"Do what you can with what you've got wherever you are."-- Theodore Roosevelt
Field Ration DAn emergency ration, proposed for the cavalry in 1932, is generally considered the direct forerunner of Field Ration D. The item then suggested was a 12-ounce bar of equal parts of bitter chocolate, sugar, and peanut butter. Although palatable, the experimental bar had poor keeping qualities, was thirst-provoking, and had poor acceptance. While it did not progress beyond the experimental stage, it did provide groundwork for experiments on -a concentrated ration which were initiated by the Subsistence School in 1935.Originally, the 1935 development was called the Logan bar in recognition of Col. Paul Logan, then head of the Subsistence School. The Logan bar was designed to provide the highest possible caloric value in the smallest package and yet retain sufficient palatability to be used daily. Its ingredients were chocolate, sugar, oat flour, cacao fat, skim milk powder, and artificial flavoring. Three 4-ounce bars-wrapped in aluminum foil, then overwrapped and sealed in parchment paper-constituted a ration. Despite the requirement that it qualify for continued daily use, the Logan bar was never considered by its developers for other than emergency or stopgap purposes. It was procured on an experimental basis in 1937 and was submitted for field trials during the ensuing year. Although judged by the tests to be satisfactory only as an emergency ration, the bar was proposed for "standardization" in 1939 in the dual capacity of both a "reserve" and an "emergency" ration. The spirited discussion of the conflicting concept of the new ration implied in this dual designation had the happy result of bringing about a revision of the Army regulation covering rations and of identifying the bar as Field Ration D, the official emergency ration.25By June of 1940, a tentative specification had been written and the Army was in position to inaugurate large-scale procurement of D bars. Trial production brought refinements to the method of manufacture but wrought no basic change in original structure and composition. Full-scale production was initiated in 1941 and monthly output swelled from 200,000 in September 1941 to ten million a year later.Field Ration CThis ration resulted from prewar attempts to produce a stable, palatable, nutritionally balanced combat ration which would provide the individual soldier with three full meals per day.26 Although isolated attempts to develop "meals-in-a-can were reported as early as 1932, 27 the initial research for the C ration was credited to Maj. W. R. McReynolds, first director (1936-38) of the SR&DL. McReynolds proposed to supplement the reserve ration with a complete meal-such as beef stew, beef with noodles, family-style dinner, lamb stew, and Irish stew-packaged in 12-ounce rectangular cans. By June 1938, this plan evolved into a proposed ration which was to consist of three meat units and three bread units.28 The six-can proposal was looked upon with favor and its development, as a replacement for the reserve ration, was recommended by the Quartermaster Corps Technical Committee. Historians and others have stressed the fact that only $300 was awarded to the Laboratory for continuation of this original development.By 1939, the Laboratory had proposed ten varieties of meat combinations for the ration. Also it recommended that the 12-ounce rectangular can be discontinued and that the ration units be packaged in 16-ounce cylindrical cans. Thus increased, the six-can ration contained 4,437 calories and weighed five pounds ten ounces. By September 1939, it was recognized that the suggestion for ten varieties of meat combinations was probably visionary since manufacturing processes were not yet ready to produce untried combinations. It was necessary, therefore, to reduce the variety of M-units to meat and beans, meat-and-vegetable hash, and meat-and-vegetable stew.This was the form and content of U. S. Army Field Ration C when the revised Army regulation on rations was announced in 1939. It was also the ration procured for the Army maneuvers of1940 where it was subjected to stern field trials. From that test emerged a range of criticisms: the cans were too large and bulky; the meat lacked variety, was too rich, and contained too many beans. Yet, there was agreement that the new C ration was nutritionally adequate and was "one of the best field rations . . . ever issued to the Army." 29As a result of the field recommendations, the 16-ounce can was abandoned and a 12-ounce can adopted as the standard size for the ration. The number of biscuits in the B unit also was reduced and chocolate and soluble coffee added. Production experiences brought improvement in the quality of the meat components. Later changes, effected before the end of 1941, introduced individually wrapped hard candies and chocolate caramels.The first large-scale procurement for 1,500,000 rations, was initiated in August 1941 as the ration was being readied for the under-fire role it occupied during the ensuing war years as "the chief operational ration . . . in use for tactical situations in which the field kitchen cannot be used." 30
The use of these rations after 1941 revealed their inability to meet all the many feeding problems imposed by new combat conditions. Therefore, a succession of rations, individual food packets, and ration supplements was developed and came into use before the war's end. The haste attached to the initial wartime ration development indicated that the country was no better prepared to cope with the food problem in 1941 than with other problems of war supply. The early trial-and-error method was proof, too, that haste made waste. Nevertheless the food program ultimately evolved for the American soldier was firmly based on the premise-"that all troops . . . be fed the best food available in the best and most appetizing form within the realm of reasonable possibility particularly . . . troops in combat." 31 For the citizen soldier, for the most part accustomed to good food in civilian life, "what do we eat" became as important, if not more so, than "when do we eat." In addition to providing an acceptable answer to this query, ration developers had to pay equal attention to military utilization, to stability and storage requirements, to nutritional values, to demands for shipping space, and to the necessity of going beyond commercial practices to protect packaged foods on the long journey from American factories to theaters of action. Add factors of warborn shortages of material and the continued necessity for providing adequate interim substitutes and the magnitude of the ration-development problem in World War II becomes evident.
The activation of mountain troops in 1941 led to a demand for a ration suitable for use in cold, high-altitude climates. The Laboratory was asked to provide a ration that would not exceed 40 ounces in weight, be easy to cook at high altitudes, stress compact packaging, contain 4,800 calories and items of adequate roughage capable of slow digestion. The resultant specification in November 1942 proposed that the mountain ration consist of food for four men for one day. The basic components of three menus making up the ration included: -Carter's spread (a butter substitute)-soluble coffee -dry milk -biscuits -hard candy -cereal (three varieties) -dehydrated cheese -D ration bars -fruit bars -gum -lemon-juice powder -dehydrated soup -salt -sugar -tea -cigarettes -toilet paper Menu 1 offered variety with luncheon meat and dehydrated baked beansmenu 2 added corned beef and dehydrated potatoesMenu 3 included pork sausage meat and precooked riceThe components were assembled in a solid fiber carton labeled "U. S. Army Mountain Ration." Three cartons, one of each menu, were over-packed in a similarly labeled outer carton.45
Although the possibility of packing the B ration in units of ten was suggested early in the war, progress on such an arrangement did not begin until 1943 when the Mountain, Jungle, and 5-in-1 rations were discontinued. The success of the British "compo" or 14-in-1 ration during the North African campaign in 1942 and the movement to classify field rations into four categories added other reasons for the interest in a 10-in-1 ration. A guide to its rapid development was furnished in the following 1943 definition:A small-group field ration [shall be] composed of components of the standard field ration type B (modified to reduce bulk and weight) packed in basic packages of five complete rations each. . . . The inner and outer packages are to be proof against water, vapor, moisture, and chemical agents. They are to be of such shape and dimensions as to be suitable for either animal-pack or man-carry, and sufficiently sturdy as to material and construction to withstand normal handling and transportation in motor vehicles, on pack animals or by man carry.51Specification requirements were quickly published and the ration was standardized as the replacement for the other group rations. Although superseding the 5-in-1, the 10-in-l was essentially two 5-in-1's packed in one unit. Within such a combination, it was possible to offer a greater variety of components. This was effected by increasing the number of "menus" to five in comparison to the three-menu arrangement of the 5-in-1. In ensuing war years, several revisions were made to the original specification but the basic plan of five menus, each containing sufficient food for ten men for one day, remained unaltered. Within the daily plan, complete group meals were specified for breakfast and supper while a "partial dinner unit was provided for the luncheon meal.