Army Field Rations

WW II C-Ration

WW II K-ration

“Supper”

I think it was Napoleon who first said the now famous words, “an Army travels on its stomach,” a lot of thought has been given by warring nations to the problem of providing nourishment or “field rations” for their fighting men, long before and well after Napoleon. Perhaps if he had said “an Army performs best on a full stomach” it would have been more on point.

A ration is described as the allowance of food for the subsistence (survival) of one person for one day in the United States Military and has been the case for a good while. As for food rations for the United States Military the earliest legislation fixing the components of the Army ration was passed on November 4, 1775 by the Continental Congress. This first ration was supposed to provide the following components:

16 ounces of beef; 6.8 ounces of peas; 18 ounces of flour; 1.4 ounces of rice; 16 ounces of milk; .1830 ounces of Soap; one quart of spruce beer; plus a whopping  .0686 ounce candle ... From a historical point of view, I wonder what percentage of the time this lofty goal was really met?

If compared to present day dietary requirements for our military, this ration provided more calories, twice as much protein; a adequate supply of minerals and most required vitamins (vitamins A and C were omitted).

I think it’s interesting to note that by the time of the War of 1812 against the Brits, the beer had been replaced with a quarter pint (1gill or 4 oz.) of rum, the candle was bigger (.24 ounces) as was the soap (.64 ounces), but the milk, rice, and peas were eliminated. It wasn’t until 1832 that someone decided to eliminate the gill of rum; it was replaced with coffee and sugar.

During the American Civil War, both armies (North and South) struggled to keep their soldiers sufficiently fed. Difficulties with food procurement and distribution led to a multitude of rations for future solders.

By the advent of WW I there were three types of rations used by the American forces: the Reserve ration, the Trench ration, and the Emergency ration (also known as the Iron ration).  There was also a separate “tobacco ration” of 0.4 ounces of tobacco and 10 cigarette rolling papers, but this was later replaced by brand-name machine-rolled cigarettes.

During the late 1920's, the American Military provided 4 basic types of rations: The Garrison Ration; 2) The Travel Ration; 3) The Reserve Ration; 4) The Field Ration. 

By the time WW II rations were necessary, the following programs were in place:

·                    A-ration: Garrison (barracks, etc.) Ration. Fresh, refrigerated, or frozen food prepared in dining halls or field kitchens. These products were typically available from a local source. They were most valued of all rations.

·                    B-ration: Field Ration. Canned or preserved foods normally prepared in field kitchens with no refrigeration available.

·                    C-ration: Individual Ration. A complete pre-cooked, ready-to-eat canned meal.

·                    K-ration: Individual Ration. Designed as a short duration individual “assault” ration for paratroopers and other specialized light infantry forces. These rations were declared obsolete in 1948, probably due to rank-in-file complaints. I recall that Dad complained about the K-ration well into the 50’s and 60’s.)  The complete ration kit included Breakfast, Dinner (lunch), and Supper (Dinner) but the 2^nd two meals provided a small pack of cigarettes with a full book of matches.

·                    D-ration: Emergency Ration. Concentrated chocolate bars combined with other ingredients such as oats to provide high calorie content (intended as an emergency ration for that often needed “pick-me-up”).

Feeding the troops in and of its self continues to be as difficult task today and is evermore changing.  This is demonstrated by the large array of Ration Packs that have been used or is currently being used by the military such as: A-rations, B-rations, C, C-1, C-2, C-3,C-4 rations, D-rations, E-rations, 10-in-1, 5-in-1, etc.

American warfare history shows it has been possible for this country to somehow win wars despite inadequate rations.   But when solders are not fed properly, their fighting efficiency will undoubtedly drop. In addition, since soldiers are not machines, not only will their ability to act be impaired from the lack of edible food and nutrition, but their will to perform at there best is apt to decrease in proportion as well. Compelling facts  suggest that a poorly nourished fighting force will  lead to otherwise un-necessary bloodshed, don’t you think so as well?  

Sources ...

http://www.qmfound.com/history_of_rations.htm              
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_ration