Jack B - Kilroy Woz Here! - Bozeman, Montana, USA

Oh! New point of order!

I didn't think to send you a very old one. (It's the brave soul who eats a 10 year-olds MRE.) The one I sent you is from the current menu (I think it is still current....) So, your MRE is actually from the 157th day of 2017. As such, it is still well within it's expected 'shelf-life' and may be issued to hungry troopers.

Great idea to share it with your son, there are quite a few calories in those MRE's--great for a 20-mile road march but a bit much for one.

In actual use, MRE's are often "field-stripped". Soldiers will open them up, pick out their favorite bits, discard any extraneous packaging, and trade the undesirable components for other items. The entree may be eaten at a rest stop, the small snacks get stuffed into pockets for use on the go. As you can see (and feel) the MRE is a bit bulky and heavy, so breaking it down into lighter and more packable components is a logical step.

I'm 99% sure that K-rats and C-rats received the same treatment in WWII, although I can't cite a source off the top of my rusty head.

 

I have to correct myself here. The current 2020 MRE menu is slightly different. So the one I sent you, Otto, is a vintage, curated, 2017 Menu 9.

These 2017's are highly prized and sought after, 2017 being a particularly good year for the No 9.*


*OK, I just made that up. Not that I'm the first GI to tell a tall tale....