Mess Duty

I wonder if any other Marine experienced this. I went through boot in the early 70s back when 1st Bn was in Quonset Huts. I had always thought San Diego was nice and sunny even in the winter but if you went through boot around December until March you realize how cold it can get when the breeze comes in from the Ocean. Several recruits in my platoon, myself included, had really bad cold bordering on Pneumonia. To get to gist of my story when the platoon pulled mess duty the Di’s had us swipe stuff from the mess hall. I remember seeing a case of steaks and hams loaded into the back of the Di’s car. I often wondered if this was a test to see whether or not us lowly recruits would obey orders and pilfer food or if it was just plain theft brought on by the recruits fear of punishment if they did not obtain the requested items. Did anyone else experience this? On another note the platoon next to us swiped a sheet cake and disposed of the cake pan in a dumpster. They paid for that. Severely!