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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| MRE makeover: Army unveils a new menu for soldiers |
| 2008-03-06 |
| Anybody out there who has tried this stuff? Has it hit store shelves yet? Don Egolf remembers what Army chow looked like when he served in Germany in World War II: A tin of scrambled eggs and bacon bits that he pried open with a tiny can opener. On Wednesday at the Pentagon the 102nd Infantry Division vet pocketed one of those irksome little openers, the P-38, as a souvenir. Then he dug into the latest in combat cuisine, a plate of blackened catfish, teriyaki chicken, little french toast squares and pumpkin cake -- no opener needed. The Army offered up samples of the food as it rolled out its newest innovation -- special packets of easy-to-eat, high-nutrition, high-calorie foods designed for mobile forces. The chow, mostly bagged finger-type foods that soldiers can just tear open and eat on the run, will be available in the field next month. That's not the way it was in his day, Egolf noted. "When we did get to eat, we got K-rations," Egolf recalled, referring to the meals of dried biscuit, canned meat and eggs plus cigarettes that soldiers were issued during the early wars. The new food "is delicious. This food is seasoned," said Egolf, who now lives at the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home in Washington. Spread out on tables along the Pentagon's third floor Wednesday at lunch time, containers of garlic mashed potatoes, barbecue pork, beef and black beans, and Mediterranean chicken simmered as long lines of soldiers waited for a taste. Those new offerings will be available to troops in MREs (meals ready to eat) over the next three years. Other soldiers snatched up sample packages of jalapeno cashews, chocolate-covered coffee beans and the always popular beef jerky. Fueling the Army's fighting forces long has been a subject of much research, as the military works to make the food more nutritious, easier to carry and better tasting. The Army knows that food and mail delivery have the biggest impact on soldiers' morale, so the Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center conducts continued testing on new and improved ways to feed the force. "When you're eating the same things, three times a day, taste and variety is a big thing," said Sgt. 1st Class James Laverty, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan multiple times with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. He said the food has changed even since his first tour in Afghanistan when the war began. "It's the taste," he said. "Hands down, that is the number one thing I was impressed with." Army leaders are calling the new high-calorie Natick offering the First Strike Ration, and it would serve troops like Laverty, who head into combat first and are on the move. The packet is good for three meals, and includes about 3,000 calories -- designed for soldiers moving hard and fast, carrying heavy packs and equipment. Inside are easy-to-eat, high-protein, high-carbohydrate foods that soldiers can stuff in their rucksacks and chomp on the run, including a pepperoni pocket sandwich, bacon cheddar pocket, tuna, beef jerky, wheat bread, cheese spread, applesauce, several power bars and even a pack of caffeine gum. "The last thing you want to do is give them something heavy to carry," said Jeremy Whitsitt, outreach coordinator for the Pentagon's combat feeding program. "They can eat these when they're on patrol or while they're marching down the road." The larger MREs, meanwhile, come with individual flameless heaters and are more elaborate. The southwest beef and black beans got the nod from Army Secretary Pete Geren, who sampled some of the fare. Using the well-worn adage, he said: "The Army travels on its stomach." |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #12 I travelled coast to coast on a diet of mostly coffee, soup and bagels (with different types of meat, etc). You find that you change your diet, when faced with 2500 miles on the road. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-03-06 23:46 |
| #11 Meh - its gonna take a while yet for me to get used to these newfangled MRE's. "More VARIETY is very much needed" > VARIETY is good when your country is absolutely winning a major war, or in the altern is in no danger of losing a major war even iff it suffers de facto battlefield defeats now and then. Compare wid STARS-N-STRIPES > ARMY TO CALL UP 10,000 IRR MEMBERS. Read - REAR-ECHELON professionals, technical/trade specialists, bureaucrats, etc. COLLECTIVELY, BOTH SHOW THAT THE USA IS WINNING AND INTENDS TO STAY IN THE ME - HOWEVER, ALSO INDIR REFLECTS THAT RADICAL ISLAM IS LOSING AND MAY RESORT TO MORE VIOLENT, MUTUALLY DESTRUCTIVE TERROR SCHEMAS, e.g. "AMER HIROSHIMA(S)", + GREAT POWERS CONFRONTATIONISM, TO SAVE ITS JIHAD + OWG AGENDA. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-03-06 22:08 |
| #10 So what the hell's wrong with Good ole Spam? . . . Man: Well, what've you got? Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam; Vikings: Spam spam spam spam... Waitress: ...spam spam spam egg and spam; spam spam spam spam spam spam baked beans spam spam spam... Vikings: Spam! Lovely spam! Lovely spam! . . . |
| Posted by: CrazyFool the Viking 2008-03-06 17:52 |
| #9 Eww. Personally, I'm going to try to forget it starting now. |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-03-06 16:51 |
| #8 A very ... graphic ... warning, Darth. We'll keep that in mind when the time comes. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-03-06 16:21 |
| #7 Ah yes, Meals Rejected by Everyone. They weren't bad, but eating the same 12 meals 45 days in a row was too much. More variety is very much needed. However, since they are very rich in calories, you won't poop for the first two weeks. Then ... well... you don't dig a hole. You dig a trench. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-03-06 16:19 |
| #6 Still got a P-38 or 2 in my "I remember that" drawer in the filing cabinet. And one on my keychain. One place C's were superior to MRE (and probably the only place) was that you could reheat them in the can on the manifold of a generator, or a deuce and a half. Metal cans > plastic wrapper in that instance. But, try as I might, I cannot be one of those old timers that says they are Meals Rejected by Ethiopians. The first bunches of these with the dehydrated meat was pretty sucky (but the dehydrated strawberries were great to eat straight up). But just about every set since those has been good. I actually like MREs, and have lived off them for a few weeks. As long as you have a bit of variety they are pretty good. And the best thing about MRE over C-Rats? No Ham and Muthas. Blech. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-03-06 16:11 |
| #5 Way back when, 66-69 I was Navy, one day they replaced all the old "C" (WW2 vintage) rations in the lifeboats with entirely new grub, and gave the old "C" rations to anyone who wanted them, I got a case,(Mainly to sample) and that food was still good, the only thing I couldn't eat was some bread baked in a can (Grease had turned rancid) I kept one of those P-38's (Old style, very small) on my keyring for many years, it finaly wore through the metal and was lost. Very handy little tool. The newer p-38's are several inches long, the old style about one inch overall. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2008-03-06 14:19 |
| #4 grim smile Mr. Lotp and I bought some of the current MREs from the commissary last year as part of our emergency supply cache. (retiree shopping privileges) Not home cooking, but not bad. Lots of of calories per meal of course, but that just means that we could split one meal among two of us just fine in most circumstances. Being careful with money means we'll eat those things one way or the other before the expire .... |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-03-06 11:48 |
| #3 yes, but are the meals halal? We wouldn't want to offend the people we are hunting. |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-03-06 11:41 |
| #2 I always had one of those on my dog tags ready to open my can of lima beans and ham fat. |
| Posted by: USMC6743 2008-03-06 11:26 |
| #1 those irksome little openers, the P-38, American soldiers stacked a lot of tins and then a P38 Lightning opened fire on them so they could eat. Those were the times. |
| Posted by: JFM 2008-03-06 09:13 |