In this fifth part of the US Army Meal Ready to Eat, or MRE, series we take look at the Food Packet – Long Range Patrol (FP-LRP) variant, writes Bob Morrison.
My Part 3 article in this series covered the Meal Cold Weather or MCW, focussing on a ration pack which I brought home from the multinational Exercise BATTLE GRIFFIN 2005 in Norway; this ration was, and still is, issued to US Forces deployed to, or training in, cold climates or mountain environments where both a high calorific value is necessary and fresh water is in abundance. Unlike the standard MRE, which as its name suggests is pretty much ready to eat straight out the pack, though water is needed to reconstitute beverages, the MCW has freeze-dried components which could not realistically be eaten without adding hot water and cooking for several minutes.
According to official sources: “the USMC and SOF require appropriate nutritional and operational characteristics for extreme cold environments. They require a restricted calorie ration with a long shelf life that can be used during initial Assault, Special Operations, and Long-Range Reconnaissance missions.” The combination Food Packet – MCW/LRP is said to meet these requirements.
The MCW/LRP has been declared as compatible with other US operational ration feeding systems, including both the Unitized Group Ration, which feeds fifty troops, and the individual MRE, but is primarily intended to be used as a separate meal in cold weather scenarios. Its shelf life is a minimum of three years when stored at 27°C or six months at 38°C, but in storage tests significantly extended shelf life for the entrée has been demonstrated.
To prepare the Food Packet – Long Range Patrol the soldier will require 0.5 litres of clean water for each of the meat main courses, or each of the egg and cereal items, plus up to 0.7 litres for the beverage pouches dependent on menu mix, so a minimum of 1.2 litres has to be allocated for reconstitution, plus more will be needed for the coffee sachet included in the accessory packet. For cold climate operations or exercises the collection of water should not pose too much of a problem, but one has to wonder if the weight saving brought about by carrying dehydrated rations actually makes much sense in arid theatres when over a litre of precious water has to also be carried, or sourced, to reconstitute the meal pouches.
Our pack contents were slightly different from the official Menu List, but this is not unusual as occasionally a substitution has to be made on logistics grounds and it is also not unusual for a specific item to be replaced by something which the end-users better prefer; both scenarios meaning that an another item has to be added, subtracted or replaced to maintain the calorific and dietary needs balance.
On the whole we would say that the Food Packet – Long Range Patrol is edible and acceptable, but much more fiddly to prepare than the standard MRE. As for whether or not those Special Operations Forces or Special Ops Capable troops really could be expected to survive and fight effectively on just 1540 calories a day is another matter.
