thedrifter
07-06-08, 08:22 AM
MREs — not the same old rations
by: MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer
7/6/2008 12:00 AM
Food rations served to today’s troops in the field have come a long way from what their fathers or even their grandfathers knew.
No longer does the modern warrior have to fumble with can openers to open assorted tins of food on the battlefield, and then find a way of heating their chow.
What troops now have is a totally selfcontained package of food — known as a meal ready to eat — which provides them with an entree, including vegetables, crackers or bread, condiments, a dessert, candy bars and nutritional bars, and powdered beverages, along with a plastic spoon and napkin.
Except for the powdered beverages, the meals are ready to eat.
Known to soldiers and Marines as MREs, the self-contained meals were born in the early 1980s after years of research intoways of giving troops a hearty meal with all the nutritional elements to sustain their stamina in combat.
Each meal offers 1,250 calories, along with the necessary vitamins and minerals as determined by the U.S. Surgeon General.
The MREs were also designed to be easily transported into a battlefield, including air drops by parachute.
Along with that, they are designed for a long shelf life — up to three years if stored at a constant 80 degrees.
Each meal costs the government $7.25.
The first MREs offered slim pickings on entrees, but those have grown to today’s 24 menu items, which change from year to year.
Also, those early MREs didn’t provide a way of heating the sealed entree pouch. For years, the standard battlefield approach was boiling water in a can and then placing the food pouch in the water for a few minutes.
All that changed in 1992 when the “heater pack” was introduced, and it is now included in every MRE.
The heater pack is a cellophane-like envelope into which the entree pouch is inserted for heating.
The pack contains chemicals that react with a few ounces of water to produce heat, warming the food to 100 degrees in 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, it’s never been a perfect world for the common foot soldier.
Throughout the ages, it’s been the inherent right of soldiers to complain about the quality of their food, and today’s troops are no different.
Troops in the field have other names for the MRE: “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians” or “Meals Refusing to Exit.”
Still, the research and development into improved rations for the troops continue.
Today’s Entrees
There are 24 menu items offered for meals ready to eat. Menus change yearly.
Here’s a look at the current entree offerings:
Beefsteak with mushrooms
Pork ribs
Beef ravioli
Cheese and vegetable omelet
Chicken breast
Chicken fajitas
Chicken with salsa
Beef patty
Beef stew
Chili with macaroni
Pasta with vegetables in tomato sauce
Veggie burger with barbecue sauce
Cheese tortellini
Manicotti with vegetables
Beef enchiladas
Chicken with noodles
Sloppy Joe filling
Cajun rice and sausage
Roast beef with vegetables
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Chicken tetrazzini
Jambalaya
Chicken with cavatelli
Meat loaf with gravy
Oklahoma Guard consumes 30,000 MREs a year
Since 2002, the Oklahoma Army National Guard has consumed 30,000 meals ready to eat each year.
The yearly tab for the MREs comes to $216,600, which the Oklahoma National Guard pays through its funding from the federal National Guard Bureau.
The Oklahoma Guard uses the MREs as a lunch meal during premobilization training, annual training and initial duty field training.
In 2005, the Oklahoma Guard also took their MREs with them for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in New Orleans, where food and sanitary conditions were lacking.
More recently, the MREs were put to use as some 2,600 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops trained at Camp Gruber last summer for Iraq duty.
The troops arrived in Iraq in January and are scheduled to return to Oklahoma by the end of September or early October.
While in Iraq, most of the Oklahoma Guard troops are on base and are being provided regular commissary food or are dining at on-base, fast-food eateries normally found in the United States.
For those in the field, however, MREs are provided by the military in Iraq.
The Oklahoma Guard buys its MREs from the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia.
Manny Gamallo 581-8386
manny.gamallo@tulsaworld.com
The prepared contents of an MRE (meal ready to eat) package. This MRE contains an entree of chicken tetrazzini, crackers, grape jelly, chocolate mint cookies and a powdered strawberry shake, to which water is added.
by: MANNY GAMALLO World Staff Writer
7/6/2008 12:00 AM
Food rations served to today’s troops in the field have come a long way from what their fathers or even their grandfathers knew.
No longer does the modern warrior have to fumble with can openers to open assorted tins of food on the battlefield, and then find a way of heating their chow.
What troops now have is a totally selfcontained package of food — known as a meal ready to eat — which provides them with an entree, including vegetables, crackers or bread, condiments, a dessert, candy bars and nutritional bars, and powdered beverages, along with a plastic spoon and napkin.
Except for the powdered beverages, the meals are ready to eat.
Known to soldiers and Marines as MREs, the self-contained meals were born in the early 1980s after years of research intoways of giving troops a hearty meal with all the nutritional elements to sustain their stamina in combat.
Each meal offers 1,250 calories, along with the necessary vitamins and minerals as determined by the U.S. Surgeon General.
The MREs were also designed to be easily transported into a battlefield, including air drops by parachute.
Along with that, they are designed for a long shelf life — up to three years if stored at a constant 80 degrees.
Each meal costs the government $7.25.
The first MREs offered slim pickings on entrees, but those have grown to today’s 24 menu items, which change from year to year.
Also, those early MREs didn’t provide a way of heating the sealed entree pouch. For years, the standard battlefield approach was boiling water in a can and then placing the food pouch in the water for a few minutes.
All that changed in 1992 when the “heater pack” was introduced, and it is now included in every MRE.
The heater pack is a cellophane-like envelope into which the entree pouch is inserted for heating.
The pack contains chemicals that react with a few ounces of water to produce heat, warming the food to 100 degrees in 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, it’s never been a perfect world for the common foot soldier.
Throughout the ages, it’s been the inherent right of soldiers to complain about the quality of their food, and today’s troops are no different.
Troops in the field have other names for the MRE: “Meals Rejected by Ethiopians” or “Meals Refusing to Exit.”
Still, the research and development into improved rations for the troops continue.
Today’s Entrees
There are 24 menu items offered for meals ready to eat. Menus change yearly.
Here’s a look at the current entree offerings:
Beefsteak with mushrooms
Pork ribs
Beef ravioli
Cheese and vegetable omelet
Chicken breast
Chicken fajitas
Chicken with salsa
Beef patty
Beef stew
Chili with macaroni
Pasta with vegetables in tomato sauce
Veggie burger with barbecue sauce
Cheese tortellini
Manicotti with vegetables
Beef enchiladas
Chicken with noodles
Sloppy Joe filling
Cajun rice and sausage
Roast beef with vegetables
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Chicken tetrazzini
Jambalaya
Chicken with cavatelli
Meat loaf with gravy
Oklahoma Guard consumes 30,000 MREs a year
Since 2002, the Oklahoma Army National Guard has consumed 30,000 meals ready to eat each year.
The yearly tab for the MREs comes to $216,600, which the Oklahoma National Guard pays through its funding from the federal National Guard Bureau.
The Oklahoma Guard uses the MREs as a lunch meal during premobilization training, annual training and initial duty field training.
In 2005, the Oklahoma Guard also took their MREs with them for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in New Orleans, where food and sanitary conditions were lacking.
More recently, the MREs were put to use as some 2,600 Oklahoma Army National Guard troops trained at Camp Gruber last summer for Iraq duty.
The troops arrived in Iraq in January and are scheduled to return to Oklahoma by the end of September or early October.
While in Iraq, most of the Oklahoma Guard troops are on base and are being provided regular commissary food or are dining at on-base, fast-food eateries normally found in the United States.
For those in the field, however, MREs are provided by the military in Iraq.
The Oklahoma Guard buys its MREs from the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia.
Manny Gamallo 581-8386
manny.gamallo@tulsaworld.com
The prepared contents of an MRE (meal ready to eat) package. This MRE contains an entree of chicken tetrazzini, crackers, grape jelly, chocolate mint cookies and a powdered strawberry shake, to which water is added.