SLICE OF SHAME

Pentagon Pete’s Navy Hit With Fresh Fury Over Sad Meals

The viral pizza complaints come as the Pentagon spent millions on lobster tails and salmon.

Navy sailors are revolting over the quality of their food after a viral photo purportedly showing pizza served to active-duty service members sparked disgust online.

A viral Reddit post on a U.S. Navy forum shows a slice of what appears to be stiff, possibly frozen pizza, topped with rubbery, yellow cheese.

“Navy life,” the post is titled.

“$400 a month, y’all,” the caption reads, referring to the monthly amount deducted from sailors’ paychecks to cover meals while at sea. “I feel scammed.”

The Daily Beast could not independently verify the photo or where the meal was served. A Pentagon spokesperson directed questions to the Navy, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other commenters claiming to be active-duty or former service members shared their own food horror stories, including one person who described cookies made with salt instead of sugar, raisins in tuna, and frozen hamburgers.

“At least it’s edible. I’ve had ‘pizza’ slices that were basically charcoal. The best part was them serving it to us with straight faces,” another user who identified as “KnowNothing3888″ wrote.

“Least you have a crust. they used a tortilla on mine,” another user dubbed “PrimarySubstantial90,″chimed in.

When another commenter questioned where the $400 deduction was going, another Reddit user replied “unecessary testosterone therapy,” referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s highly-criticized plans to test military personnel’s testosterone and offer hormone replacement therapy to those with low levels.

The backlash comes after Navy families spoke out about the quality and quantity of food served to their sons and daughters during President Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East.

A sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln—which made national headlines after a 321-day deployment—alleged, “The food is tasteless, and there’s not nearly enough, and they’re hungry all the time.”

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“We have the strongest military in the world. You shouldn’t be running out of food, and you shouldn’t not be able to get mail on the ship,” the father of an affected service member, who identified as Dan, told USAToday.

“The one thing we had over our adversaries [was] we fed our people,” he added.

The allegations follow a government watchdog agency report that the DOD spent more than $93 billion in September 2025 alone, including $124,000 on ice cream machines, more than $12,000 on fruit baskets, $6.9 million on lobster tails, $1 million on salmon, and nearly $140,000 on doughnuts.

Hegseth defended his department at the time, writing off the allegations as “FAKE NEWS from the Pharisee Press,” referring to a Jewish religious and social movement that is portrayed as opposition to Jesus in the New Testament.

Complaints about military food quality are not new. In 2020, a Navy veteran thrust the issue into the national spotlight after sharing photos of food served aboard warships, including moldy bread, lettuce with insects, and raw chicken.

“It all has to do with quality of life,” veteran Kevin Selfaison told Task & Purpose at the time. “I feel like: When we’re out there, a lot of times all we have to look forward to is a meal -- and when that meal is as messed up as some of these meals, it’s messed up. It kills morale.”

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Laura EspositoBreaking News Reporter

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