The FReeper Foxhole Studies The History of Army Food Service - November 10th, 2003

http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/ ^

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

The Best Feeding The Best


A Brief History of Army Food Service

Dr. Steven E. Anders, Quartermaster Corps Historian

Before an army can be armed, equipped and trained to fight, first and foremost it must be fed. Without adequate food, the most dedicated, spirited soldiers in the world will not long survive, on or off the battlefield. For as the old French proverb has it, "the soup makes the soldier."

"Nasty Cloaths – Nasty Cookery." From the very creation of the American Army, the Continental Congress recognized the patriots’ need for a stable diet. Early legislation passed in November 1775 authorized a basic ration, a daily allotment of meat, bread, vegetables and milk for every soldier who took up arms. But as any student of the Revolution knows, such mandates often fell far short of the mark. Troops occasionally suffered to the point of near starvation. During that terrible winter at Valley Forge, General Washington had only to open his door and hear the mournful chant of hungry troops – "No meat! No meat!" – to realize that his army teetered on the verge of collapse. Fortunately for us they endured the hardships, staved off defeat and the nation was born.

Ironically, the Army ration prescribed by Congress in the post-Revolutionary decades appeared less generous than before. It called for the usual salted meat and bread, and some form of beverage; but lacked perishables – fresh vegetables, milk, butter and fish. Without such fruits and vegetables the men found themselves vulnerable to disease, the most common and dreaded being scurvy. Doctors of the day, though lacking dietary and nutritional knowledge, recognized such deficiencies and urged reform, but were largely unheeded before the Civil War. In 1832, however, President Andrew Jackson took the bold step of substituting coffee and sugar for the traditional allowance of rum, whiskey or brandy. To this day, coffee remains a mainstay of the soldier’s diet.



Hardtack and Coffee Days. During the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate governments had to gear up for what amounted to total war, to sustain the largest armies ever seen on this continent from 1861 to 1865. Ultimately more than a half million Union troops in the field had to be fed daily. Theoretically each was to receive 20 ounces or more of salt pork or beef, 18 ounces of flour, some dried beans, coffee, sugar, vinegar and salt. However, as in the past, reality proved otherwise.

Especially on the march, both Billy Yank and Johnny Reb had to make do with "iron" rations: an unsliced piece of salt pork, more like cheap bacon, which the troops called "sowbelly." Hardtack – a three-inch square, quarter-inch thick "cracker" made of compressed white flour and shortening – which was often so hard they became known as "teeth-dullers." In order to consume the hardtack, soldiers had to break it into bits and soak it in coffee, or fry it up in grease into a concoction known as "skilleygalee" or "hellfire stew." And, of course, coffee. Each soldier was supposed to get enough coffee beans to make six strong cups a day.

The Civil War era did reflect some notable innovations in subsistence. For years the Underwood Company of Boston had shown how canning could improve food preservation, and in 1856 Gail Borden began producing condensed and evaporated milk. The Army’s Subsistence Department also introduced widespread use of desiccated vegetables. These were steamed onions, cabbage, turnips and carrots that were pressed into thin sheets and dried. When boiled in water, they expanded into a vegetable dish sufficient to feed four soldiers. The problem was that the dish looked unappetizing, smelled bad and tasted worse. As a result, many refused to eat what they scoffingly referred to as "desecrated vegetables."



America’s Army is, and always has been, a reflection of the broader society. Improvements in such things as agriculture, science and industry, in domestic habits, and overall standard of living have invariably made life better for those in uniform. That was certainly the case in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Increased scientific evidence made clearer than ever before the importance of proper nutrients in a healthy diet, and the role of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and minerals as the body’s "building blocks" for growth and energy. And vitamins as well. Thus setting the stage for a revolution in our understanding of how and why good food is critical to the well-being of us all.

At the same time, one can look back on the post-Civil War’s industrial age as a period of markedly improved food processing, handling, packaging and transporting. Published cookbooks became a staple in middle class homes, as did sinks with running water, iceboxes, and cast iron ranges for the modern kitchen. Advances soon to be felt within the nation’s Army as well.

During the Civil War, the typical soldier in the field had to cook for himself. More likely, he and a few buddies pooled their rations and ate together as a "mess," assigning the role of cook to the one who best knew his way around a campfire. In the postwar years, the value of a uniformed cook was eventually rewarded with increased rank and a hike in pay. Yet it was not until the first Cooks and Bakers School was opened at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1905 that a serious attempt was made to train cooks to an acceptable standard.



"Remember the Maine!" As much as anything, perhaps it was the experience of the Spanish American War (1898) that convinced senior leaders of the need for reform in the way field feeding was handled. The "Splendid Little War," as Secretary of State John Hay once called it, proved remarkably successful from a strategic and a tactical perspective. Logistically, however, there were some equally spectacular shortcomings. For many, field feeding topped the list.

Troops alleged that the canned boiled beef they were fed was "uneatable." Stringy, smelly and sometimes spoiled from having sat too long in the hot Cuban sun, the beef looked to be adulterated. Rumor was that it was leftover meat from the Civil War, covered with preservatives. Before long the cry of "embalmed beef!" was echoing through the halls of Congress, prompting a series of investigative committees. Even though it later turned out that many of the harshest criticisms were unwarranted, the need for change was obvious. One need only contemplate the fact that in the so-called "Splendid Little War" of a century ago, only 268 of the 3,862 who died were killed by bullets or wounds. The overwhelming majority of fatalities (by a margin of 14 to 1) succumbed from disease and illness – including foodborne illness.



The period separating the Spanish American War from World War I indeed proved to be a reformist era, for the US military in general and Quartermaster food service in particular. Cooks and Bakers Schools began popping up at other locations beyond Fort Riley. Here and there, enterprising souls could be found experimenting with new types of camp stoves, mobile kitchens, field bake ovens and other types of cooking utensils. Not much, but at least it was a start.

More important, in August 1912, Congress merged the old Pay, Subsistence, and Quartermaster Departments into a single Quartermaster Corps. From now on the Army subsistence and food service mission belonged squarely to the Quartermaster Corps. This same piece of legislation also had the effect of "militarizing" the Corps, by allotting trained military personnel to do the work formerly done by hired civilian clerks, carpenters, packers, teamsters, blacksmiths, laborers, etc. – as well as cooks. Thus was born what today has become the Army’s highly trained, professional Food Service Specialist who has the 92G military occupational specialty (MOS).

Over There.


World War I - All kitchens in line and everybody makes themselves at home before a village, 1st Division Nonsard (Muse) France - 13 September 1918

The US entry into World War I saw a rapid expansion and development of the Quartermaster food service mission beyond anything previously imagined. Technological breakthroughs permitted vast shipments of refrigerated foods, boneless beef, and much-improved dehydrated vegetables to Allied forces on the Western Front. Monster-size depots equipped with the world’s biggest refrigerator plants made possible the storage and distribution of millions of rations, including fresh meats, vegetables and dairy products. For the first time, trained cooks led their mule-drawn mobile kitchens, called "slum burners," right into the trenches. Not perfect by any means, but their overall effectiveness lent more than passing truth to the notion that General John J. Pershing’s doughboys were the best-fed army in World War I. Likewise, their courage under fire from 1917 to 1918 often earned for them a level of respect usually reserved for combat veterans alone.



World War I failed to ensure a lasting peace. Within a few short years after the Armistice was signed, war clouds again appeared on the horizon. During that all too brief interlude, Quartermaster food service personnel served the nation in places other than the battlefield proper. Quartermasters provided much-needed relief to victims of natural disaster throughout the 1920s and 1930s and also supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) – an "army" of several hundred thousand workers doing the nation’s bidding from coast to coast at the height of the Great Depression. Although unappreciated until years later, the CCC experience held a foretaste of what it would be like when forced to mobilize again for World War II.

In other developments, the Quartermaster Corps opened a new Subsistence School in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920 to train officers, warrant officers, civilians and senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in all aspects of Army food service. Hundreds graduated from the program before it ended on the eve of World War II. Even though money for research was all but non-existent, some initial steps were taken, especially in the late thirties, to use scientific data in the development of new multi-use rations.



Feeding a Global Army.

With the sudden attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, followed by full-scale mobilization in the months that followed, a steady stream of diverse rations made their way through the developmental process and were rushed into production: A-, B-, C-, D- and K-Rations, arctic and jungle-type rations, 5-in-1 and 10-in-1 group rations, assault packs and many, many more.

New equipment as well, from truck-mounted stoves and ovens, to new types of cans and can openers, materials handling equipment, refrigerator vans, and again much more – all for the purpose of providing combat soldiers (unprecedented mobile troops at that) with the best, and the best prepared, food available.


World War II - "Chow-line" at engineers base camp in mountains, Alcan (Alaskan-Canadian) Highway Construction 21 August 1942

At the height of World War II, Army cooks were serving upwards of 24 million meals a day. Army cooks saw the overall consumption of nearly 13 billion pounds of meat and an estimated 12 billion pounds of fresh, dehydrated and canned vegetables. Clearly, from farm and factory to the foxhole at the front, World War II set a new standard for Army food service.


World War II -Crew of a new tank destroyer show their enthusiasm at the arrival of the rations truck with their Christmas turkey. 5th Army, Bisomo Area, Italy -1944

The immediate postwar years saw only marginal improvements in the development of field rations, with the Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) gradually replacing C-Rations. The Army introduced the 5-pound, canned E-Ration in 1947 and a host of new "survival food packets" for various climates, precooked frozen meals, "quick serve" group rations, and more brand name accessories and sundry packs.


Korea - Members of Task Force Indianhead set up hot coffee on the capitol ground less than 24 hours after the liberation of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, Korea -21 October 1950

Still in all, Army cooks in the Korean Conflict from 1950 to 1953 found themselves using much the same types of rations and equipment as their World War II counterparts of a few years back.


Korea - Men of Company A, 1st Bn, 19th Inf Reg, 24th Infantry Division receive their New Year's Day dinner on the main line of resistance in the field. -1 January 1952

Experimenters at Natick Laboratories outside Boston, Massachusetts in the mid- to late-fifties did extensive testing on irradiated food products. These never reached the fielding stage.



The 1950s, however, did seem to take full advantage of the postwar revolution in commercial kitchen appliances to help modernize garrison dining facilities throughout the military. (Here we have to remind ourselves that the Quartermaster food service mission involves far more than wartime field feeding and the evolution of combat rations.



After all, most of the soldiers, most of the time, even in the face of modern war, will find themselves eating in a garrison-type setting. So improvements in this area too are vitally important.)

A tour through a late-fifties vintage, up-to-date dining facility might reveal such marvelous innovations as: an electric "potato peeler" or "KP’s delight" (technical name Vegetable Peeling Machine) capable of peeling 100 to 400 pounds of potatoes per hour. A 140-quart, Vertical-Type Rotary Mixing Machine for mixing doughs, batters, potatoes and the like. Large-scale refrigerators called "reach-in boxes." Stoves and ranges with "hot tops" and griddles, and an assortment of "range assistants" (steam kettles, deep-fat fryers, bain marie or "veggie warmers," and triple deck ovens). A conveyor-type toaster for toasting upwards of 500-600 slices of bread per hour. And a shiny new twin coffee urn, for perking 15 gallons of java at a time. And, of course, an industrial strength dishwasher to help clean up. Though taken for granted by today’s Food Service Specialists, these must have been rather awe-inspiring devices a half-century ago.



From Saigon to Dhahran. One thing can be said with certainty about Vietnam – "America’s longest war" – the US soldiers there ate well. Not from the moment the first troops arrived, but over time as the logistics infrastructure improved. By the late 1960s, it was not uncommon to find ice cream and eggs to order at far-flung fire support bases. The Sea Land Corporation off-loaded large refrigerator cargo vans and convoyed them to major distribution centers throughout the country. Use of helicopters permitted troops in the field to enjoy garrison-type meals almost on a daily basis.

In 1965-66, subsistence personnel instituted the "Push Package" system to funnel rations into South Vietnam. With the rapid buildup of troops in-country, it did not take long to convert from MCI feeding to the feeding of B-Ration meats and components of the A-Ration. By 1969 a new 28-day menu had been successfully instituted, reducing somewhat the need for refrigeration. More than 90 percent of the meals were being served hot.


Vietnam era chow line

Troops on patrol could usually expect at least one hot meal a day delivered in insulated food containers. At other times they could rely on canned MCIs and the newly created Long Range Patrol (LRP) Packets, with their assortment of dehydrated components. Also, new ration sundry packs contained such items as candy, tobacco products, stationery, shoe laces and sewing kits. For those stationed at base camps in the rear, the 1968 "cantonment mess" project led to major upgrades in dining facilities all across Vietnam.

In the quarter-century since the war ended in Southeast Asia in 1973, there have been other major changes in the way America’s Army is fed. Thermal processed Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), sealed in soft brown, lightweight retort pouches, were added to the growing family of field rations in the late 1970s and fielded in the decade that followed. To these were later added flameless ration heaters, giving soldiers the option of eating a balanced hot meal anytime, anywhere. Since then, the variety of MRE menus has also expanded.



With the sudden call-up and rapid expansion of troops sent to Saudi Arabia in late summer 1990 in response to Operation Desert Shield, Army food service personnel faced an enormous challenge: how to feed a force of nearly 400,000 troops, deployed at a distance of some 8,000 miles from home, in an inhospitable desert environment. Yet, they more than met the challenge - served upwards of 94 million meals over the course of six months. Broke new ground by maximizing the use of host nation support in the form of contracted dining facilities, milk, bread, fresh fruits and vegetables. And successfully used a mixture of B-Rations, MREs and T-Rations (Tray Packs) for field feeding. Operation Desert Shield/Storm also saw the hurry-up development and fielding of such unique items as pouch bread and slow-to-melt, high-energy "Desert Bars."

Today’s Food Service Specialist is the product of more than two-and-a-quarter centuries of steady change and improvement. From the constant introduction of new technology and our increased understanding of the body’s dietary requirements, to the vastly improved training environment provided every soldier who attends the Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence (ACES) located at Fort Lee, Virginia, the message is the same. The US Army Quartermaster Corps remains committed to Supporting Victory – and to the idea of The Best Feeding the Best.

---

---

FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

careful what you ask for on Google

I've learned. LOL. Ewww, rats!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for the good quotes by Napoleon and Patton. :)

[SAMWolf]

On a cold morning, nothing beat hot SOS and coffee.

[Colonel_Flagg]

I have absolutely no clue about such things. I draw the line at plug-and-play.

I did get a new office PC last week to replace one that was six years old. Talk about a quantum leap. Wow!

[SAMWolf]

Plus you get more meat with the ground beef. :-)

[SAMWolf]

I have absolutely no clue about such things

That's makes two of us.

[snippy_about_it]

Ewwww on the Spam Johnny. I grew up having to eat that as it was cheap meat, don't think I'll eat it again unless I have to.

[snippy_about_it]

Now I just told Johnny how I grew up eating Spam and prefer not to any more now that I can afford to eat real meat.

However, my dad, (Army) used to cook for us and I've had SOS with both ground and thin sliced beef, both are good and you are right SAM, it's the sauce/gravy that makes it good.

[HiJinx]

Military Intellegence School.

No way!? 10th SFG and 39th Engineers means you're talking about Ft. Devens, MA! I was there for both basic and advanced NCO schools...let's see...arrrgh!!! I can't remember exactly when...'86 for ANCOC, I think, and '84 for BNCOC.

[stand watie]

TRUE!

[stand watie]

question. do you know what state eats the most SPAM per capita????

free dixie,sw

[Samwise]

This old soldier's daughter likes SOS. LOL. Dad used to make it when I was a kid, and he taught me how to make it too. No Stouffer's at my house.

[stand watie]

good for you!

did you read post 40?

free the southland,sw

[SAMWolf]

No idea. Which one?

[Samwise]

I made the best! About 40 gallons for breakfast..

We're all coming to your house for breakfast tomorrow! But you have to make it fresh!

[snippy_about_it]

Now there's a trivia question. Let's see, without acting on the urge to look it up on google, how about Florida?

[The Mayor]

I was at Devens from 76 to 79 and back as a civilian in 81. It bums me out that it is closed. Many, many memories. My X worked at Cutler Army Hospital in the records dept. She is now at Hanscom AFB.

retired down here at Ft. Huachuca in Sierra Vista

You live in Sorry Vista....LOL, I lived in Tucson for 8 years..

[stand watie]

HAWAII!

they even put it on pizza, w/pineapple!

GAG!

off to work. more later.

free dixie,sw

[snippy_about_it]

Now there's a meal for these cold mornings, coffee and SOS.

[Samwise]

did you read post 40?

I hope you don't mind me eavesdropping, but we're all in the same living room. :^)