27 March 2022 Garand Picture of the Day

After a long cold day in the field any hot food, soup or coffee tasted great. I can say that I can only think of one time in 30 years of service, i saw bad food it was a Ft. Bragg, NC at the transit barrack. As a senior officer at the time went over and had an off-the-record talk with the Food Service Officer about the ramifications of troops getting food poisoning on an officer's career. For the short time that I was there, i started to see the Food Service Officer everyday in the Dining Facility (Mess Hall). Needless to say, the food quality improved.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Has anyone actually enjoyed the food that arrived in these containers?

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It was exactly the same meal that was served in the mess hall that day. I had some poor meals around the world from time to time but none had anything to do with the mermites. They're just a thermos. Usually the guys were hungry in the field.

SOS or Creamed Chipped Beef was one of the most expensive meals the Army prepared. It was fashionable to refuse to eat it, but I loved it... and the days it was served because there were always seconds :)

On a cold Alaskan morning there is nothing like a piece of toast, with scrambled green eggs, mermite hash brown potatoes covered in creamed beef and a canteen cup of coffee. MMM-MMM-MMM! Rib-sticking good.

One morning in 1974 in the Ft. Greely area, they brought a Chinook in with our chow on board. We were served off the tailgate and the crew even helped serve (good guys). The only problem was the bird was 300 meters from our tents and we had to walk through waist deep snow to get there and back. By the time we got back to the tents the food was fairly cold. I had a new guy in front of me and he tripped on a snow hidden branch and fell face first and plate landed face down in the snow. I helped him up and retrieved his plate. The food was frozen solid to the plate, and I thought this kid was going to cry because he was really hungry. It was his first FTX and he hated C Rations. I told him don't worry about it and we continued back to the tent. Once inside, I showed how to place the food under the Yuke so it was just below the bottom and let the heat get to his food. Fortunately only the outer edge of the food had frozen and within 30 minutes he was chowing down, happy as a clam.

If I told this story before, my apologies.

BEAR

Try one ratpack a day for a month or two. Nothing fresh except the air. That's real living!

I learned to like liver in Basic Training. The Army had a thing about liver, probably because it was cheap and very nutritious, and served it often. The first time I saw it from the back of the chow line I thought, "Oh boy, steak!" When I got up there and saw it was actually liver which I hated, I refused it, just had the mashed potatoes. That night in the barracks I was so hungry I thought I would have to eat my belt and vowed I would hereafter eat whatever they put on my tray. A week later it was liver again, I took it, loaded it with ketchup, choked it down. I got to the point where I actually liked it (still do) but it HAS to have ketchup. I recently ordered it in a fine restaurant. I whispered to the waiter, "Please don't tell the chef, but I need ketchup." He brought it disguised in an elegant little pitcher and I loved it as usual.

Gee Bob, you just prompted another story out of me.

My father just loved breaded liver and onions, so I grew up liking it also. When I was in basic training at Ft. Ord, they served liver one evening. Great meal and as I finished, I noticed that there was a ton of liver left over. I sauntered over to see if I could get some more and was unceremoniously escorted out by a drill sergeant. Well, I tried but to no avail. About 23:00 hrs. my buddy who I enlisted with came back from KP. Since I was an acting squad leader, I had my own room. He woke me up and asked if I was hungry. He then produced a loaf of white bread, a tub of butter. As I sat down to eat, to my astonishment, he started pulling out slabs of liver from his fatigue pockets. We then enjoyed a second supper of liver sandwiches. Finally had a full belly when I went to sleep. Paid for it the next morning during PT.

BEAR

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Originally Posted by Daan Kemp

Try one ratpack a day for a month or two

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That'll trim you down a bit. Sounds like our guys that went to Somalia. Their field meals consisted of hard rations, breakfast...that was all.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

That'll trim you down a bit

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You get that yearning for bread after a couple of weeks. Goes away at about week 6. Always swopped the canned fish for anything else. We were all lean and mean at the start, just got meaner. Takes a couple of days for your belly to get used to the change to fresh food after that.

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Originally Posted by BEAR

On a cold Alaskan morning there is nothing like a piece of toast, with scrambled green eggs, mermite hash brown potatoes covered in creamed beef and a canteen cup of coffee. MMM-MMM-MMM! Rib-sticking good.

One morning in 1974 in the Ft. Greely area, they brought a Chinook in with our chow on board. We were served off the tailgate and the crew even helped serve (good guys). The only problem was the bird was 300 meters from our tents and we had to walk through waist deep snow to get there and back. By the time we got back to the tents the food was fairly cold. I had a new guy in front of me and he tripped on a snow hidden branch and fell face first and plate landed face down in the snow. I helped him up and retrieved his plate. The food was frozen solid to the plate, and I thought this kid was going to cry because he was really hungry. It was his first FTX and he hated C Rations. I told him don't worry about it and we continued back to the tent. Once inside, I showed how to place the food under the Yuke so it was just below the bottom and let the heat get to his food. Fortunately only the outer edge of the food had frozen and within 30 minutes he was chowing down, happy as a clam.

If I told this story before, my apologies.

BEAR

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Bear-- Great Story!! I love it. Field experience hardens people of any bad things to come in real life.