Army announcements for accurate information.
*Army Regulation 215-1 outlines the parameters for alcohol sales on Army installations.
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