No such thing as a free lunch . ..

The United States military may seek repayment from New Zealand for years of free meals enjoyed by Kiwi troops in Afghanistan, according to a new report.

Coalition partners in Afghanistan received US$6.3 million (NZ$8.8m) of dining services between January 2016 and September 2019 from contractors for which they were never billed.

The failure by the US Forces in Afghanistan to properly bill Western countries who were coalition partners emerged in a report released by the US Department of Defence Inspector General on June 24.

An NZ Defence Force (NZDF) spokesman suggested the amount which would need to be repaid would be low given the small number of Kiwi personnel in Afghanistan. He said it was too early to give a figure.

Support agreements with coalition partners in Afghanistan were typically budgeted for and involved the NZDF paying invoices on receipt, the spokesman said.

The billing failures relate to dining services at Resolute Support Headquarters in the capital Kabul, where NZDF personnel were deployed during the period in question.

New Zealand is among 17 coalition partners, all developed countries and termed ‘‘pay-to-play’’ partners by the US, who reimburse the Department of Defence for support and services they received in Afghanistan.

The Inspector General’s report found Department of Defence coordinators did not bill coalition partners for 349 months of dining.

In addition to the $6.3m of dining services which were never billed for, US Forces also underbilled coalition forces by $2.9m.

The Inspector General recommended US forces in

Afghanistan ‘‘negotiate collection with each coalition partner for services provided’’.

The report also recommended developing agreements with each Coalition partner detailing the terms and conditions for dining facility services before providing those services.

A source who served in Afghanistan and ate at US military bases said the food was of an exceptionally high quality.

‘‘The catering was unreal,’’ the source said.

He had even dined out on crayfish, flown in especially on ice, in the impoverished land-locked country.