MRE's; Meals Refused by Everyone "Don't Play With Your Food"

    Dear readers,


    Had planned on writing some epic post regarding MRE's, then started and realized that I had not taken one day off from posting.  So....here goes, albeit, slightly less than epic.

    My very first MRE experience was in 1992.  We were in basic training, and in the field for a few days to "toughen us up" prior to our end of course assault.  I was handed the ever dreaded...Omelet with Ham.  Back in 1992, and I had no idea, that the few MRE's available were ranked from 0 to approximately 5, with zero being horrid ( hot or cold ) and 5 being palatable, in some way, shape or form and usually after adding several of the MRE components into a mass and stirring vigorously.  I believe the omelet with ham was ranked below zero. I can say in 1992, that the corned beef hash was OK when doused with hot sauce, the spaghetti was good after adding the cheese packet AND crushed crackers to give the meal texture,  and the beef stew wasn't too bad even when not heated.

  Fun with trading....usually when deployed as a Joint Force, one may be in the company of any number of foreign allied troops.  Australians..they grill, I would trade them anything for a steak but will pass on the Vegemite.  French...pass.  Malaysian....hmmmm, curries will destroy your bowels...nuff said.  Japanese... fairly tasty and interesting.  Younger troops might like how Calamari sounds, but no idea that it is SQUID.

  Humanitarian aid.  The US airdrops MRE's, big pallets of the stuff during crisis around the globe.  Granted..since 1992 and the omelet with ham, MRE meals have improved in nearly all areas, and even have some for vegetarians.  They will sustain life, but are they any way to show good will?  Remember the fruit cake that gets "forwarded" during Christmas.

  Use caution when heating.  While in Bosnia we had a lot of MRE's , but not many heaters. I used the vertical exhaust of my PLS M-1074 truck one time.  I knew to bend the packet so it wouldn't slide down my exhaust.  Long story short...a gust of wind caught it, and down it went.  I could either spend hours dis-assembling my exhaust or "punching it".  I sent a troop about 10 feet out, in the direction the exhaust was facing and truly mashed the hammer down.  The truck was in neutral, darn near max RPM. I'm watching the mirror and finally saw something streak by.  Confirmation from my troop; was that the meal had become unstuck, shot like a cannon out of the exhaust and likely landed in the Sava river some 30 feet away.

   Next post may include the hazards of MRE Cheese and Peanut Butter.  Two great tastes that will plug you up.

  Useful link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat