Food in war has been used to assess enemy forces as well as motivate our own. Most importantly however, the binding ritual of sharing food that we experience in our own homes continues, even in the most adverse circumstances. In times of war, changes in diet play a large role in the lives of both combatants and civilians. Usual supplies are no longer assured so the timing of meals and the quality of food becomes a central theme for those who share the experience. This essay explores food from the perspective of the warrior, specifically, the importance of food to the warrior, what the US feeds their combat troops today, and the timeless culture surrounding food in war.
Keeping the soldiers satisfied
The importance of food in war has been recognised by all great military leaders. The renowned Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (500BC) used food to read the enemy. In the Art of War, he wrote,
When soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food, and, when men do not hang their cooking pots over the camp fires, showing that they will not return to their tents, you know that they are determined to fight to the death. Vegetius (300AD) discussed the effect of food on his own troops in The Military Institutions of the Romans: Famine makes greater havoc in an army than an enemy, and is more terrible than the sword . He explained, They should have corn, wine, vinegar, and even salt, in plenty at all times. And Frederick The Great (1757), in Instructions to his Generals, states: Understand that the foundation of the army is the belly. It is necessary to procure nourishment for the soldier wherever you assemble him and wherever you wish to conduct him. This is the primary duty of a general. The practical reality of feeding troops in remote areas is transporting anything planned for consumption. Marshal Maurice de Saxe, in My Reveries Upon the Art of War, describing his experiences in war through the first half of the18th century, made a particularly important point: Soldiers should never be given bread in the field but should be accustomed to biscuit, because it will keep for fifty years or more in depots and a soldier can easily carry a fifteen days supply of it. Condiment and constipation
Hard biscuits have been a mainstay of every soldiers parcel through all modern wars. To this day, each US parcel includes a package of dry crackers. To the US civil war soldier, in 1861-1865, the biscuits were known as Hard Tack. Of all the items soldiers received, it was Hard Tack that they remembered and joked about the most. A note discussing Hard Tack in an 1862 US army book of recipes sheds light on the reasons behind the jokes, It will be somewhat soft on Saturday morning, but, by Sunday, you should soak it in your coffee before eating, else you will have a hard time chewing.
Tis the song that is uttered in camp by night and day,
Tis the wail that is mingled with each snore;
Tis the sighing of the soul for spring chickens far away,
Oh hard crackers, come again no more!
Tis the song of the soldier, weary, hungry and faint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more;
Many days have I chewed you and uttered no complaint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more!
- from a soldiers parable called Hard Times
The challenges of providing lightweight, nutritious, and savoury meals to an army on the move are highlighted in this song from the US civil war. The hard crackers described have been the mainstay of war rations for centuries, and are included in todays food parcels received by the forward edge of US troops in Iraq. The centrepiece of the modern US war ration is the Meal Ready to Eat, known as the MRE (Pronounced phonetically M-R-E), which is the result of a long evolution in war rations. The evolution has led to new packaging and increased nutritional content, but the challenges, and crackers, endure.
Veterans of any war invariably have a specific food that brings an immediate common understanding. It was Hard Tack in the US civil war, but for the US troops in the second world war, it was Chipped Beef on Toast. Anyone who has had the opportunity to share a conversation with a group of US veterans from the second world war knows the conversation is never complete without some comment on the colloquial, Shit on a Shingle, always met by howls of laughter, often followed by knowing sighs.
Todays rations for US forces are centred on the MRE. The MREs are packaged in flexible plastic containers with individual foil bags of foods, all sized to fit into a small pack or pockets of the field uniform.
There are currently twenty-four standard MRE menu varieties as well as special packages for vegetarian, kosher and halal meals. The standard MREs include options such as Chicken with Noodles, Beef Teriyaki, Turkey Breast with Gravy & Potatoes, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Beef Enchiladas, Cheese Tortellini, Pasta with Vegetables in Tomato Sauce, Chili and Macaroni, Beef Ravioli, and Chicken with Thai Sauce. Each also contains an associated starch, beverage powder, dried or sauced fruit, desert bar or candy, snack crackers and peanut butter or cheese spread. They often contain a small bottle of red pepper sauce, which leads the adventurous to some of the more exotic culinary treats in the field.
The following discussion is from a US navy physician who was attached to a US Marine Corps unit during the Iraq war in 1991. When asked about his food experience during the war he demonstrates that field messes have not changed much since the civil war and rations in general remain unchanged over the centuries from the warriors perspective:
Fond memories of military chow. While we were parked in the desert in Saudi Arabia, there was a very informal chow tent. Hot meals were prepared for breakfast and dinner, and you basically ate anywhere, generally back in your tent where we had a few tables set up. Lunches were MREs, and when we travelled from Al Jabail on the coast to the desert there was about 4-5 days of MREs only.
About a third of the time the hot meals were so bad that people resorted to MREs anyway. The most popular guy in the tent was the guy who had just received an industrial size bottle of Heinz ketchup, which when used liberally, could pretty much drown out anything. On one occasion, beef ribs were acquired for a hot meal, I believe from the locals. These were smothered in barbecue sauce, to conceal the fact that the entire rib was gristle, and probably just removed from the carcass within the past few days. There was a small uprising by the dissatisfied customers, and the Lance Corporal dishing it out barely escaped alive.
MREs ranged from awful to mediocre. There was a lot of bartering for the spaghetti and meatballs, and chicken ala king. The crackers and peanut butter were a constant staple, and a pack of those crackers were so dense they could fill you up for the entire day. God only knows what additives they put into the chocolate bars, which didnt melt even in 100° heat.
Unfortunately, there was essentially no roughage (salad, bran, etc.) in the diet, and bowel movements were pretty brutal. I got more than a few complaints from the [troops] during sick call for constipation.
Nutritionally, an average MRE provides 1250 kilocalories (13% protein, 36% fat, and 51% carbohydrates). It also provides one third of the Military Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals determined essential by the Surgeon General of the United States. The shelf life of the MRE is three years at 80° Fahrenheit. This can be extended through the use of cold storage facilities prior to distribution.
Binding rituals
Despite the unprecedented variety and nutritional content of MREs, the modern warrior still finds the meals somewhat less than desirable. Yet meals in the field are still the same binding ritual as they are at home. A decorated US Marine who led small unit combat operations in the 1991 Iraqi war sent me the following description. At the time, there were only twelve MRE variations:
We went several months simply on MREs. There were no base camps to go back to. The MREs were fine, other than [the constipation] of course. You know everyone would have some type of spice that they would put in them. The MRE was obviously nutritious. What was good about it, I think, was when you had time to eat, it was some type of mental diversion where you prepared your meal to your likings. Eventually, they brought forward what were called tray rats. They were like large sardine cans, if you can picture that. And would have meals like lasagne or scrambled eggs with sausage. They were awesome after eating MREs for so long. But, normally we would only get 1 or 2 menu items, so we would eat the same thing for weeks at a time. Still, not too bad. I remember scrounging a box of onions from an Iraqi bunker that made the MREs quite tasty for a week, ha. When we were living good in the field we would get one hot tray rat meal per day. Any variation brought forward to add to or replace the MREs was uplifting. The Marines loved it. He went on to explain that the commanders of the supply elements knew that the monotony was difficult and tried to bring hot fresh meals to the forward positions. Unfortunately, several units came down with gastro-intestinal problems as a result of these attempts so the effort had to be discontinued. This emphasises that feeding warriors is location specific. Special forces, rear echelon units, and shipboard operations all have a different perspective, but the cornerstone remains the MRE for field operations.
Navy special forces units spend most of their time in what is known as the Surf Zone which means they are wet, covered in sand, and cold most of the time. When asked about food during special forces operations and the effect food had on his troops, a US Navy SEAL team commander who spent quite a bit of time in Panama and other places he refused to discuss, wrote:
Actually, if we are in the field for a while, anything warm goes over well. MREs have come a long way; the biggest drawback seems to be [constipation] when MREs are the only thing on the menu. Bottom line, yes, good chow (esp the warm type) is a good motivator. That said, when we are really on the move, any kind of chow is a luxury as is the time you get to eat it. So all said, you basically suck it up for combat ops but a good warm meal between takes is a great motivator Both the Marine and the Navy SEAL reconfirmed a centuries-old admonition from combat experienced soldiers, Eat when you can, sleep when you can, because you never know the next time you will be able to do either.
A sailors life
The security of rear echelon areas can allow for more culinary diversity when small kitchens, known as field messes are set up for cooks to prepare hot food. These too have a long illustrious history. In these areas there are a variety of military elements, all with different jobs, so the field mess becomes a central point of discussion and common experience. When the cooks are not endowed with culinary skills, the troops can rally against them. During the US civil war, one of the provisions was dried salted beef (usually salted to such a degree that it had to be soaked in a brook for a day before eating). There are reports from rearward units where the troops used this beef as ammunition to fire at the field mess when the food was remarkably bad.
As a ships medical officer during the 1991 conflict I had the pleasure of eating in the wardroom for three hot meals each day. MREs are not eaten shipboard. The navy cooks, known as Mess Specialists, prepare three meals and a late-night snack (for those on duty in the early hours of the morning) every day for everyone on board. This is quite a feat, especially on the large ships with crews of several thousand sailors and officers.
Stocks of various foods dwindle between re-supply shipments; the first foods to disappear from the ships tables are fresh vegetables. Although the food is always hot, nutritious, and plentiful (no matter what colour the lettuce becomes before running out), the flavour depends upon the skill of the cooks some ships are better than others. Like the rear echelon in a ground unit however, a ship is filled with people doing dozens of different jobs, so the one common experience of the whole crew is the meal. I always knew the crew was extremely pleased with the food by adhering to the old navy saying, A whining sailor is a happy sailor.
Recipes for survival
From my year spent as surgeon to a US Marine artillery regiment, I cannot add to the clear description of the field mess already given, but the leadership aspect has stayed with me forever. At every meal the Colonel would stand by the food line and announce that the most junior enlisted men were to eat. When the line drew short he called the next higher ranking group, and so on. Once he knew that all of his men had been fed, he would take a plate himself. It was as if he wrote Frederick the Greats instructions himself. He knew the value of the meal, and he valued his men above all else.
The feeding of warriors is more than simply providing a source of energy. There is an entire culture built around food in war. Meals are shared experiences and bonds are formed through these meals that many do not realise until many years later. Take the time to talk with a war veteran about their meals, but not until many years after the event. For the first few years too many memories are too fresh. As the years pass, some memories are pushed aside, and others fade away, but meals are always remembered.
Begin to discuss meals with a war veteran and you are likely to stir quite a bit of emotion. The conversation may start with how they had to use excessive condiments to make it palatable, or even about how the meals constipated them so, but this will lead to other memories and an understanding of what these heroes endured. Ten years from now, if you mention an MRE to a group of US veterans from the current war in Iraq, you are likely to get a few howls of laughter, and occasionally these will be followed by the knowing sighs of painful memories.
