Americana: Taps for C Rations

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Frederick the Great said that an army marches on its belly, and for 40 years the American Army has filled its stomach with C (for combat) rations. The food came in olive-drab cans that seemed to match the flavors sealed inside.

Now, like the draft and the Ml rifle, C rations will become a thing of the past. In their place the Army has developed MREs (meal, ready-to-eat), precooked and packed in nice little aluminum-foil pouches. The new fare includes steak, swiss; ham, sliced; chicken, a la king; and beef, stew; along with chocolate cookies, fruit and brownies and freeze-dried coffee. The Pentagon says it has tested the new rations under both tropical and arctic conditions and even on generals at the Defense Logistics Agency, who were not told that they were being served MREs in the dining hall and allegedly didn't notice any difference from their ordinary fare. But that report is pretty hard to swallow.