Overview
- Fort Hood’s 42 Bistro is scheduled to open Feb. 18 with daily hours from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven food stations, mobile app ordering with pickup or delivery drop zones, and a Compass-operated food truck.
- Soldiers on the Essential Station Messing program receive $39 per day in “freedom dollars” with per‑meal budgets, same‑day rollover only, and the option to pay out of pocket if they exceed the allowance.
- Each venue will have an executive chef and a registered dietitian, with roughly 3,000 recipes and the ability to adjust menus for seasonal and local ingredients.
- Four additional pilot sites are planned: Fort Carson in March or April, Fort Bragg and Fort Drum in the summer, and Fort Stewart in 2027, with customer feedback guiding any wider rollout and overseas expansions facing host‑nation constraints.
- To launch the privately run model, the Army secured waivers for procurement, onsite dietitians and certain food products, and will reimburse the contractor only for meals eaten by entitled soldiers.