Staff Writer
MREs are providing Cadets with the energy and nutrition they need during training. However, some say the MRE is not exactly the equivalent of a home-cooked meal.
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Video by Douglas Worthington
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“It’s hard to eat pasta because I’m Italian and it’s in a bag,” said Aurelio, from San Jose, Calif. “I’m used to much better, but it’s better than nothing.”
MREs, or Meal, Ready to Eat, replaced the MCI (Meal, Combat, Individual rations) in 1981 and its flavors, taste and quality have greatly improved since then.
An MRE has a shelf life of about five to ten years, but the Army tries to get them eaten before a year and a half elapses.
Staff Sgt. Kenneth Batchlor, a drill sergeant for Alpha Co., said the MREs have a better selection and variety now.
“They didn’t have the vegetarian ones when I first joined,” he said.
Batchlor has been in the Army reserve for 14 years and has been in active duty for six.
So, he’s been through about two to three generations of MREs.
“They are better than before now because they have heaters, but it depends on what you get,” he said.
Batchlor said he ate MREs when he was in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
“It was interesting at first,” he said. “But you get used to it after awhile. You had no choice when you’re in the desert.”
He said he doesn’t have a favorite MRE though because he doesn’t care for any of them.
“When I first had them, all of the food was stale and dehydrated,” he said. “Everything was dehydrated—the beef, tuna, pound cake, fudge cake and beef stew.”Aurelio said the first MRE he had at LTC was the egg and cheese omelet.
He said he took two bites of it and then threw it away.
“I’ve been sticking to the safe ones now that I’ve already had, and I’m trying to stay away from the omelet and anything with meat really,” Aurelio said. “I don’t trust the baked meat.”
If he got deployed and had to eat MREs, Aurelio said he thinks he would be able to do it for a little while.
“I don’t think it’d be good for me, I wouldn’t say it’s healthy, but it would keep me alive,” he said.
Bravo Co. Cadet Monsura Brimah, who attends Chicago State University, said she thinks the MREs are OK.
“Some are bad and some are good,” she said.
Brimah said her favorite MRE is the tuna because it tastes good and comes with M & M’s.
“I think they taste better than some of the food we eat here in the dining halls,” she said. “I just thought it was a new experience.”
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| MREs usually include one entrée, side dish, crackers, peanut butter or cheese spread, dessert, instant coffee or tea, matches, toilet paper, spoon and a heating device to heat the entrée. MREs provide all the nutrition Soldiers eed during training. Photo by Kelsey Sullivan |
“It’s name brand foods, just in a military package,” he said. “It’s high in calories and will last you through the day; it just takes some time for the body to adjust. You learn what to eat in them and not to eat in them.”
Holcomb, from Birmingham, Ala., said he thinks the meals are fully balanced.His favorite MRE, that he has eaten so far, is the tuna, “Because you know it’s real with the StarKist label.” But what Holcomb really misses eating is a good hamburger and french fries.
Charlie Co. Cadet Perrish Goggins, who attends the University of South Carolina Upstate, said he thinks MREs are delicious.
He had an MRE for the first time at LTC. He was originally given a vegetarian MRE, but then traded for a Beef-a-roni one because he doesn’t like vegetables.
“It was scrumptdeliumptious!” he said.
Goggins, from Columbia, S.C., said the fudge brownie and chocolate chip cookies are the best.
“I eat anything,” he said.
Overall though, food is an essential to Soldiers and their daily lives despite what it may taste like or what package is comes in.
First Lt. Jake Clark, a tactical operations center battle captain, said Soldiers want three things—the three M’s: mess, mail and money.
“Food’s a big deal to Soldiers,” he said. “It’s something to look forward to.”