Beetle Bailey, 9/30/24

Today, most food service in the U.S. military is outsourced to contractors, and one of the military's most awesome powers is the ability to deploy a fully operational Burger King to a combat zone within in 24 hours. But Beetle Bailey remembers an earlier time, when cooks would've been soldiers themselves -- my grandfather enlisted during World War II and spend the war stateside making meals in bulk for soldiers about to ship out to the Pacific, for instance, and it only occurred to me reading this strip that I never knew what his rank was. Did he outrank a sergeant? Could he, within the bounds of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, have ordered a private to prevent his sergeant from gaining access to the company's food stores, using deadly force, if necessary? Much to think about.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 9/30/24