It’s… Not awful. Better than it looks in this picture.

It’s cooked in large quantities, and tastes like it. Seasonings are mild, but present. Lot of frozen premade stuff, lot of Sysco gallon cans of this or that. No such thing as a rare steak unless someone fucks up, per food safety guidelines.

It’s prepared in ways that don’t require a lot of attention to be paid to it, and no one is going to plate it like a chef, so presentation suffers. While it’s no gourmet treat, it’s generally palatable, and still better than some people get on the outside.

That said, surf and turf nights are common at a lot of overseas bases and in ship during peacetime, not just as a last meal before war. Generally, stuff like an extra day off, time with family, or back in the day, extra phone calls, would be what you’d see before heading out to anything long and dangerous. Even in some war zones, major operating bases and large ships would still have a taco Tuesday or a steak and lobster Friday to keep morale up. Not everyone has to deal with MRE’s and field kitchens.