Meals Ready To Eat(MREs)-
Also called "Meals Rejected By The Enemy" and "Meals Ready For Execution", MREs were univerally regarded as the bane of every solider's existance. Each MRE was packed in a tough plastic bag, which held-
*The entree, containing a chemical heating element that would heat the meal up to eating temperature in less than five minutes and hold that temperature for another twenty-five minutes. The bag has a zip-top opening for eating the meal.
*A "chew-toy" or cold food item-usually crackers or biscuits, with a form of spread.
*Powdered coffee or hot chocolate, with triple the caffeen count.
*A "dessert" item, usually some form of candy.
*A "condiments" pack, holding chewing gum, a wet towelette, a dry napkin, small quantities of salt and pepper, and some simple eating utensels.
MREs came in two menu types-breakfast and lunch/dinner. The breakfast menu had eight items, and the lunch/dinner menu had thirty-two items. Opinions on the meals varied, from "good" (Chicken and Rice) to "average" (Steak Strips and Potato Wedges) to the "Shits and Mash" of Spagetti and Meatballs. The menus were designed so that in each case of 30, at least half of the items could be eaten by religiously observant soldiers of any type. A case of 30 was intended to feed a combat platoon (ten men) for a day, giving a breakfast meal and two lunch/dinner meals.
MRE etiquite was simple-you pulled a brown and two grey bags from the case without looking. Once you saw what MREs you had, "trading" occured, like on any playground. Trying to force someone into a "bad" trade (giving the unit's Moslem all the pork meals) was seen as being unfair, and usually resulted in a (polite) beating. Most of the MRE meals were fairly under-spiced, and most troopers added their own condiments. The usual choice of condiment was Tabasco sauce, but a few "heretics" liked the "face-burner" sauce made by the Jhinu.
UA doctrine stated that troops were only to live on MREs for six days, with the seventh day being given to Field Mess-level meals (similar to a cafetera meal). However, most troops in the field lived for months on MREs, occasionally supplimented with "pogie bait" (pre-packaged snacks and munchies). The lifespan of an MRE was supposed to be twenty years before disposal, but during the Rebellion, some Rebel troops were eating MREs packaged during the Xenophore Wars, and surviving.
Suit Paste-
For troopers in powered armor and/or Combat Enviorment Suits, eating MREs was impractical. The way around this was "Paste" (technically, "Field Rations, Hands Free, Pressurized Enviroment"). Paste came in about ten flavors (usually "sweets" from chocolate to applesauce), and was of the consistency of thin stew, to prevent any digestive problems during consuptions or excretement. Two cans of Paste were sufficent for a soldier in combat, and most troopers had loaded about twenty cans.
Paste was actually popular among the troops, and many troops took to having Paste instead of "sit down" meals or MREs when avalable. However, UA doctrine stated that whenever possible, troops were to only have Paste rations during field operations.
Emergency Field Rations-
Emergency Field Rations, or EFRs, were universally regarded as a fate worse than death. Starvation was much less painful than eating EFRs, but slower. Each EFR was a yellow rectangular brick the same size as a bananna, with an attached, sealed one pint pouch of water. The EFR had an single-use internal heater, which could warm up the ration to a temperature of about 80 F in sub-zero temperature.
An EFR had a constiency of a somewhat soft biscuit, and they all came in one flavor-"applesauce" (which troopes tended to call appleshit), and the choice of eating was either to eat it "raw" (unheated) or "warmed", or to pour the water into the EFR container and eat it as a (warm or cold) goo. Three EFRs were rated sufficent for human survival in most enviroments, and most troops carried a day's worth of EFRs somewhere in their kit. A standard survival meal kit had twelve EFRs and twenty-four additional bags of water.
A common punishment during Basic training was "only EFRs for today!".
Reply With Quote
Fun.
Bookmarks