During your military career did you have the opportunity to regularly eat both C rations and MREs?

Cpl Dennis F. — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:26:22 -0400

I really need to add to this. I have eaten both. The MRE, not regularly.
I recently was made aware of some info regarding MREs: that they were not designed nor advisable to eat for more than 4 days. During my RVN tour, I would guess that about 75% of my meals were C rats. (with some creative additions they were not that bad and I do not recall any adverse effects from them.) I am pretty sure those stuck on FOBs were eating MREs for longer than 4 days. I'm wondering if MREs were the result of more bean counting bureaucrats meddling in the affairs of the military without any real field experience. In my experience with MREs, if you don't have a heating pouch "cooking" them becomes a problem. I would not care to eat that paste cold.
What is the advantage? Why did we move away from canned meals? The bulk of a case seems about the same, though the weight is probably less. Was this the sole consideration? The health issues seem to negate this advantage.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2016 2:35 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:35:50 -0400

Early on in my career, however the C rations disappeared around 1985. At first the C rations were better than the MREs, however MREs eventually improved to the point that they taste better than most of the C rations.

Response by Cpl Dennis F. made Jun 29 at 2016 2:38 PM

Cpl Dennis F. — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:38:35 -0400

Response by Sgt Tom Cunnally made Jun 29 at 2016 2:44 PM

Sgt Tom Cunnally — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:44:17 -0400

Just C Rats during my military time but tried MREs after I left... C Rats are the worst of the worse meals I ever ate in my entire 80+years including at the famous French Restaurant "Jacque In De Box"...At Vieques we had a starving dog wonder into our camp area and I was told to feed that poor dog...So I opened a C Rat can of cold Spaghetti and Meat Sauce and put it in front of this dog....He sniffed it and walked away without touching it. And I thought I've been living on that crap for 3 months and a starving dog would not eat it. Something has to definitely be wrong with C Rats beside giving you constipation, heartburn, gastric pains, and loss of muscle fiber and lack of energy to name just a few issues if you eat them for over 90 days. I wonder if all those damn C Rat gave me polyps ?? I will be willing to bet they did along with thinning hair and wrinkles because they were so bad for you in your younger years.

Source:HighlyUnreliableUSMCvets

Response by Capt Tom Brown made Jun 29 at 2016 2:44 PM

Capt Tom Brown — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:44:49 -0400

Cpl Dennis F. Never had a chance to test out MRES. The venerable C-rats were ok, but just too bulky and heavy to carry more than a couple of heavies and a couple of lights stuffed in a sock tied to the top of yr rolled poncho

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2016 2:48 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:48:21 -0400

Cpl Dennis F. We were supplied a LRP ration to carry, but they were treated more as emergency rations. We ate C Rations, and about once a week (conditions permitting), we would have a hot meal helicoptered in. There would be milk and bread which I craved. There would also be two beers or sodas per man. This was a treat to look forward to. With the hot sauce and heat tab, the C Rations were ok.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jun 29 at 2016 2:56 PM

LTC Stephen C. — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:56:25 -0400

Like you, Cpl Dennis F., I mostly had "C-rations" and a few MREs. However, I will point out that what most of us considered C-rations were really Meal(s) Combat Individual (MCI)s. Actual C-rations were phased out in 1958, so very few of us on RP actually consumed real C-rations. MCIs were quite similar to C-rations, however, and that's what everyone (including me) called them. The photo is of an MCI served in Viet Nam. Capt Tom Brown Sgt Tom Cunnally CSM Charles Hayden

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2016 2:56 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 14:56:59 -0400

I have eaten both. The C-Rats were pretty good, more like real food. I am sure that MREs prevailed to due to their shelf life and packaging/weight. You can eat MREs for more than four days, 30 days is usually the cut off for consuming only MREs. There are not enough nutrients/vitamins to sustain the body on a strictly MRE diet. Even during combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, milk, fruit and vegetables were flown in so Soldiers could get the nutrients/vitamins they needed to stay healthy. Now, you could probably live off MREs for a long time if that's all you had, but your bones along with the rest of your body would eventually start breaking down. All you have to do is look at a Ranger School student when they come out of Florida phase.

Response by Cpl Dennis F. made Jun 29 at 2016 3:02 PM

Cpl Dennis F. — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:02:49 -0400

http://tribunist.com/military/this-guy-ate-nothing-but-military-mres-for-21-days-heres-what-it-did-to-him-video/?utm_source=SR

Granted, this kids a pussy, but still.....

This Guy Ate Nothing but Military MRE's for 21 Days. Here's What It Did To Him. [VIDEO]

Meals Ready to Eat are designed for guys who are 7,000 miles from home, in the middle of Iraq, Afghanistan, or some other war torn area who are out on a mission and need to eat fast. But what happens when a civilian decides to eat them for 21 straight days? That's exactly what one intrep

Response by MSG Pat Colby made Jun 29 at 2016 3:08 PM

MSG Pat Colby — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:08:53 -0400

I STILL have the bruise on my right thigh from the misfortune of doing a Right PLF with a can of Beans and weenies in my cargo pocket. (1980)

Pound Cake with pineapple jelly was the only redeeming thing about C-rats. I actually liked LRRP's more than C-rats. Not much for "accessories" but it filled your tummy full.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Jun 29 at 2016 3:18 PM

LTC Stephen F. — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:18:20 -0400

I ate many more C-rations than MREs and I may have eaten more Long Range Patrol Rations (LRPP)than MRE's for that matter Cpl Dennis F.. I preferred C-rations hands-down to MREs. Trading cans of c-rations and bartering for meals we liked made a questionable eating experience more enjoyable.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2016 3:35 PM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:35:47 -0400

Certainly not regularly. But, I have had both.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 29 at 2016 3:41 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 15:41:59 -0400

in my career ate both c rats where good, the early versions of mre's well, if you had the trotts eat the dehydrated products will bind you up the next day, constipation chicken chow mein, but they did improve and were pretty good if you are creative enough, they all come with the heating pouch, you just got use it, i prefered most of mine cold, my favorite scrambled eggs or the egg omlet, then comes ham slice, most of the time we had mre's for lunch, breakfast was mermits as well as diner in the training field, i used to collect them and would eat them on hunting trips

Response by SSG Mark Franzen made Jun 29 at 2016 5:41 PM

SSG Mark Franzen — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 17:41:35 -0400

I had both C rations and MRES and the c rations were better I love the Chopped ham and egg and the beans and franks and for the MRES were okay but C rations were the best should bring them back and do away with the MRES.

Response by SSG Karl Fowler made Jun 29 at 2016 8:00 PM

SSG Karl Fowler — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 20:00:46 -0400

I have eaten both c-rats and MRE's I Preferred C-rats I always looked foreword to opening the can of crackers so I could throw them in the nearest lake and watch it dry up. The green scrambled eggs I had to make plans to eat those, I had to be near a latrine within 30 mins after eating them. If you wanted hot C rats puncture the cans and light the box on fire with them inside. But all joking aside MREs were a heck a lot better

Response by SSG Kristopher Rigdon made Jun 30 at 2016 12:35 AM

SSG Kristopher Rigdon — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 00:35:04 -0400

Mostly MREs for me 30day field problems with at least one per day

Response by Col Rebecca Lorraine made Jun 30 at 2016 6:29 AM

Col Rebecca Lorraine — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 06:29:19 -0400

We ate MREs during Operation Desert Storm for two months! Along with some large containers of lasgna or other heavy dishes we could heat in the microwave they gave us. We had the option of driving 30 minutes to the Army base for chow, but it wasn't worth hauling our 30 people from the airport to the field mess. We were collected with a British medical group. They had a cook and beer, but it was off limits for us. The Brits know how to deploy:-)

Response by SGT Philip Roncari made Jun 30 at 2016 10:24 AM

SGT Philip Roncari — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 10:24:27 -0400

Unfortunately I dined only on C Rats,but I did see the LRPRs but only given to to the LURPs in my unit,had no interest in that line of work felt safer with my line company,have to say though the C Rats were pretty bad,Ham and Limas topping that list by a mile.

Response by SFC J Fullerton made Jun 30 at 2016 2:32 PM

SFC J Fullerton — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:32:48 -0400

My dad brought home C-RATS and I would take them out on my Boy Scout camping trips. They weren't bad. Just like MRE's, some were better than others. I came in the Army in 1987 and had the first generation of MRE's, which included the infamous "pork patty" and 'Beef, diced, with gravy". The problem with them was that it would constipate you really bad. Most everyone would go a week without taking a dump if most of our meals in the field were MRE's. In 1988, my unit went to Korea for a Team Spirit exercise, and we had nothing but MRE's for about 3 weeks straight. One of the guys in my platoon got really sick right towards the end of the exercise. He hadn't had a "movement" the whole time, and got put in the hospital. Luckily he got some meds that was able to get things moving and he came back to us a few days later. MRE's have vastly improved since then, I never had or seen the same problems with them as we had early on.

Response by SGT Patrick Reno made Jun 30 at 2016 2:38 PM

SGT Patrick Reno — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:38:09 -0400

Yes, we started with c-rations when I was in Berlin, Then we got the first generation MRES. Even the first MRES were way better than the C-Rats.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jun 30 at 2016 5:57 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Thu, 30 Jun 2016 17:57:41 -0400

I have never heard nor read that there was a 4 day limit. The first year of the Iraq/Afghan conflict we did not see hot chow for months, it was the same in Bosnia, Macedonia and Kosova during the initial phases. I and all of my Soldiers are fine, at least nothing related to Food.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jul 1 at 2016 10:20 AM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 10:20:33 -0400

Having eaten both as well and serving at echelons where we were briefed on changes and in some cases had a vote on changes within the Army, the MRE was modified to meet the modern battle field. The 4 days is the number of rations one carries when fully rucked up. Getting away form cans allowed for easier opening packages and internal heating devices for meals to be warmed. They also account for decreased trash etc. The MRE is far better for a number of reasons. Soldiers can survive much longer than 30 days with these rations. Just my prospective.

Response by SMSgt Lawrence McCarter made Dec 27 at 2016 1:28 AM

SMSgt Lawrence McCarter — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 01:28:07 -0500

In Viet Nam in 1968-69 it was C Rations I was eating each day. never even saw a MRE while I was there. It was years later I first even got to try and MRE One thing though, I never want to eat another can of C Rats again as long as I live !

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 21 at 2018 7:03 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 19:03:04 -0500

I shudder at the thought of eating Cold Pork Chow Mein with its globules of fat.