Pfc. John Strang (left), 18, of Aiken County, activates a heater pack to warm his beef enchilada meal ready-to-eat while Pvt. Reed DeSario, 19, opens up a pack of cheese tortellini. JOHNNY EDWARDS/STAFF

Prepackaged meals keep soldiers full, not satisfied

CAMP VIPER, Iraq - Spc. Michael Green, 46, is an Army cook trained to prepare large amounts of food for large numbers of soldiers on a 24-hour basis.

But in the Iraqi desert his food-serving job is simple. When a hungry soldier walks up for rations, Spc. Green of Augusta points to a box full of sealed packages and says to pick one. He also hands over a bottle of water.

Meals ready-to-eat, or MREs, have made for breakfast, lunch and dinner for Spc. Green's unit, the Augusta-based 319th Transportation Company, since it moved into Iraq from Camp Coyote in Kuwait more than a week ago. Camp Coyote had a chow hall that served breakfast and dinner, but Camp Viper has no such luxury.

For forward-deployed troops in the war on Iraq, the prepackaged, self-heating military meals are as much a part of their lifestyle as machine guns and chemical masks. They've come up with creative ways to mix ingredients to add flavor, and they are often looking for another soldier or Marine who might want to trade peanut butter for cheese spread, or vice versa.

MREs come with 24 different main courses. There's meat loaf with gravy, spaghetti with meat sauce, turkey breast with gravy and potatoes and beef enchiladas, to name a few. Some of the packs are marked "Vegetarian," containing meals such as pasta with alfredo sauce, bean and rice burrito and cheese tortellini.

"The majority of people here, they have their favorite one," said Pfc. Lakida Murphy, 19, of Wadley, Ga. Pfc. Murphy is also with food services for the 319th, a fuel-hauling Army Reserve company attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

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"People are not really worried about the food that much right now," she said. "They're just trying to make their deliveries and get back, and if they can get something in their stomach, they will."

Each meal contains between 1,200 and 1,300 calories, about a third of what a male body requires in the field and about half of what a female body requires, according to text on the packages assembled by AmeriQual Packaging in Evansville, Ind. They're also loaded with protein.

Spc. Green said the unit hasn't had any problems with its MRE supply. Convoys have run out of food on the road, but only because the trip lasted longer than expected. The 319th's storage unit at Camp Viper is full of MRE boxes, and the unit is about to receive another shipment, he said.

Along with main courses, MREs come with snacks such as fruit bars, sports bars, crackers, pound cake, wheat bread, potato sticks and pretzels; candies such as Skittles, M&Ms, Tootsie Rolls and Assorted Charms; and drink mixes such as apple cider, iced tea, cocoa and grape, orange and cherry. The foods come inside sealed packs within the sealed pack and require hard ripping or a sharp knife to open. Each MRE has a condiments package with matches, moist wipes, tissue paper and Tabasco sauce.

For heating the food, MREs have water-activated heater packs. Soldiers slide their sealed packet of food inside another packet containing a flameless rations heater composed of iron, magnesium and sodium, then pour water in it. The water sets off a chemical reaction that steams the food until it's hot.

There are constant complaints that the food is too bland. Spc. Kesha Brown, 26, of Graniteville, S.C., refuses to eat most MRE foods, surviving instead off the applesauce, pineapples and mixed fruits that come with them.

She doesn't think she's losing weight yet, although she's noticed that her pants seem a bit baggy.

"They're nasty. I can't stomach them," Spc. Brown said of MREs. "I don't like the way they smell when you cook them."

Spc. Craig Broussard Jr., 23, of New Orleans, who was attached to the 319th from the 386th Transportation Company in Mississippi, said he's found one MRE that reminds him of home: jambalaya. It contains ham and shrimp, and when he adds in cheese and hot sauce, it's the closest thing he can find in Iraq to the food his mother makes.

He's not so crazy about other MRE selections.

"They all taste the same. The beef tastes like chicken, and the chicken tastes like beef," Spc. Broussard said.

This meal ready-to-eat, chicken with salsa, comes with Mexican rice, vegetable crackers, cheese spread, cookies and M&Ms. To the right is the heater pack used to heat the main course. JOHNNY EDWARDS/STAFF

Soldiers have found ways to enhance the flavor, such as stirring in powdered creamer or melting in cheese spread. Their Marine neighbors, who are more accustomed to living in the rough, have taught them all sorts of tricks.

Some MREs come with instant coffee. Marines say they chew the coffee dry to keep them awake during night watch.

Marine Sgt. Eric Osuna, 24, of Madera, Calif., said a sly Marine can make a bomb out of an MRE pack and a water bottle. Take the heater out of its package, put it in the bottle, pour in some Tabasco sauce and a little bit of water, shake and throw, he said.

Spc. Broussard said a Marine taught him how to cut the bottom off an MRE's rubbery outer package and use it as a bowl to mix rice, gravy and potatoes.

"You can't do nothing but like them," he said of the meals. "It's all you've got to eat."

--From the Friday, April 4, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle