Its chow time

Navy chow wasn't bad aboard our ship, i had no idea there was so many ways to cook chicken. It seemed the closer we got to port the fewer seagulls we saw and more "chicken" we were served. Didn't gain weight but i didn't loose any either.

In my career I had the gamut from very good food to not good at all.

Mine is a lot like Stiks'. Chow on the supply ships and the small boys was good because we would take on local food when in a foreign port. The same went for the subs I was on. Shore duty chow halls were a mix, some were awesome others you might as well have taken your chances with Taco Bell. As far as MRE's are concerned, I experienced two different versions of them. The ones that came with the fuel tablet to heat them up in your canteen cup (which we were never allowed to use, so a hot meal came from putting them in the exhaust piper of a friendly APC or Hummer) and the second that had the water activated heater. Some of the MRE's were bad considering, although there isn't anything in this world that I have yet to find that would make the Egg Omelet edible. Even the Iraqi regulars that we dealt with wouldn't touch them.

I liked the egg omelet MRE... Tabasco helps. And whoever came up with the water activated MRE heater deserves a medal and a promotion.

I remember when I was on the USS Saipan during the 1st Gulf War (back in 1991), we had a LOT of powdered eggs for breakfast. Whoever thought up the concept of powdered eggs needs to be court-martialed!! Most of the other food was pretty good. I do remember that one time, over half the ship came down with mild botulism while under way. The medics were pretty darned busy that night. Needless to say, the ship's captain was not happy that over half of his combat element was out of action for a day.

For the most part, I liked MREs. There were only one or two that I didn't care for (and for the life of me, I can't remember which ones they were now - it's been over 20 years since I've eaten one), and I usually traded them to other Marines that did like them.

When I went through boot camp at Parris Island back in 1984, I thought that we'd get C-Rations, as that was all I had heard about from my dad and uncles before I went in. Never heard of MREs until we did our first field training about a month into it. Our Drill Instructors took away the candy and gum, plus the sterno tablets. I can definitely remember not needing to take a #2 for the whole time we were out in the field (about a week). Not a lot of fiber in an MRE. LOTS of calories, though - about 2500 per meal, if I remember correctly. A fighting Marine needs all the energy he/she can get when in a combat scenario, carrying all the equipment that is required.

Anybody know how long an unopened MRE will last? I'm under the impression that it will last for about 10 years, but I have no idea where I got that idea.....

C Rations from the '40s can be found on eBay.

Powdered eggs, well if you were a Boy Scout in the 50's that was a regular ration.

Spam is always on the menu of some "edgy" restaurant somewhere.

I was a Boy Scout in the early 70's - no powdered eggs at that time! Woo Hoo!!

Spam is pretty darned good eatin'.........

No, it isn't.

I was a Scout in the early 60's. Every Troop leader had to feed his men. Powdered eggs, pancakes and bacon.

Canvas backpacks on wooden frames.

Gotta eat Spam heated or fried - can't eat it cold. Didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up, so Spam was in our menu pretty regularly. I really do think it tastes pretty good. Lots of people will argue with that, though.......

Most times the food in the army mess was pretty good.  From time to time there built up an over supply of 10 man ration packs, which were mostly cans of this and that.  You always knew when the cooks were trying to use them up.  Instead of steaks and schnitzels, you'd get 3 different kinds of stew....

Spam isn't too bad at room/air temperature. My original squad leader used to take a few cans out to the field with him in his ruck. Whoever got sent on KP was instructed to bring back bread from the field kitchen for us upon their return. Then we would have the pleasure of a Spam sandwich. Which when compared to C-rats or MREs later in was pretty darn good eatin.

Stik,

We use to take the water activated MRE heaters and scrape all of the power off with out knives and take a water bottle filled half way with Tabasco and water and dump it in the bottle tighten the cap and throw. Improvised CS gas. We usually threw them in each others tents and holes.

Our scoutmaster was also the supply officer in the National Guard, so needless to say we were given C Rations when on camping or hiking trips.  I had to say, the peanut butter, two Chicklets, and the four cigarettes were popular.

Devil Dawg

When I went through boot camp at Parris Island back in 1984, I thought that we'd get C-Rations, as that was all I had heard about from my dad and uncles before I went in. Never heard of MREs until we did our first field training about a month into it. Our Drill Instructors took away the candy and gum, plus the sterno tablets. I can definitely remember not needing to take a #2 for the whole time we were out in the field (about a week). Not a lot of fiber in an MRE. LOTS of calories, though - about 2500 per meal, if I remember correctly. A fighting Marine needs all the energy he/she can get when in a combat scenario, carrying all the equipment that is required.

Anybody know how long an unopened MRE will last? I'm under the impression that it will last for about 10 years, but I have no idea where I got that idea.....

I recall getting a good laugh at the tiny bit of toilet paper that was included with the MRE accessories the first time I had one, wondering what it could possibly be used for. But I had the same experience as you - after a few days of MREs, one was so constipated that the TP, or lack thereof, was not much of an issue any more 

Some brands differ, but I think 10 years is the official shelf life. 

Fried spam and taters with a fried egg on top....mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

I think my favorite mess hall dish was Yakisoba (sp?). It was the spaghetti noodles with ground beef and onions/peppers - no tomato sauce. I could eat myself sick on that stuff

I stayed at VBC in Baghdad, and at Camp Lemmonier in Djibouti, so the chow when I was deployed was superior. In Baghdad, we had steak and lobster every Friday, and the big chow hall on the base where the generals and the VIP's frequented had TCN's (Third-Country Nationals) dressed in white shirts and bow ties serving to order dishes - and they were VERY good. Me and the other dirty joes didn't go there very often because we usually got harassed by a CSM or two - my unit actually got banned from there for the latter half of the tour. But that was okay because we were force protection for the SOCOM base, and all I'll say is those guys are EXTREMELY resourceful

The chow hall at Camp Lemmonier, a naval base, was pretty big, and they served prime rib - pretty darned good prime rib too - every weekend. We also had made to order omlettes and burgers and things of that flat grill nature

One thing about my wartime experience is we ate like kings. That's not true of everybody though. The guys who stayed out in the COP's had to ration and scrounge a bit. We always tried to score stuff for them when they came through our ECP's. Though, in Baghdad, the local food was often incredible, can't say the same for Djibouti

I loved trading and mixing things in the MRE's when we were in the field. A few of my favorites were to take the sugar cookie and crumble it into the apples in cinnamon, then mix it with the vanilla shake drink mix - it tasted like apple pie with ice cream - and the peanut butter mixed great with the brownie or the rare and highly coveted chocolate peanut butter, the jalapeno cheese was a great addition to the Mexican rice (a splash of Tabasco too of course). The cheese with the bacon in it was a great spread on the crackers or even the cardbread (cardboard-bread). The best part about the MRE's was making the bombs though. We actually came up with a way to launch them through tubes, though I forget exactly what we did to do that. The field was great fun. I miss those times, but I don't think I'd want to go back though

There is sad new for Spam fans:

http://www.spam.com/spam-101/the-spam-museum

At least it's only temporary.

AHA !

Specially Processed Ham ! That's what it is you know .The thing is , it is delicious with Munster or Cheddar and Jalopenos on wheat or rye bread , with a dash of brown mustard ! I dunno , maybe I am around the bend . I love the stuff !

USAF.

Chow was really good. I used to eat at the chow hall all the time. It was cheap.

I even liked MRE's, which we used in the middle east. Even after we got a chow hall there, I still stuck to MRE's. That was early 90's, when they came out with some pretty good expansions on the meals. Ham, Chicken ala king, BBQ pork, etc.. I'd even mix the cocoa, sugar, and coffee creamer together to make "pudding". I never could 'appreciate' the egg MRE, though they were everywhere.

True, stikpusher. Whoever invented the heater sure does deserve a medal!