The House-approved fiscal 2026 NDAA would expand an Army pilot so service members can use CAC meal entitlements at a broader set of on-base eateries. A two-week Fort Hood trial showed roughly 15% of meals were purchased through participating AAFES vendors and demonstrated flexibility in meal timing. FEED is intended to complement existing dining facilities, vendors will vary by installation, and the 2026 provision requires annual progress reports and a final lessons-learned report to Congress.
Lawmakers Move to Expand FEED Pilot, Letting Troops Use Meal Entitlements at More On‑Base Eateries
Soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, participate in the Army's test for the Flexible Eating and Expanded Dining, or FEED, initiative, Aug. 11-25. (Lacey Reinoehl/Army)
Lawmakers are seeking to broaden where service members can redeem their meal entitlements on military installations by expanding an Army pilot to the other services under language in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Last year’s defense bill authorized the Army to test using the Common Access Card (CAC) at nontraditional dining locations. The 2026 NDAA, approved by the House and pending in the Senate, would allow similar pilot programs across the other services and require regular reporting to Congress.
The Army pilot, called the Flexible Eating and Expanded Dining Initiative (FEED), remains limited in scope while Army Materiel Command’s Food Innovation and Transformation team completes final approvals and coordinates with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) to ensure participating vendors offer nutritious, affordable choices.
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The Army ran a two-week pilot at Fort Hood, Texas, in August. When given the option to use AAFES vendors, soldiers purchased roughly 15% of their meals through those outlets. The test also showed operational flexibility: about 161 lunch entitlements and 30 breakfast entitlements were redeemed after 3 p.m., demonstrating that troops used the program to meet shifting duty schedules.
Participating vendors at Fort Hood included Freshens, Qdoba, Burger King and Starbucks at the T.J. Mills Food Court, plus Subway and Starbucks at the Clear Creek Exchange. Under FEED rules during the trial, soldiers could purchase multiple meals in a single visit by completing separate transactions for each meal type; the CAC was swiped once per meal category.
Army officials described the initial results as encouraging but recommended a longer test period to collect more comprehensive data and better understand usage trends across installations. Army Materiel Command emphasized that FEED is intended to complement—not replace—existing dining facilities, kiosks and food trucks, and to knit together the broader campus food ecosystem.
Under the planned rollout, the number and mix of vendors that accept CAC payments will vary by installation to ensure the right local balance of healthy, accessible options rather than a fixed vendor count. Menu selections for participating vendors will be vetted by food-service experts and priced to fit within current meal-entitlement ranges.
The 2025 provision allowed the original Army pilot to continue for up to five years. The 2026 language enables other services to stand up their own pilots, requires each service to submit an annual progress report to Congress, and mandates a final report at the conclusion of the pilots summarizing lessons learned and recommendations for improvement.
Bottom line: FEED aims to expand on-base meal choices and flexibility while preserving traditional dining facilities; further, longer tests and cross-service pilots are expected to refine the approach before any broad implementation.
