Correct. We were directed to run up manpower for a longer duration conflict, which we no longer have the sustained budget for. Even special operations budgets have been dramatically slashed, and that used to be a bottomless pit. This is why they have stopped involuntary recalls.
KBR mother ****er lol. No but seriously In my time it was only ever civis or other branches serving food. Although I love me some MREs.
There are still some involuntary recalls. One of my troops from the deployment I just got back from was recalled. It's when they need to fill a specific need based on MOS.
And yes, KBR is the shit in the sandbox. I haven't been to any stateside chow halls in a while but I know in Hawaii, oki and mainland Japan all have Marine cooks running them. In K-Bay my neighbor was the MSgt in charge of the chow hall. Here on Oki at one of the Post and Reliefs I attended I ran into the CW0 that ran the Chowhall on Kinser. So yeah- there are plenty of Marines that are cooks.