The Meal Card Management System - United States Army

1 UNCLASSIFIED army Regulation 600 38 Personnel-General The Meal Card Management System Headquarters Department of the army Washington, DC 17 August 2016 SUMMARY of CHANGE AR 600 38 The Meal Card Management System This major revision, dated 17 August 2016 o Directs senior commanders of army commands to develop performance metrics for conducting annual compliance reviews (para 2 3). o Establishes completion of online meal card Management training as a condition of appointment for book control officers, meal card verification officers, and meal card control officers (paras 2 4b and 2 5j). o Establishes the Meal Card Management System as part of the commander s Internal Control Program (para 2 5i).

2 O Tasks command food advisors (or equivalent position) to develop a DD Form 714 (Meal Card) verification schedule for the meal card control officers and meal card verification officer (para 2 5k). o Tasks book control officers to account for all non-issued, issued, and destroyed Meal Card Control Books and ensures annual audits by meal card control officers are performed with corrective actions taken (paras 2 5m and 2 5n). o Tasks meal card control officers to track issuance and turn-in of DD Form 714 and Meal Card Control Books, perform quarterly verification of DD Form 714 holders entitlements, and confirm appropriate Soldiers have an active DD Form 714 (para 2 5n(2)(g)).

3 O Updates rules for the issue and withdrawal of DD Form 714 (table 3 1). o Adds a chapter for the automated headcount System (chap 6). o Adds a chapter for institutional training directed lodging and meals policy (chap 7). *This regulation supersedes AR 600 38, dated 11 March 1988. AR 600 38 17 August 2016 UNCLASSIFIED i Headquarters Department of the army Washington, DC * army Regulation 600 38 17 August 2016 Effective 17 September 2016 Personnel-General The Meal Card Management System History. This publication is a major revision. Summary. This regulation provides policy and procedure for both Regular army and Reserve Components for Management of the DD Form 714 (Meal Card) and reimbursement for meals pro-vided in a field environment.

4 Specific guidelines are provided for the acquisition, issue, and control of Meal Card Control Books; and for the issue of and accounta-bility for DD Forms 714 at all issuing lev-els. Guidance is also given on policy for issue and withdrawal of DD Forms 714 and identification and reimbursement for meals available in the field. This regula-tion provides guidance for verifying DD Form 714 entitlements and conducting annual reviews of the Meal Card Manage-ment System . Applicability. This regulation applies to the Regular army , the army National Guard/ army National Guard of the United States , and the army Reserve, unless otherwise stated.

5 Also, it applies to all army commands, Active army units, and activities with personnel administration center and S1 functions that normally have the responsibility to provide DD Forms 714 to personnel assigned or attached for rations in garrison, except initial military training students, and when required, dur-ing field duty. This regulation is also ap-plicable to the army National Guard and army Reserve when required to issue DD Forms 714 in lieu of using the com-mon access card for meal entitlement iden-tification. This regulation does not apply to cadets when training is conducted at the Military Academy, fixed army medi-cal treatment facilities, or inmates in a confinement facility.

6 Proponent and exception authority. The proponent of this regulation is the Deputy Chief of Staff, G 4. The proponent has the authority to approve exceptions or waivers to this regulation that are con-sistent with controlling law and regula-tions. The proponent may delegate this approval authority, in writing, to a division chief within the proponent agency or its direct reporting unit or field operating agency, in the grade of colonel or the civil-ian equivalent. Activities may request a waiver to this regulation by providing justification that includes a full analysis of the expected benefits and must include formal review by the activity s senior legal officer.

7 All waiver requests will be en-dorsed by the commander or senior leader of the requesting activity and forwarded through their higher headquarters to the policy proponent. Refer to AR 25 30 for specific guidance. army internal control process. This regulation contains internal control provi-sions in accordance with AR 11 2 and identifies key internal controls that must be evaluated (see appendix C). Supplementation. Supplementation of this regulation and establishment of com-mand and local forms are prohibited with-out prior approval from Deputy Chief of Staff, G 4 (DALO SUT), 500 army Pen-tagon, Washington, DC 20310 0500.

8 Suggested improvements. Users are invited to send comments and suggested improvements on DA Form 2028 (Rec-ommended Changes to Publications and Blank Forms) directly to the Deputy Chief of Staff, G 4 (DALO SUT), 500 army Pentagon, Washington, DC 20310 0500. Distribution. This publication is availa-ble in electronic media only and is intend-ed for command levels C, D, and E for the Regular army , the army National Guard/ army National Guard of the United States , and the army Reserve. Contents (Listed by paragraph and page number) Chapter 1 Meal Card Management System , page 1 Purpose 1 1, page 1 References 1 2, page 1 Explanation of abbreviations and terms 1 3, page 1 Responsibilities 1 4, page 1 Communications 1 5, page 1 Deviations 1 6, page 1 ii AR 600 38 17 August 2016 Contents Continued Policies 1 7, page 1 Chapter 2 Responsibilities, page 2 Deputy Chief of Staff, G 1 2 1, page 2 Deputy Chief of Staff, G 4 2 2, page 2 Commanding generals, army commands 2 3, page 2 Senior commanders 2 4, page 2 Regular army unit and organization commanders 2 5, page 2 Logistics Readiness Center, army Field Support Brigade 2 6.

9 Page 4 Chapter 3 Requisitioning, Issuing, Controlling, and Accounting for DD Forms 714, page 4 General 3 1, page 4 Purpose and use of DD Form 714 3 2, page 4 Requisitioning and receipt of Meal Card Control Book(s) 3 3, page 6 Turn-in and transfer of Meal Card Control Book(s) 3 4, page 6 DA Form 4809 3 5, page 7 Meal card control binder procedures (active and inactive) 3 6, page 8 DD Form 714 issue procedures 3 7, page 8 DD Form 714 accountability procedures 3 8, page 8 Issue of DD Forms 714 to Reserve Component Soldiers 3 9, page 9 Guidance for audit of DD Forms 714 3 10, page 10 Chapter 4 Identification and Payment for Meals Made Available for Field Training, page 10 General 4 1, page 10 DD Form 714 issue for use in the field 4 2, page 11 Regular army Soldiers 4 3, page 11 Reserve Component Soldiers 4 4, page 11 Chapter 5 DD Form 714 Verification and Reporting, page 12 DD Form 714 and entitlement verification policy 5 1.

10 Page 12 DD Form 714 and entitlement verification guidance 5 2, page 12 Chapter 6 Automated Headcount Systems army food Management Information System Guidance, page 12 Garrison dining 6 1, page 12 Field training 6 2, page 13 Chapter 7 Institutional Training Directed Lodging and Meals, page 13 Institutional Training Directed Lodging and Meals policy 7 1, page 13 Directed meal execution 7 2, page 13 Appendixes A. References, page 15 B. Meal Card Management System Annual Review, page 17 C. Internal Control Evaluation, page 19 AR 600 38 17 August 2016 iii Contents Continued Table List Table 3 1: Rules for issue and withdrawal of DD Forms 714, page 5 Glossary AR 600 38 17 August 2016 1 Chapter 1 Meal Card Management System 1 1.