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| Science & Technology |
| A Cup of Coffee On The Battlefield |
| 2006-05-23 |
| May 23, 2006: American troops can finally get a hot cup of coffee in the combat zone. Over the last two decades, U.S. troops have lost the ability to cook their own food, including just preparing a cup of coffee. The World War II era "steel pot" helmet was great for boiling water (for coffee), and the aluminum mess kit could be used for cooking. The helmet was replaced with a Kevlar model, that gave better protection, but was unusable for cooking. The mess kit was replaced with MREs, and withdrawn from service because of the difficulty of providing cleaning facilities (to prevent dirty mess kits from spreading disease.) In the field, when there were portable kitchens, paper trays and plastic utensils were provided. There was still the metal canteen cup, but even that was disappearing, as rigid canteens were replaced with flexible ones. Preparing hot coffee, or any other hot beverage, using the canteen cup and heating tabs was messy and a hassle. Many troops, it turned out, just didn't bother. Fighting a war without coffee is one of things the troops would rather avoid. So the army finally relented and provided a new system that is simple, convenient, and works. Troops mix instant coffee with water in a Hot Beverage Bag (HBB), then slide it into the flameless ration heater bags normally used to heat up meals. A chemical reaction within the ration bag heats the water in the HBB. After a few minutes, the coffee is hot and ready to drink. But not out of the bag, obviously. A foldable cardboard carton is used to protect the hands from the heat and, in effect, creates a coffee cup with a plastic liner. While veterans are often nostalgic about the steel pot and mess kit, and warming up food over a campfire, in the combat zone this was often not possible. Such fires would draw unwanted attention from the enemy. The HBB/heater bag/cardboard carton combo works anywhere, anytime, and does not reveal your position to the enemy. The troops like it a lot, and it proved particularly popular in Afghanistan this past Winter. While it gets chilly in Iraq during the Winter, it gets downright freezing cold in Afghanistan. A hot cup of coffee, for guys standing guard at 4 AM, was much appreciated. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Where there's a will there's a way |
| Posted by: Flimp Whomoper7006 2006-05-23 22:57 |
| #6 MSA stoves are great. I've used the same Whisperlite going on 20 years new. A hardcore commando would have lashed up a road kill chili pot to the tank exhaust. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-23 21:54 |
| #5 #2 The miniUAV, N guard? How did you like it? No- Not the UAV-- a small, commercialy made liquid fuel camp stove. The Dragon[name] series of UAV's are a Marine thing. The closest version the army has is called a Raven. I'm hanging on to my 1qt. canteen and cup. In Iraq I found them to be more useful than the camelbak, interestingly enough. ob1- I concurr WRT your comments about cooking using a steel pot helmet. I disagree about the heaters though. Yes, we've had the flameless heaters for years, and they heat the ration packs well enough, but no one in any unit i've ever been in has been smart and/or ranger enough to figure out a reliable way using the existing heaters to heat water w/o poisoning the water. It was one of those little annoyances of army life. Course, in Armor, we do have our tank's 1500 deg. exhaust jet.(Mr. Abrams coffee maker, anyone? :) ) When our tanks are available, and we are not being used for some non-armor related task. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-05-23 19:04 |
| #4 This article is crap. This is not new. These bags have been around for years. I first saw them in Panama in '93 while I was in the Mississippi National Guard. |
| Posted by: ob1 2006-05-23 11:51 |
| #3 Yes, and you would get in deep trouble for using your steel pot for cooking. Either your NCO would kick you up one side, if you were lucky, or you be surprised in the future by frag cutting through your helmet like butter, if you weren't lucky. Heating ruined it temper, its hardness. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-23 11:32 |
| #2 The miniUAV, N guard? How did you like it? |
| Posted by: lotp 2006-05-23 10:43 |
| #1 Bout bloody time! I always did wonder what the *&^*&% they were thinking, issuing tea bags and coffee, with no way to heat drinking water. What I had to do was purchase a small camp stove, and lug that thing with me everywhere. OTOH, I was very popular at remote sites, and with the Jundis (I A privates) out in the field. Fyi: I used a MSA Dragonfly-- It can be modified to run on Diesel/JP8. Lightweight, and small enough that it can fit in a cargo pocket when folded up. ~$200 |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-05-23 10:22 |