U.S. Army RationsA Short History

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U.S. Army RationsA Short History
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The Cooks Creed

• Cleanliness is next to Godliness, both in persons
  and kettles be ever industrious, then, in
  scouring your pots. Much elbow grease, a few
  ashes, and a little water are capital aids to the
  careful cook. Dirt and grease betray the poor
  cook, and destroy the poor soldier whilst
  health, content, and good cheer should ever
  reward him who does his duty and keeps his
  kettles clean. In military life, punctuality is
  to be exact in time. Be sparing with sugar and
  salt, as a deficiency can be better remedied than
  an over-plus.
• U.S. Army Cookbook, 1863

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Early Rations

• For more than a century after 1776, the basis of
  all troop feedingfor soldiers in camp, on the
  march, in action, or just survivingwas the
  simple fare of meat and bread, and sometimes
  vegetables, known as the garrison ration.

• From the Revolutionary War to the First World
  War, the garrison ration served the unit, the
  small group, and the individual.

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Revolutionary War Rations

• In the Revolutionary War, the all-purpose ration
  (established by resolution of Congress) included
  beef, pork, or salt fish bread or flour peas or
  beans (or "vegetable equivalent") milk rice or
  Indian meal and spruce beer or cider. Candles
  and soap also were authorized "essentials."
  Ordinarily, preparation of the food was up to the
  soldier. To provide fresh meat, cattle and hogs
  were driven to camp at "proper seasons" for
  slaughter and curing. Depending on the
  availability of supplies, other occasional
  variations were provided from time to time. One
  of the most welcome was "spirits."

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Revolutionary War Rations

• Immediately after the Revolutionary War, the
  issue of meat was reduced and fresh foods
  virtually disappeared from the ration. Dr.
  Benjamin Rush, Army Surgeon in 1777-1778, and
  others, complained of the lack of fresh
  vegetables and pointed out that more soldiers
  died from sickness than were killed by the sword.

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Civil War Rations

• At the close of the Civil War, the basic ration
  included ¾ -pound of pork or bacon, 1 ¼ pounds of
  fresh or salt beef, and 18 ounces of flour. In
  varying proportions based on 100 rations, he was
  provided with potatoes, peas, beans or rice
  coffee or tea sugar vinegar salt and pepper
  candles and soap. On campaigns or marches, corn
  meal and hard bread were issued. For items not
  officially approved nor always available, it was
  expected that the soldier would resort to forage
  to augment the food supplied to him.

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Civil War Rations

• Especially on the march, both Billy Yank and
  Johnny Reb had to make do with iron rations an
  unsliced piece of salt pork, more like cheap
  bacon, which the troops called sowbelly.
  Hardtacka three-inch square, quarter-inch thick
  cracker made of compressed white flour and
  shorteningwas often so hard, they became known
  as teeth-dullers.

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Civil War Rations

• To consume the hardtack, soldiers had to break it
  into bits and soak it in coffee, or fry it up in
  grease into a concoction known as skilleygalee
  or hellfire stew. Each soldier was supposed to
  get enough coffee beans to make six strong cups a
  day.

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Spanish-American War Rations

• The prescribed ration was beef (or its
  equivalent), flour or bread, baking powder,
  beans, potatoes (fresh), green coffee, sugar,
  vinegar, salt, pepper, soap, and candles.
  Progress in the preparation, handling, shipping,
  and storage of foods was then considered to be
  sufficiently advanced to justify the procurement
  of large supplies of fresh and canned meats.
• The lack or spoilage of fresh foods was at least
  a contributory cause to mortality statistics,
  which showed that fourteen soldiers died from
  illness and disease for every one who died from
  battle causes.

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First World War Rations

• Three special-purpose rations came into general
  use in World War Ithe reserve ration, the trench
  ration, and the emergency ration. The first of
  these was an individual packaged ration which the
  soldier carried for use when regular food was
  unavailable. The reserve ration, which sought to
  provide a complete food allowance for one man for
  one day, included a one-pound can of meat
  (usually corned beef), two 8-ounce tins of hard
  bread, 2.4 ounces of sugar, 1.12 ounces of
  roasted and ground coffee, and 0.16 ounce of
  salt. It weighed about 2 ¾ pounds and contained
  about 3300 calories. The food was considered
  ample and satisfying but the packaging, in
  cylindrical cans of one-pound capacity, was far
  from practical or economical.

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First World War Rations
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First World War Rations

• As its name implies, the trench ration was
  designed to provide subsistence under conditions
  of trench warfare. The unit consisted of
  sufficient canned meats and canned hard bread to
  provide 25 men with food for one day. The canned
  meats were roast beef, corned beef, salmon, and
  sardines. Other components included salt, sugar,
  soluble coffee, solidified alcohol, and
  cigarettes. The unit was packed in large,
  galvanized containers designed to protect
  contents from poison gas. Although the trench
  ration was to be prepared as a hot meal, it could
  be used without preparation or cooking. The
  ration had the advantage of convenience, afforded
  excellent protection against poison gas, and
  provided a wider diet than the reserve ration.

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First World War Rations

• The emergency ration, popularly known as the
  "Armour" or "iron" ration, was a packaged unit of
  concentrated food carried by the soldier to
  sustain life during emergencies when no other
  source of subsistence was available. It consisted
  of three 3-ounce cakes of a mixture of beef
  powder and cooked wheat and three one-ounce
  chocolate bars. These hardy items were contained
  in an oval-shaped, lacquered can which fitted the
  soldier's pocket.

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Second World War Rations

• The D ration was intended to allay the hunger of
  a single missed meal. It can be called the first
  modern emergency ration.
• The D ration consisted of a chocolate bar,
  stabilized to a high melting point by the
  inclusion of oat flour. Each bar provided 600
  calories. Three 4-ounce chocolate bars provided
  one ration.

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Second World War Rations

• Misuse of the D ration as a combat food led to
  its unpopularity and replacement by the C and K
  rations.
• The June 1944 version of the C ration included 3
  cans of B (bread) units, 3 cans of M (meat)
  units, and 1 accessory pack. The B and M units
  varied to fit the meal.

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Second World War Rations

• B units included biscuits, compressed and
  premixed cereal, candy-coated peanuts or raisins,
  soluble coffee, sugar, lemon- or orange-juice
  powder, hard candies, jam, cocoa beverage powder,
  and caramels.
• M units included meat and beans meat and
  vegetable stew meat and spaghetti ham, egg, and
  potato meat and noodles pork and rice
  frankfurters and beans pork and beans ham and
  lima beans and chicken and vegetables.

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Second World War Rations

• The accessory packet included 9 cigarettes,
  water-purification tablets, book matches, toilet
  paper, chewing gum, and an opener for the meat
  cans.
• The C ration had 3,700 calories.

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Second World War Rations

• The K ration was developed for parachute troops,
  tank corps, motorcycle troops and other mobile
  units. It was officially adopted in 1942.

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Second World War Rations

• The K ration had 2,700 calories.
• The letter K was chosen merely to have a
  phonetically different letter from the letters C
  and D.

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Second World War Rations

• The breakfast packet contained a canned meat
  product, biscuits, a compressed cereal bar,
  soluble coffee, a fruit bar, gum, sugar tablets,
  4 cigarettes, water-purification tablets, a can
  opener, toilet paper, and a wooden spoon.

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Second World War Rations

• The dinner carton had a canned cheese product,
  biscuits, a candy bar, gum, a variety of beverage
  powders, granulated sugar, salt tablets,
  cigarettes and matches, a can opener, and spoon.

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Second World War Rations

• The supper packet included a canned meat product,
  biscuits, bouillon powder, confections and gum,
  soluble coffee, granulated sugar, cigarettes, can
  opener, and spoon.

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Second World War Rations

• Wiseman and I woke up hungry in fact, we were
  always hungry, for neither British nor American
  combat rations were enough to fill a man. You
  could subsist on them, to be sure, but you were
  never full. That is why we were always on the
  lookout for food. We picked ripe fruit from the
  trees, milked the cows, and filched whatever
  victuals the civilians had abandoned in their
  houses.
• --David Kenyon Webster, Parachute Infantry An
  American Paratroopers Memoir of D-Day and the
  Fall of the Third Reich

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Army Food Service in the 1950s

• Army cooks in Korea used much the same types of
  rations and equipment as their Second World War
  counterparts.
• The 1950s took full advantage of the postwar
  revolution in commercial kitchen appliances to
  help modernize garrison dining facilities
  throughout the military.

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Army Food Service in the 1950s

• A tour through a late-50s vintage, up-to-date
  dining facility might reveal innovations such as
  an electric potato peeler capable of peeling
  100 to 400 pounds of potatoes per hour a
  140-quart vertical-type rotary mixing machine for
  mixing doughs, batters, potatoes, etc
  large-scale refrigerators called reach-in
  boxes stoves and ranges with hot tops and
  griddles, and an assortment of range assistants
  (steam kettles, deep fat fryers, veggie
  warmers, and triple deck ovens) a conveyor-type
  toaster for toasting 500-600 slices of bread per
  hour and a shiny new twin coffee urn for perking
  15 gallons of java at a time.

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Vietnam War Rations

• By the late 1960s, it was not uncommon to find
  ice cream and eggs to order at far-flung fire
  support bases. The Sea Land Corporation
  off-loaded large refrigerator cargo vans and
  convoyed them to major distribution centers
  throughout the country. Use of helicopters
  permitted troops in the field to enjoy
  garrison-type meals almost on a daily basis.

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Rations Today

• Thermal processed Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) were
  added to field rations in the late 1970s.
  Flameless ration heaters were added later, giving
  soldiers the option of eating a balanced hot meal
  anytime, anywhere.

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Sources

• Quartermaster Professional Bulletin, U.S. Army
  Quartermaster Center and School, Summer 2002.
• Army Operational RationsHistorical Background,
  from Special Rations for the Armed Forces,
  1946-53, Chapter 1, by Franz A. Koehler, Office
  of the Quartermaster General, 1958.
• Rations in Review, by Colonel James C. Longino,
  Q.M.C., The Quartermaster Review, May-June 1946.

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Prepared by Craig Maile, CIMC