Useless article. What are the pay grades involved? How many dependents? How much are they cutting back by? They can’t afford a turkey or they’re only getting an 18lb vs. a 24lb turkey like last year?
I find this article highly unlikely.
Upper-rank soldiers can' afford to buy the fixings for Thanksgiving, which aren't even particularly expensive as food goes? They have to eat something that week.
Buying a turkey, if you use it frugally, is a great deal cheaper than the equivalent amount of beef, for instance. I get a turkey regularly during the year for that specific reason.