Field rations are falling short in fueling troops

[rogerashton]

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

NATICK, Mass. - When Lt. Dave Moore visited infantry units in the remote, rugged mountains of Afghanistan late last year, the Navy medical officer was surprised to hear from many soldiers and Marines that they had lost significant weight.
After interviewing more than 150 medics, officers and troops on the ground, Moore concluded that the portable rations called "meals ready to eat" (MREs) - long derided by troops, but valued by the Pentagon for their indestructibility - were not doing the job, causing the soldiers to shed pounds that they very much needed.

"The standard meal ready to eat does not provide adequate nutrition for dismounted operations in this type of terrain," Moore wrote in his report. "Many Marines and soldiers lost 20 to 40 pounds of body weight during their deployment. At least one soldier was evacuated due to malnutrition and a 60-pound weight loss."

Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20070408_Field_rations_are_falling_short_in_fueling_troops.html

[acmavm]

1. Well, we give them contaminated water, make them protect Halliburton

shipments, give them no bullets, no armor, etc., why wouldn't we starve them? It only goes to reason. Hell, in some cases we even shoot our own guy.

This is such a 'don't give a shit about the troops' bunch of criminals running this war. The only thing they do care about his getting posession of the oil fields.

[w4rma]

2. Remember that this is likely muscle that these soldiers are losing, not fat.

They had to be lean in order to be accepted into the military to begin with and they've already shed the much of their fat pounds in basic training.

[Demeter]

3. It's Damn Cold in Afghanistan

and I truly doubt the soldiers have anything like adequate shelter, let alone adequate food.

But what do I know? My family was smart enough AND lucky enough to get out of Siberia.....

[aquart]

4. Great. Now we're starving them.

We sure support our troops.

"Indestructible" food? Dear God.

[ohio2007]

5. Maybe the MRE's are the wrong food type for high altitude survival

I'm sure the top brass is very familiar with the local Afghan diet as well as other military diets being fed to troops in other countries throughout the regions of the world.


April 05, 2007
An Army, Not a Militia

Our Peshmerga military meal
http://michaeltotten.com/

btw
I have yet to see a picture of an Afghan with any weight problems like the "happy meal" offers the rest of the world. The troops are burning calories up faster then their MRE can supply them in that rugged terrain.

[LiberalFighter]

6. What happened to that turkey bushwad had at Thanksgiving?

Just show the picture to all the troops that should fatten them up.

Actually I would expect the picture would pissed them off royally.

[lpbk2713]

26. Unfortunately plastic turkey has no nutritive value.

[lovuian]

7. they skimping on proteins

they starving them

[ohio2007]

8. need high carbs

at high altitudes, don't skimp on the pasta's and breads imo. Military fighting men shouldn't look like couch potato's but they could use the starch.

[Mojorabbit]

9. I thought most mre's contain over 2000 calories

the article says up to 1300 calories. Is this right?

[HereSince1628]

10. Yes, I remember seeing some propaganda piece that indicated

they'd be getting over 2500 C per day.

I'd not be surprised if the Pentagon was paying for 2500 and getting 1300

[sofa king]

23. I understand they need way more than 2500 C/day.

I recall from a conversation with an excellent source--an 18 Delta--that during work-up training his boys were burning up to and over 4000 calories a day, with considerable variance due to the individual physiques. Part of an 18D's training is monitoring caloric intake and weight of their team members so they can accurately estimate the rations needed on missions in the field. My first guess is that the missions are requiring more calories than they can safely or comfortably hump.

There are plenty of caveats. On the one hand, Special Forces train very hard but generally planners hope that such a sustained level of exertion isn't actually necessary in the field. On the other hand, if it is necessary, SFs also train to operate effectively on a bare minimum of sleep and food. On the gripping hand, my same source speculated that the stress of combat conditions might actually increase troops' metabolisms in the field. On the watch hand, plenty of soldiers in Afghanistan aren't Special Forces and didn't undergo such rigorous training--a further variable. But on the one hand that washes the other, soldiers humping through thin air up and down mountains in Afghanistan seem likely to burn calories fast. And on the giant foam rubber "we're #1" football fan's hand, my excellent source was sitting on a bar stool next to me and alcohol was being consumed.

(Edit: and of course right there in the article, where I somehow missed it the first time, it says that in the mountains soldiers need 4,500 calories a day. So it sounds like that dude I talked to wasn't just whistling Dixie.)

[politicat]

24. Each meal provides 1200+ calories.

3 per day is 3600 to 3900.

My Marine Brother in Law (5'9", 140 pounds, 6% body fat) burns 3600 calories when he's at home, doing base work (rebuilding damaged LAVs and other small, diesel engine vehicles). When he's in the field, he burns at least twice that.

They're doing heavy labor. They have to be fed appropriately, and if they're doing it at altitude in a cold climate, the fat and starch requirements go up.

There's also time constraints -- most are "over scheduled" and the fact that MREs are utterly miserable "food". They're wretched hot, and worse cold. (I grew up on them. My father can't cook. When you look forward to those pieces of hard, cold, greasy, darkness known as the McNugget....)

It's time to bring back field cooks and A and B rations for long term deployments, and the mountain rations used in WWII. At least edible things can be made out of canned foods. (We also need to talk to the French and English about their field rations, because theirs are tasty, properly nutritious, and don't cause... digestive discomfort.)

[unhappycamper]

11. Would you cross post this to the Veterans Forum?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=259

Thanks.

[Mnemosyne]

12. Why has no one recommended this?

How despicable is it that our troops are suffering from hunger and malnutrition?

This needs spread far and wide. :grr:

[Barrett808]

16. k & r

[Mnemosyne]

17. Thanks Barrett! Too important to lose. n/t

[NeedleCast]

13. Not Enough Time to Eat

I was over in Afghanistan as one of the first wave of soldiers to hit the ground there in 2001. The problem we had wasn't that we didn't have enough to eat, it was that we didn't have time to eat it. A standard MRE contains about 1200-1500 calories and you can see what all stuff is in them here: http://saratogatradingcompany.com/meals_ready_to_eat.html

Three MREs a day should provide you with about 4,500 calories. If you ate that kind of calorie count in garrison, you'd probably be heavy pretty quick. However, in the field it is VERY easy to burn 6,000 calories a day. In basic training, in a two month period, I lost 26 pounds while eating 4,500 to 6,000 calories a day (but I was a pile of flab when I joined the service).

Like I said though, we were getting plenty of food, we just didn't have time to stop and eat a full MRE, so often we'd pull out the easily portable parts (packaged deserts (cookies, sponge cake, M&Ms), cheese and crackers, peanuts and bread and ditch the "entrees" (where a good portion of the calories are) because trying to eat clam chowder (no, I'm not kidding, and yes, it's awful), beef enchilada or chicken and vegetables while you're on the move is not easy and storing it once the bag is opened is a pain in the ass. There are a few entrees that were highly prized for their portability like ham slice (big slab of ham) and bean and rice burrito.

I lost about 20 pounds in six months in Afghanistan and can say from personal experience the problem is not so much with not enough food, but with our operational tempo. When you're on the go 20 hours a day and don't have time to do more than cram a few crackers down your pie-hole, it starts to wear you down pretty fast. Sometimes it's a necessity in the situations our government has gotten us into, but the long term effects are starting to show in the physical health of our troops.

[knitter4democracy]

21. That makes sense.

Why then wouldn't the MREs have the kind of food you can eat quickly? I have some good bison jerky--I'll put that in the next package I send over there. It sounds like they need it.

[Vinca]

14. No training, no body armor, no food. Dubya should be proud. nt

[watercolors]

15. My granson's list of items neededi n Afganistan

Our family members all mail packages to him. Last E-mail called for items of healthy nature: fruit & nut bars, trail mix, indivivdual wrapped slim jims small packs of fig newtons, protien bars, and energy drink packets. Of course hygene products are also need, wipes, and hand sanitizer, packets of eye glass cleaners, dust is a real problem for them. He also asked for packages of inexpensive pens to give out to the children, they seem to think pens are a status symbol! They depend a great deal of what we all send to survive when the are in areas where none of these things can be found. I also send paperbacks to read, they are most welcomed. Seems like we have been mailing boxes out for a few years now. He has had two tours in Bagdad and now a year there. We all hope that he will finally be able to come home and finish off his final months in the service here stateside.

He also always wants our prayers for him and his buddies!

[Betsy Ross]

18. K&R

[Morgana LaFey]

19. So which BushCo Crony has THIS defense contract?

You'd think it was Halliburton, from the description.

[babylonsister]

20. Absolutely appalling. Another way this admin supports the troops.

:cry:

[Hekate]

22. KnR. Call/write your congress critters asap and send LTTEs.

One more disgusting instance of what Rumsfeld's "lean" army looks like now.

Hekate

:kick:

[Doremus]

25. $7.50 per meal? For those puny foil pouches?

Somebody's getting fat ... and it isn't the soldiers forced to eat that drek.

[wakeme2008]

27. Note on Calories... You have to eat EVERYTHING in a MRE to

get the full calories listed. Most soldiers do not eat everything...

[Squatch]

28. MREs are only effective at inducing constipation.

They are notorious for "stopping you up" for days on end. They are high protein, very high fat (esp trans fats) meals. If you don't drink at least 1 liter of water per meal, you're going to be bound up for quite some time.

I usually save mine and then sell them to survival fanatics on E-bay.