Although the era of neoliberal globalization has led to the decline of military conscription in most industrialized democratic states, conscription has maintained a tenacious presence that is often overlooked in other parts of the world. This study [re]examines how civil-military relations are being reconfigured in Egypt’s post-war neoliberal landscape through the prism of the canteen – a military-operated kiosk operating in all their facilities. In essence, the canteen is a profit-generating venture where basic goods such as snacks, cigarettes, and beverages are sold to military personnel, making it easy to dismiss as a seemingly apolitical space. Beyond the surface, however, I argue that it is a site where the crucibles of the military’s political economy become directly observable and intelligible to conscripts. First, I demonstrate how neoliberal economic reforms have substantially diversified the Egyptian military’s mandate and the role of conscripts, undermining the value of conscription as a homogenizing practice of citizenship. Second, I examine the canteen’s operations and its ubiquity in military life whilst demonstrating its ability to link a substantially disparate set of conscript experiences. I conclude by presenting three interpretative strategies that conscripts resort to when confronted with the politics of the canteen and the realities of exploitation within the military hierarchy: resistance, accommodation, and disengagement.