Article

2008-03-06 -Short Attention Span Theater-

MRE makeover: Army unveils a new menu for soldiers

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Posted by gorb 2008-03-06 04:51|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

#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">JFM 2008-03-06 09:13|| 2008-03-06 09:13|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 11:26|| Front Page Top

#3 yes, but are the meals halal? We wouldn't want to offend the people we are hunting.

Posted by Rambler in California">Rambler in California 2008-03-06 11:41|| 2008-03-06 11:41|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 11:48|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 14:19|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 16:11|| Front Page Top

#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">DarthVader 2008-03-06 16:19|| 2008-03-06 16:19|| Front Page Top

#8 A very ... graphic ... warning, Darth. We'll keep that in mind when the time comes.

Posted by lotp 2008-03-06 16:21|| 2008-03-06 16:21|| Front Page Top

#9 Eww. Personally, I'm going to try to forget it starting now.

Posted by gorb 2008-03-06 16:51|| 2008-03-06 16:51|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 17:52|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 22:08|| Front Page Top

#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|| 2008-03-06 23:46|| Front Page Top

23:56 JosephMendiola
23:47 gorb
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23:32 Redneck Jim
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22:30 Abdominal Snowman
22:26 Senior Proconsul Sock Puppet
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