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Before WW II the US military divided its subsistence requirement (for procurement purposes) into three types of rations: the Garrison Ration, the Field Ration, and the Iron Ration.

The Garrison Ration was what was sent to permanent chow halls in garrison. It was pretty much anything you would find in any other institutional feeding facility. Field Ration was food appropriate for use in a field kitchen on the move. This ration consisted of non-perishable goods—canned food and dry food mostly—that could sit in the back of a wagon or truck for a few months without spoilage. The “Iron” Ration was the idea the US borrowed from the British Army in WW I. Cans of food were issued to each individual soldier to be kept in his pack as an emergency ration, in case he got caught behind the lines or couldn’t get to a field kitchen.

Later the military realized soldiers would dig into their Iron ration anytime they couldn’t get to a field kitchen. They were using it as a “box lunch.” The people in the military subsistence branch decided this wasn’t all bad; in fact it was a pretty good idea. But, there was still a need for and emergency ration, so they developed a fourth category of rations and called it “Emergency Ration.”

In the late ’30s, when the US military was reorganizing to prepare for WW II, it also reorganized its food. Under the new system, the Garrison Ration became “Field Ration A;” the Field Ration became “Field Ration B.” As usual, the troops didn’t use it as an emergency ration; they ate it as candy.

The rations themselves stayed the same, only the names changed. The one change the military made official was that C-rations were no longer considered an emergency ration, they were now used as portable food for when troops couldn’t get to a field kitchen. C-rats weren’t designated to be eaten for more than 3 consecutive days, so the subsistence people initially only developed 3 different menus. This is the main reason C-rats became so hated.

When the US entered WW II there was an initial flurry of enthusiasm for special troops. Each of these special groups wanted their own type of rations. The paratroopers asked for a concentrated “Parachute Ration,” the jungle fighters wanted a “Jungle Ration,” and when the 10th Mountain Division was being organized, they asked Army Subsistence to develop a special “Mountain Ration.” Each of these special rations, as well as life-rations, life-boat rations, and a few others, were assigned a letter from “E” to “J” while they were being developed.

The subsistence group tried its best, but the requests came in faster than they could develop rations to meet them. The last straw came when General Dwight Eisenhower asked for a special concentrated “Assault Ration” for troops to carry with them when they stormed the beaches of Normandy. Finally, the subsistence people cried “foul!” and stopped working on all the special orders. They agreed to develop 1 (and only 1) new concentrated ration that would take the place of the parachute and assault rations. This was called “Field Ration K.” This was probably the most popular field ration with US troops in WW II—except for the British “Compo” ration.

Ernie Pyle wrote so much about how the troops liked British Composite Ration (Compo) that the subsistence people decided to come up with their own Compo ration. The compo ration was based on feeding a group of people rather than the individual. A box of Compo would feed an infantry section (about 8-10 men) for a day or tank crew (around 5 men) for two days. The American answer to this was the “5 in 1” ration (feeds 5 men for 1 day) which was changed to the “10 in 1” ration (essentially 2 “5 in 1” boxes). The 10 in 1 was advertised to feed 10 men for a day, five men for 2 days, or 1 man for 10 days. They even developed a “Squad Cooking Set” to prepare the 10-in-1 ration. This ration got to the troops in late ’44 and early ’45, and they loved it.

By the Korean War the 10-in-1 ration was apparently forgotten and C- and K-rations were again on the menu. Later (Vietnam) C-rations became “Meal, Combat, Individual,” and then even later (pre-Desert Storm) “Meals Ready to Eat” or (Meals Rarely Eaten). The British, on the other hand, still issued an updated version of Compo Ration in Desert Storm.

The Brits originally called it “Iron” ration because it came in metal cans. There are a few cans on display at the Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks, London.

The original parachute ration was to be based on pemmican, an American Indian invention consisting of dried meat (jerky or biltong) pounded into a powder and mixed with dried fruit and melted over suet. Reports were they smelled terrible and tasted worse. The pemmican idea was dropped in favor of conventional crackers.

Compo was essentially a box of lots of cans of food in it. Its primary attraction was the great variety of food it had. Rather than set menus, the British made sure each box had a balance of meat, vegetables, bread, and condiments.

It was developed in just 30 days in the summer of 1942 by the Subsistence Research Laboratory in Chicago, and never in its 60-year history has it been known to break, rust, need sharpening or polishing. Perhaps that is why many soldiers, past and present, regard the P-38 C-ration can opener as the military’s best invention. The tool acquired its name from the 38 punctures required to open a C-ration can, and from the boast that it performed with the speed of the World War II P-38 fighter plane. It is referred to as the “John Wayne” in the Navy.

TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce, made by the McIlhenny Company, was spicing up meals for all of the military in the mess halls and on the battlefield. In fact, TABASCO was used officially by the military as early as the Korean War.