Photo By OR-7 Paul Scherman | Australian combat rations pack and American meals ready to eat are displayed on a...... read more read more
Subscribe
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia - When visiting a new country, it’s almost impossible not to try the local cuisine.
Roughing it in the field, members of U.S. military and Australian Defence Force ventured into the strange land of foreign, pre-packaged military meals during Talisman Sabre 2011.
Talisman Sabre 2011 is an exercise designed to train U.S. and Australian forces to plan and conduct combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability on a variety of missions from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts.
And what does the average U.S. service member eat in the field?
MREs, or meals ready to eat.
In the Australian Defence Force, they’re called combat ration packs, better known as “Rat Packs.”
At Camp Rocky, two new friends, ADF Signalman Thomas Emery, 17 Signals Regiment, Sydney, and Spc. Micah Pesce, from the 593th Sustainment Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., traded their field-worthy meals.
This was the first time either had ventured into the strange land of foreign, pre-packaged military cuisine.
Slowly and inquisitively, each pulled several small packets from their respective bundle of food. Reading labels and questioning contents, they began chowing down on the delectable treats within, tasting dishes from one another’s native land.
One of the first things Pesce tried from the Combat Rations One Man-Menu H was Vegemite on a biscuit. Rich in B vitamins, Vegemite is a dark brown Australian food paste made from yeast extract. It is a popular spread for sandwiches, toast, crumpets and cracker biscuits.
“Oh my goodness,” said Pesce, in a nauseous tone. “This is salty! I can’t finish this, please take it away.”
After Emery calmed down from laughing at Pesce, it was his turn to try the U.S. MRE Menu 2: Pork Ribs.
“Is this meat?” Emery asked, staring at the imitation ribs pinched between finger and thumb. “It sure doesn’t look like it. But, I guess it doesn’t taste too bad. I just wish I had more to choose from,” even as Pesce took the ribs from him and finished them.
Pesce didn’t have that problem.
“The Rat Packs have so much more food than we do,” said Pesce, chewing a mouthful of processed cheddar cheese scooped from a tiny can. “There’s more candy, more coffee and way more condiments.”
By this point, Emery wasn’t even paying attention to his new American friend. He found the flameless ration heater, a water-activated exothermic chemical heater that comes handy with every MRE. ADF forces use a “Tommy Cooker” to heat their meals. The foldable stove uses a hexamine fuel tablet, and a canteen cup with water heats their meals.
“I love the heating pack mate,” exclaimed Emery. “All I have to do is put water in it and bam, I have hot spare ribs. It’s way easier than having to carry around a heater like we do when we’re in the field.”
Both MREs and Rat Packs have a variety of menus to choose from.
MREs have everything from chili and macaroni to little sugar cookies in the shape of American flags, and Rat Packs offer mouth-watering treats like beef barbeque, tubes of fruit spread, chocolate bars and tins of diced fruit.
When finished tasting everything, Emery and Pesce both agreed they would choose the meal they ate over the meals they’re used to eating.
“I would definitely take the MRE,” Emery said. “There’s definitely not as much food, but it tastes really good. And it has moist toilettes!”
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.26.2011 22:46 |
| Story ID: | 74356 |
| Location: | ROCKHAMPTON, QL, AU |
| Web Views: | 368 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, US, ADF discover interoperability with Vegemite, by MSgt Sara Keller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT