LRP Ration - Origins

Origins

Before the outbreak of World War II, Army commanders had recognized the inadequacy of heavy canned wet rations when employed for infantry marching on long patrols, especially in extreme environments such as mountain or jungle terrain. To this end, the Jungle ration was developed and briefly issued during early World War II. The Jungle Ration was a dry, lightweight mulch-component daily meal that could be stored in light waterproof bags, easily carried by a foot soldier, and which would not spoil when exposed to heat and humidity for an extended period of time. Importantly, the Jungle ration was specifically designed to provide an increased amount of dietary energy despite its lighter weight, ideal for a soldier operating in difficult jungle terrain on foot while carrying all of his equipment on his back. By all accounts the Jungle Ration was successful, however, cost concerns led to its replacement, first by substitution of increasingly heavier and less expensive canned components, followed by complete discontinuance in 1943.

After the war, U.S. army logisticians again re-standardized field rations, eliminating all lightweight rations in favor of heavy canned wet rations such as the C ration and the Meal, Combat, Individual ration. The overuse of heavy canned wet rations reached a ludicrous extreme during the early years of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war, when American soldiers on extended infantry patrol were forced to stack their canned rations in socks to minimize weight and noise.

In response, the Food Packet, Individual, Combat (FPIC), was developed in the early 1960s, though not issued in the field until 1966. The FPIC was designed to be nutritious, lightweight, and easily portable, the descendant of the dehydrated rations used by NASA's astronauts. The ration was originally a response to complaints about the weight of the canned ration. Carrying a multi-day supply of heavy wet canned MCI or C-rations, "a special operations team could become virtually immobile due to the weight of needed supplies. Mobility and stealth are decreased when loads become too heavy, and the soldier is too often worn down by midday. Fatigue affects alertness, making him more vulnerable to detection and error." The ration's final 11 ounces (310 g) weight was a compromise between the original packet's target weight of 5 ounces (140 g) and the base 1 pound (0.45 kg) target weight of the larger experimental Meal, Ready-to-Eat, Individual (MRE-I), a forerunner of the later MRE.

The ration differed from the standard wet-pack Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in that it was a freeze-dried, vacuum-packed individual ration meal weighing 11 ounces (310 g) packed in a waterproof grey-green canvas envelope lined with aluminum foil. Due to its discovered tendency to spoil in a wet or humid environment (i.e., all of South-east Asia), later ration packs came enclosed in an outer zip-lock clear-plastic bag to keep out the moisture. This drawback made it less than desirable as a standard ration.