Feral Jundi

    This is cool. Click on this link and you will see a bunch of meals that military units from around the world use in the field. I have only eaten the MRE and Halal meals that the US has issued and I am sure a few of you out there have some personal favorites either on the list or not. All I know is military rations have certainly changed for the better. –Matt

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A Taste of Home in Foil Packets and Powder

By ASHLEY GILBERTSON

September 4, 2010

EARLY in the war in Afghanistan, among the international troops who mingle at Bagram Air Base, a single French combat ration (cassoulet, perhaps, with deer pâté and nougat) could be traded for at least five American Meals Ready to Eat, better known as M.R.E.’s.

Recently though, the barter values have changed.

A fellow journalist who just got back from an embed with the French told me that today they look forward to visiting the Americans for a meal. American rations — hamburgers, chili, peanut butter, candy — they say, are “fun.”

Each year, among the countries with troops in Afghanistan — the current number is 47 — tens of millions of dollars are spent researching how to fit the most calories, nutrition and either comfort or fun into a small, light package. The menus and accompaniments are intended not just to nourish but also to remind the soldier of home. Some include branded comfort foods — Australians get a dark-brown spreadable yeast-paste treat called Vegemite, for example — while others get national staples like liverwurst (Germany), or lamb curry (Britain’s current culinary obsession).

Some of the contents are practical. Italians get three disposable toothbrushes per day of combat. Americans get pound cake, which military folklore says reduces the need for toilet breaks.

Other items are just, well, quirky. For nine years now, I’ve been travelling mostly with the Americans when I’m in Iraq and Afghanistan, and one item they’re known for is the Assorted Charms that are one of several hard candies randomly distributed with M.R.E.’s.

Never eat the Charms, the troops say; they’re unlucky. It’s just a superstition, of course — I’ve never met a soldier who could tell me why they were unlucky — but the G.I.’s take it seriously. I sometimes think that if I ever got separated from my unit in the field, I’d just follow a trail of discarded unopened Assorted Charms to find them again.

Among the soldiers I have known, the peanut M&Ms are the hands down favorite item (it used to be Skittles), and they’re currency. Want to swap out your shift pulling guard duty? A packet might well buy you the favor.

The soldiers like to mix and match some of the ingredients to create their own drinks and meals. Army Rangers have been taught at least as far back as the Vietnam War how to make Ranger Pudding — roughly, it’s water mixed with cocoa powder, instant coffee, melted chocolate, Tootsie Roll, sugar and coffee creamer.

“Combat espresso,” on the other hand, is brutal. The creamer, instant coffee and sugar are poured directly into one’s mouth and then washed down with water. In 2004, I survived on those things for two weeks with a Marine company during the battle for Falluja.

In combat, eating is often the only good thing about a day. When a soldier or marine sits down to warm up his M.R.E., he’s not being shot at, he’s not losing friends. It’s almost a ritual, and the very act of opening one of these packages suggests safety, however brief it may be.

To a lot of the American troops I’ve met, mealtimes are the only thing here to look forward to.

Here’s how various other countries that are in Afghanistan give their own troops something to look forward to — other, perhaps, than going home.

Story here.