Are there any active duty who were served a K ration?

SSgt George Brown — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 23:21:14 -0500

I only had one, that was in basic training in 1981, if I remember correctly, it was made in 1973.  Still tasted good! ;)

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 8 at 2014 1:00 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 01:00:05 -0500

I hate to make you sound dated, but I was born in 1981. Late night humor.

Response by SSG George Baker made Feb 8 at 2014 6:06 PM

SSG George Baker — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 18:06:40 -0500

not sure what K-rations are but i spend more time with c-rations then i did any other type

Response by SN Steven Sokolow made Feb 8 at 2014 7:19 PM

SN Steven Sokolow — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 19:19:05 -0500

On the first Ship I was on a WWII Rust Bucket, we had to upgrade the survival rations in the Liferafts to modern MRE's and we opened the cans of water (yes, Canned Fresh Water), foods (Like Chicken Chow Main and Beef Stew) and chocolate cakes (already cooked and sealed in the can) and ate them. That was in 1980, to think they were packed in 1943!!! They were good, and we got to sample the extra New MRE's, and the 1943 C Rations were better. We finished the whole thing with smoking a couple of the "Lucky Strikes" that were packed in the Survival Kits... It was Nostalgic!!!<br>

Response by CMSgt Thomas Halcum made Feb 8 at 2014 8:41 PM

CMSgt Thomas Halcum — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 20:41:00 -0500

we were served c rations in 66-67 in Korea and MRE IN Desert Storm in 90.

Response by MSgt Bobby Hamilton made Feb 8 at 2014 9:21 PM

MSgt Bobby Hamilton — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 21:21:59 -0500

C-Rations... the thing I remember most was to be sure to put a hole in the cans of beans and weenie's or you'd get the prize from inside! Hahahaha... I still have my P38 too. They used to come with, matches, cans of cheese and crackers, and some had Cigarettes too - all in a brown cardboard box you used to heat the meal; and a small piece of toilet paper for later.

Response by SFC Gary Fox made Feb 8 at 2014 10:04 PM

SFC Gary Fox — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 22:04:03 -0500

I've had both C and K rations. I remember the peanut butter in the C rats. You had to be careful opening them up because the peanut oil settled on the top. You had to mix it up very carefully once the can was open.

Response by SMSgt Lloyd Knopp made Feb 8 at 2014 10:10 PM

SMSgt Lloyd Knopp — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 22:10:04 -0500

I always thought K rats were WW II. We had C rats in Vietnam, and MREs after till I retired.

Response by MSgt Donald Watkins made Feb 8 at 2014 10:23 PM

MSgt Donald Watkins — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 22:23:56 -0500

All though I'm not active duty, I retired in 1991. I've had the K-RAT's, C-RAT's and the MRE's. I'm almost would prefer the C - Rat ' s over the MRE if I could pick what I wanted out the case. I can't remember all of them now but I loved the HAM SLICES. Before opening the can we would always put the can on the M-35 exhausts some place to heat it up or just eat it cold. The K-RATS' s you got the cigarettes and the chocolate bar seemed to always give me diarrhea. The MRE had lots of stuff but like the C - Rat 's I needed to pick and choose to get enough. Well I've rattled on to much. Thanks for reading my post

Response by SrA Jim DeBoyace made Feb 8 at 2014 11:05 PM

SrA Jim DeBoyace — Sat, 08 Feb 2014 23:05:07 -0500

I had K rations in Viet Nam and they were all that bad.

Response by SGT Michael Little made Feb 9 at 2014 3:44 AM

SGT Michael Little — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 03:44:18 -0500

The K-Ration was designed in WW II, I believe around '42-'43 and long shelf life meals for the troops. These were replaced by the C-Rations in the Viet Nam War. My uncle, who was one of the reasons I enlisted and retired, was in Korea and I remember as a kid seeing them out in his chest in the barn. Kind of like a conversation piece I guess. The MRE (various stage) replaced the C-rations in late 80's. Around same time, the T-Ration was being introduced to get rid of the "Green eggs and Ham" we'd get from the Mermited chow hall food. Now, when I was down for Katrina relief, low and behold I saw some. I have no clue where they came from unless they came from civil defense personnel but K-rations were there. No, before you ask, I didn't eat any but no one had ill effects that I saw. And that is my history with K-rations, which equals zero. I enlisted in '82 :)

Response by SrA Eric Wilderdyke made Feb 9 at 2014 8:36 AM

SrA Eric Wilderdyke — Sun, 09 Feb 2014 08:36:50 -0500

We were given K-rations once during Air Force basic training in 1985. After that, MREs. During the 1970's when I was in the boy scouts my troop was sponsored by a Navy squadron. They provided us with k & c rations. I recall some of the meals dated 1943.

Response by SrA Darryl Bryant made Feb 10 at 2014 10:08 AM

SrA Darryl Bryant — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:08:30 -0500

We only had one day in the "field", on our single day on the firing range and obstacle course. It was good as it could be. I wasn't expecting it to taste like a finely prepared meal, thus is served its' purpose - satisfied my hunger. Hmm, hmm good...

Response by SrA Darryl Bryant made Feb 10 at 2014 10:38 AM

SrA Darryl Bryant — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 10:38:53 -0500

In 1978 at AF basic, we had K-rats on the only day we made the obstacle course and were on the firing range. It was no fine dining, but it served the purpose - alleviated hunger. Hmm hmm good...

Response by SSgt Gary Lanza made Feb 13 at 2014 12:56 PM

SSgt Gary Lanza — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 12:56:15 -0500

yah we had K rations in basic in 1980. weren't to bad.

Response by SFC James Baber made Feb 13 at 2014 1:31 PM

SFC James Baber — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:31:56 -0500

I was able to enjoy the C-rats at the beginning of my career, but never K-rats, I would still take C-rats over MREs any day, and the T-rats I felt were no good as well. I have been through many levels of field rations and as stated I would still take C-rats over any in the past 30 years.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Feb 13 at 2014 1:44 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:44:04 -0500

So I just did a really quick search on line, and for those that may not know what K-RATS are, here is a link to the always "wonderful" Wikipedia article.

The one thing that I don't see if a End of Use Date in this article. Does that mean the DoD still maintains these meals in a box to this day, 72 years after they were introduced?! I know the budget is tight but one would help the DoD cycle's the food pantry a few times in 70+ years. ;)

K-ration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. It was originally intended as an individually packaged daily ration for issu...

Response by SSG Ralph Watkins made Feb 13 at 2014 1:57 PM

SSG Ralph Watkins — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 13:57:32 -0500

I had K-rations that my friends father gave us when I was in boy scouts. We weren't too fond of those but I did serve on active duty with C-rats. It was okay. Of course, like the MREs, people had recipes. I still have a C-rat can of ham & slime. It's from the late 80's. Peanut butter too. You could burn that stuff. The pound cake was the best. The issue with the C-rats was they took up too much room in your pack & left residue (trash). The empty cans could be hung from some wire in front of your position with some rocks in it to make a perimeter alarm of sorts. I remember the early MRE's that need so much water to reconstitute & then the T-rations where initially there used to be only creme beef & lasagna. Out in the field we got fed that twice a day. Creme beef one meal & lasgnsa the other. I did two back to back FTX's nearly a month for each one. I nearly went nuts when I went to the messhall back in garrison & they had lasagna. Chow has come a long ways since back then. It's for the better I think.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 28 at 2014 3:35 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 15:35:11 -0500

We were served C Rats in basic training in 1986. The warehouse ran out of the "new" MREs but found cases of the C rations hiding in a dark corner and sent them out to us. I never got the chance to try a K ration.

An 'older than normal' PFC from my last unit actually had a handful of bumperstickers made up that read "C Rat Club" for the half dozen old timers that had actually eaten them. He had enlisted in the Infantry after receiving his U.S. citizenship at the ago of 44. His C Rat experience actually happened as a British Navy gunner's mate in the early 1980s.

Response by CMSgt Thomas Halcum made Mar 1 at 2014 3:15 PM

CMSgt Thomas Halcum — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 15:15:05 -0500

I never had K rations, I believe they was ww11 area.

Response by SPC Christopher Smith made Mar 1 at 2014 3:33 PM

SPC Christopher Smith — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 15:33:27 -0500

Never had one, but I wouldn't mind if they started put a four pack of cigs in MREs. Lol

Response by SSG Eric Blue made Jan 19 at 2022 6:32 PM

SSG Eric Blue — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 18:32:05 -0500

I'm retired now, but they had K-rations in Alaska when I was stationed there.