Army colonel tries old C-ration pound cake

[Vegas]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99LGQJG0&show_article=1&catnum=9

Forty years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr., still loves his pound cake.

The Army colonel popped open a military C-ration can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in.

Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. He vowed to hang on to it until the day he retired, storing it in a box with other mementos.

After a formal retirement ceremony, dozens of friends and relatives joined Moak in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes as he opened the can to cheers. Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldn't explode. It let off a whooshing sound as the pressure seal broke.

"It smells good," Moak said as he put a handful in his mouth. He jokingly staggered back a few feet and loudly cleared his throat, while one person yelled out, "Eeww, gross!"

Moak pronounced the cake "good."

[becherr]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99LGQJG0&show_article=1&catnum=9

Forty years later, Henry A. Moak, Jr., still loves his pound cake.

The Army colonel popped open a military C-ration can of pound cake from 1969 at his retirement ceremony, and dug in.

Moak got the drab olive can as a Marine helicopter pilot off the Vietnamese coast in 1973. He vowed to hang on to it until the day he retired, storing it in a box with other mementos.

After a formal retirement ceremony, dozens of friends and relatives joined Moak in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes as he opened the can to cheers. Moak joked earlier this week that he hoped the can wouldn't explode. It let off a whooshing sound as the pressure seal broke.

"It smells good," Moak said as he put a handful in his mouth. He jokingly staggered back a few feet and loudly cleared his throat, while one person yelled out, "Eeww, gross!"

Moak pronounced the cake "good."

Classic.

Those pound cakes were good though. I only got about 18 months of C-rations as they switched to MREs in 84. I enlisted in 83.

[Vegas]

Classic.

Those pound cakes were good though. I only got about 18 months of C-rations as they switched to MREs in 84. I enlisted in 83.

I tried some C rats about 30 years ago. I didn't try the pound cake. I wouldn't describe any of the stuff I did try as good.

[becherr]

I tried some C rats about 30 years ago. I didn't try the pound cake. I wouldn't describe any of the stuff I did try as good.

I had them through Basic Training and about the first year of my first Duty assignment at Ft. Riley Kansas. The pound cake was good but you are right, most entrees were on the dull side. The worse by far was the eggs. That one sucked donkey balls.

The neat thing about them those was the things GIs came up to do with all the stuff in the box. Poke holes in the can to allow water drainage and hang the can in "The wire" as early warning devices. Portable tin can stoves. All sorts of things.

I still have my original P38 (Little can opener) from my first box of C-rats somewhere.

[Iron Jaw]

Classic.

Those pound cakes were good though. I only got about 18 months of C-rations as they switched to MREs in 84. I enlisted in 83.

Of course, C-Rations were the primary field ration when I was on active duty in the 70's.

But I never cared much for the pound cake.

I did like the eggs and sausage though, and most of my fellow Marines didn't. We used to do a lot of trading.

[KinjaKahn]

When I was in scouts, we went to the Intrnational Jamboree in Koln Germany... our scout master req'ed a water buffalo and all the c rations we could eat. Not one of them was good! The freeze dried neopolitan ice cream was ok, but I don't think that was a c ration. My buddy and I scrounged other camps for better eats. The Aussie's were the most hospitable! Aussie aussie aussie... oi oi oi!

[Iron Jaw]

I never minded the C-Rats during my enlisted tour as an active duty Marine in the 70's. In the 80's, I joined a Marine Corps Reserve unit and was commissioned as an officer. That was my first experience with MRE's. I actually preferred the C-Rats over the MRE's, though I didn't think the MRE's were bad either.

On my first ATD as a reservist, at White Sands Missle Range in New Mexico, I ate the MRE package and didn't think I got enough to eat. So I ate three packages.

I had constipation for a week.

[becherr]

I never minded the C-Rats during my enlisted tour as an active duty Marine in the 70's. In the 80's, I joined a Marine Corps Reserve unit and was commissioned as an officer. That was my first experience with MRE's. I actually preferred the C-Rats over the MRE's, though I didn't think the MRE's were bad either.

On my first ATD as a reservist, at White Sands Missle Range in New Mexico, I ate the MRE package and didn't think I got enough to eat. So I ate three packages.

I had constipation for a week.

Holy shit, each MRE is supposed to contain like, 4000 calaries.

The first interation of the MRE was pretty shitty but different so they had thier praises sang. Alot of the stuff was dehydrated and many didn't like that, although I lived the Dehydrated pork patties and potato patties so I ate well in the field. We fly back from NTC (Ft Irwin CA) and the leadership and to check all the soldiers MREs to make sure we didn't have any that were stamped "Not for inflight consumption." Apparently some weren't to be eaten inflight for fear they would expand inside ones tummy.

In the 90's they came out with the Vegie MRE which are excellent. If memory serves they came out because they were trying to feed the Iraqi's after the first Gulf War and many wouldn't eat them because of religious beliefs.

By the time I was a Drill Sergeant in 95, they all had individual heaters in them and commercial candy and the whole nine yards.

Nothing like some beef stew with the package cut lengthway with your cracker crumbled into it, the entire packet of hot sause, some water and salt and pepper.

As with anything though, Ranger pudding remains a soldier favorite.

[Iron Jaw]

Holy shit, each MRE is supposed to contain like, 4000 calaries.


Which I found out later.........and probably the reason I was constipated.

Anyway, I believe at the time, that was the first iteration of the MRE.

I was lucky I was very fit and active at the time with bodyfat at about 6.2 percent. Heck, I wasn't that far out of OCS where they ran us like dogs.

During field ops at OCS and the subsequent basic school, we learned what the MRE's were, but we were still using a combination of C-Rats, K-Rats (new lighter iteration - the original WWII K-Rat was surplused in 1948......not saying a few weren't still around:D) and more often than not, T-Rats (hot meals served in the field........after all, we were going to be "officers and gentlemen"). We didn't use the new K's much when I was on active duty as an enlisted man, except when I was assigned to Recon where packing lighter was essential.

[becherr]

Which I found out later.........and probably the reason I was constipated.

Anyway, I believe at the time, that was the first iteration of the MRE.

I was lucky I was very fit and active at the time with bodyfat at about 6.2 percent. Heck, I wasn't that far out of OCS where they ran us like dogs.

During field ops at OCS and the subsequent basic school, we learned what the MRE's were, but we were still using a combination of C-Rats, K-Rats (new lighter iteration - the original WWII K-Rat was surplused in 1948......not saying a few weren't still around:D) and more often than not, T-Rats (hot meals served in the field........after all, we were going to be "officers and gentlemen"). We didn't use the new K's much when I was on active duty as an enlisted man, except when I was assigned to Recon where packing lighter was essential.

I remember eating something the Army called a "LRRP" when I first got in. They were used by the Long Range Recon Patrols and were the ration before the MRE for ease of movement.

They were the nastiest things I ever ate. I was told by the Nam infantry vets that they ate that stuff while on patrol.

Rations now have changed somewhat. When I was in they had A, B, C and K rations. A was the DEFAC, B was a meal made in the rear, placed in containers and served in the field and of course C rations, a canned meal that moved on your back. K rations were in a sardine type can the size of a cookie sheet that was submerged in hot water for warming them up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_ration

Currently, the following food is available to troops:

A-ration: fresh food prepared on-site (or nearby and transported)
B-ration: a unit-sized packaged/preserved ration, most commonly found in tray rations (nicknamed T-rat) heated by immersion.
Meal, Ready-to-Eat: the standard individual field ration
First Strike Ration: an individual ration designed to be edible while on the move
HOOAH! Bar: energy bar (the spiritual successor to the D-ration) , found in some menus of MREs


A rations:
A-ration is a term used in the United States Army for a meal provided to troops which is prepared using fresh, refrigerated, or frozen foods. By far the most popular of U.S. ration classifications, 'A' ration meals may be served in dining facilities ("DFAC"), prepared in the field by the use of field kitchens, or prepared at a fixed facility and transported to field locations in containers. Since the early years of the Continental Army, 'A' rations have been asserted as important for U.S. troop morale.

'A' rations today may include the Unitized Group Ration A (UGR-A), a hybrid meal kit designed to feed a group of 50 persons for one meal. The UGR-A has several different varieties, including a tray-based heat and serve (T-rat) form, heated by hot water immersion when a field kitchen is not available, [1] or the express form, with a self-heating module and disposable accessories.[2] The UGR-A used to sustain military personnel during worldwide operations that allow organized food service facilities. The UGR-A includes perishable/frozen type entrees (A-Rations) along with commercial-type components and perishable/frozen type entrees to provide the luxury of an A-Ration meal in the field, configured into individual meal modules for ease of ordering, distribution, and preparation. The UGR-A has at least 9 months shelf life (at 80 degrees F for semi-perishable modules and at 0 degrees F for perishable modules).[3]

B rations: B ration (or Type B Ration) is a term used in the United States military for a meal provided to troops which was prepared using canned or preserved ingredients. 'B' ration meals may be prepared in field kitchens and served in the field, or served in garrisons without adequate refrigeration or freezer facilities.

'B' rations differ from 'A' rations in that they do not utilize fresh, frozen, or refrigerated ingredients. They are distinguished from field rations (such as the Meal, Ready-to-Eat) in that they are ordinarily prepared in field kitchens instead of being distributed at the unit or individual level for immediate consumption.

'B' rations today may include the Unitized Group Ration B (UGR-B), a hybrid meal kit designed to feed a group for one meal. The UGR-B has several different varieties, including a tray-based heat and serve (T-rat) form, heated by hot water immersion when a field kitchen is not available, [1] or the express form, with a self-heating module and disposable accessories. [2]

They call them MREs but when I was in back in the late 90s, to order them through the DEFAC, you were ordering C rations.

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat — commonly known as the MRE — is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the United States military for its servicemembers for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available. The MRE replaced the canned MCI or Meal, Combat, Individual rations in 1981 and is the intended successor to the lighter LRP ration developed by the U.S. Army for Special Forces and U.S. Army Ranger patrol units in Vietnam.

The First Strike Ration (FSR) is a compact, eat-on-the move ration concept from the United States Army, designed to be consumed during the first 72 hours of conflict, created by the United States Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts.[1] The FSR substantially reduces weight and load and is intended to enhance a consumer's physical performance, mental acuity, and mobility.

An energy bar is a dietary supplement often consumed by athletes or other physically active people to maintain their calorific needs in light of their strenuous physical activity.

As the name indicates, they are mainly a source of food energy, primarily complex carbohydrates. Some bars contain a source of protein (often whey, casein, or soy), as well as a selection of vitamins and minerals. The flavours added to the ingredients often make them resemble baked goods, such as cookies or muffins, to make them more appealing.

The packaging of a typical bar will provide a precise nutritional breakdown in order to assist the athlete in maintaining a dietary regimen. Major brand names in North America include the Balance Bar, PowerBar, Odwalla Food Bar, and Clif Bar. It is also possible to make one's own energy bars, following a recipe or using a baking mix.