Chow in basic training (Ft. Jackson Jan-Feb 1972) was pretty good since it was a company mess facility and they knew when we'd be there so it was hot and ready to go when we got there.
AIT was probably the worst or at least the most inconsistent since it was a battalion facility and individual companies would stream in at any time so you often got stuff that had been sitting out for an hour or more.
Duty post in West Berlin was very good overall. Another battalion dining facility but they did a good job of providing a variety of food; you could get burgers hot off the grill or go with whatever balanced main dish they had. They even had a serve yourself salad bar in the last year I was there. Berlin had a big segment of Turkish "guest workers" - the forerunner of the Muslim invasion - so they had Turkish women doing KP clearing tables and such. You know you're a horny GI when you're getting turned on staring at the ass of a 45 year old woman with a mustache...
The local Air Force detachment at Tempelhof airport lived the life of Riley, their facilities were first class so we'd head over to their EM club for a steak dinner and drinks on a Friday or Saturday night.
Only ate C-rats when we went down to southern Germany for semi-annual field training so they were more of a novelty than a culinary burden. That was when they still had a 4 pack of cigarettes in each one so the non-smokers would trade them with the smokers for the better stuff. Local kids would come around and harass us to give them the chocolate bars and peanut butter.
Btw, still have my P38 as well.
