U.S. cutting back on hot chow for troops as Obama takes a $100 million dollar African vacation with his family

By Barbara Starr

Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with the battlefield adage: "An Army moves on its stomach." That, of course, means there's nothing like good chow.

For the thousands of U.S. troops who will fight in Afghanistan for another 17 months, it is not just the quality of the food they have to consider. Now there will be a bit less of it.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan for years have been fed four hot meals a day, including what is fondly known as "mid-rats" or midnight rations.

That is a meal for troops headed back and forth from the field or pulling a midnight shift on base.

Those meals are served in cafeteria-style dining halls - sometimes little more than a tent - where troops can select items from a buffet.

But as the United States winds down its combat operations in Afghanistan, so, too, will it wind down its food operations.

The Defense Department is cutting back to two hot meals a day, most likely just lunch and dinner.

The reason: the Pentagon is trying to scale down the number of contractors needed to cook and serve meals and run dining areas.

Its all about getting ready to pull troops, equipment and everything else that supports the war.

"We will significantly reduce contractor and supply chain requirements," said David Lakin, a spokesman for U.S. Force in Afghanistan, in an e-mail exchange with CNN