Fort Sill Basic Trainees get a hot Thanksgiving-style meal instead of MRE

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - Fort Sill Trainees normally eat MREs or Meals Ready To Eat but on Wednesday, in the spirit of the holidays, they were served a hot Thanksgiving-style meal.

“Some are better than others, for a lack of better words, but you get what you get. It’s usually eaten cold, because we only have 15 minutes to eat it, so today is certainly a step up,” trainee Geofery Muroto Bilavaye said.

Not only were the Trainees served a hot meal, but they were also served by Lawton City Officials and high-ranking members of the military.

“It shows one of the army values which is selfless service. To see the major general come down here and give us a hot meal, something we don’t really get when we’re doing FTX and so that was really nice,” Muroto Bilavaye said.

“I mean to be in the presence of the general is an honor, especially at our low rankings that we are here. But just to get the hot meal, it’s probably the biggest meal we’ll have the whole time we’re here,” trainee Walker Stubbe said.

The trainees said this Thanksgiving will be one to remember because they got to spend it with their new lifelong friends.

“It’s one of the most comforting things, you will not experience anywhere else. And I am very grateful and honestly, I wouldn’t be any place else than here. So, that level of camaraderie and brotherhood that we have maintained and studied here is probably one of the greatest things about what we’re doing here,” Muroto Bilavaye said.

Trainee Stubbe is from Minnesota and said the passing of his father was his motivation for joining the army.

“I told him I’d do it. But it’s just to prove to everyone who said I wouldn’t be somewhere in life because of my choices in the past. So, I just joined to prove them wrong.” Stubbe said.

Trainee Muroto Bilavaye is from Tanzania. He was a prosecutor in Michigan before joining the army, he said he wanted to step up and use his skills in service of this country as a Jag Officer.

“That’s one of the things I wanted to do is to at least say I served my country. I am a U.S. permanent resident, and there’s many immigrants like me. I am not in any way a unique story, but I just want plain and simple to service to my county,” Muroto Bilavaye said.

Muroto Bilavaye said even though they miss their families, they understand the sacrifice of serving their country.

“Each one of us is trying to do a small part to contribute to that. So, while we’re here we know we are away from home. We know what we’re doing, these men know what they’re doing, and I think at the end of the day we miss our families. But, we know the task we have at hand is much more important,” Muroto Bilavaye said.

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