That lunch time food is really torture, its actually horror after such gruesome routine. The other physical torture of beating with sticks and stuff like the rolls etc. reminded me of my School days. Actually the physical beating and endurance is a small part of training I believe. I am sure the officers must have designed the routine of the soldiers in such a fashion that only the best out of the best survive. Its the routine and intensity of training that drains all mental strength. Physical pain in momentary and one can find solace in the fact that its bound to get over after training but the standards for qualifying the training breaks the toughest.
Food is one of the choke point in Survival and Torture training. I remember they do two things on food.
The first thing they would do to break you is for you to yell at your own people before you are allow to eat. You may be able to hold out for 2 days without food, but anything after the third is fair game (And they have 7 days to do that), then after you are having a go and abuse your own fellow captive, then they will give you a plate of food and you get to eat in front of whoever you are abusing.
That was supposed to drive a wedge between the captive and that would make the interrogator job easier when they started to offer you concession, couple with the sleep and stress torture, for you, you will be really confusing.
Another thing they will play is what we called "Hold Chow" where you will still have 2 meals a day, they will give you your two meal together and in an odd hour. So, you go hungry for 23 hours a day and suddenly you have to eat 2 meals together and get very full, you will mostly ended up choking and throwing up. That will mess up your biological clock.
Food can taste like shit when you are in SERE, but if you gone thru what you are supposed to went thru, I swear to god, even shit tasted good. As long as you have something to eat.
I have seen they make the probies write a test or some exam is done in that state- Which loud speaks and disco lights shining on face-
And If that is not enough they come and shout in the ear of the probie who is trying hard to concentrate on the paper-
Think you are talking about something else. You probably thinking about disorientation training We use flash bang and loud music while you are dictating something (usually a paragraph) or you are told to remember something orally. That is done so you will not be distracted from your task. There are another games for that, which is for a group to pass along an armed flash bang (when the pin pulled, but the striker still connected to the grenade) and reciting anything (Ranger Creed, SF creed, Soldier creed and so on) and you have to keep reciting the creed until someone inadvertently drop the Flash bang and...........boom. You will hold that until you finish reciting the creed. So if you mess up a word, you need to start form the top again.
What I was talking about is the way people torture you with nothing but words. Not even loud words or offensive words or abuse, just anything. You use it after they put you in sleep hold and after being awake for 72 hours, your mind will start wondering, and you don't really know what is happening and getting disorientated, and the instructor will just sit next to you and started talking to himself, to you or to each other. That will drive you mad.