Author Topic: British mess halls in Iraq (Read 751 times)

rpm · « **Reply #15 on:** August 03, 2005, 04:13:08 AM »

The US feeds it's troops well. It's been that way for a long time. Officers pay for their meals, enlisted don't. Lobster and steak are not uncommon.

Brits on the otherhand are operating on a tighter budget. They are also handicapped by Brit food. Bangers and mash, anyone?

SMIDSY · « **Reply #16 on:** August 03, 2005, 04:37:09 AM »

im clinging to the dilusion that the brit squaddies dont need lobster to keep up morale cuz they are already so bad-ass. i believe that the infantry of her magesty's army are, and have been since the new model army, the finest soldiers in terms of profesionalism in the world.

PS
the french forien legion is quite astounding in their own right.

Gh0stFT · « **Reply #17 on:** August 03, 2005, 05:00:24 AM »

bah Lobsters! what counts is Bratwurst & Sauerkraut,
Schnaps and Liebfraumilch !

Nilsen · « **Reply #18 on:** August 03, 2005, 05:09:27 AM »

When i called to get the papers to apply for officer candidate school i asked all 4 sevices to drop their menues in the envelope with the other papers....

Navy all the way from there

SMIDSY · « **Reply #19 on:** August 03, 2005, 05:46:56 AM »

BOO-YAH!! NAVY ALL THE WAY.

Replicant · « **Reply #20 on:** August 03, 2005, 07:19:50 AM »

I heard from colleagues in Iraq & Afghanistan that the USMC thought that the British food was excellent compared to theirs! They loved the British issue ration pack and would swap loads of equipment for supplies!

Gunthr · « **Reply #21 on:** August 03, 2005, 08:40:27 AM »

I found this, Replicant ... it supports what you said:

Quote

... The British Army today has a much better field diet in the form of a 24-hour "ratpack" (ration pack) thought by many other armies to be the best in the world. It's useful to examine the contents of the British ratpack when planning and assembling your own rations for Militia field duty. Each ratpack weighs about 4-1/2 pounds, comes in a cardboard box with a range card printed on the side and is issued with a folding stove and hexamine solid fuel tablets or a sterno type jellied fuel cooker. There is a menu card showing the suggested breakdown for a breakfast, snack and main meal. The meal plan for the ratpack is not very different from the meals consumed by many backpackers; a quick, easy to prepare breakfast, high carbohydrate snacks eaten throughout the day's activities, and a more hearty main meal. Breakfast consists of a rolled oats porridge mix, a can of bacon grill or baconburger (which can be eaten cold or fried), brown biscuits (plain dense cookie/crackers not unlike hardtack with some sugar) and powdered cocoa. The snack is placed in uniform pockets or an equipment belt pouch (never in an ammo pouch; in a firefight, reaching for a magazine and coming up with a chocolate bar can get you seriously killed). The snack is consumed throughout the day as desired and as the mission allows. It consists of more brown biscuits, a small tin of meat spread (chicken, ham, beef, or chicken & bacon), a milk chocolate bar, a roll of hard flavored sugar candy, chocolate covered caramels and lemon or orange flavored dextrose (glucose) tablets. There are four different main meal menus, all in cans; chicken curry, steak & kidney pudding, steak & onion casserole and minced steak. The main meal also has fruit filled biscuits, instant soup, a side dish (mixed vegetable, pre-cooked minute rice, spaghetti in tomato sauce or beans in tomato sauce) and a fruit dessert (instant apple flakes, apple & apricot flakes, fruit salad or mixed fruit pudding). The 24-hour ratpack also contains six 25-gram sugar packets, four tea bags and several one-cup serving instant drink packets (four dried skim milk powder, two coffee, one beef stock and one orange or lemon drink powder) and sundries (chewing gum, toilet paper, salt, book matches, windproof & waterproof matches, water purification tablets and a P-38 type folding can opener). Where possible, fresh rations are issued to supplement the ratpack, but it provides a balanced diet of excellent quality and has enough calories and vitamins to keep a soldier going on all but the most arduous tasks."

Gunslinger · « **Reply #22 on:** August 03, 2005, 11:40:11 AM »

wow that doesnt sound that bad Gunthr.

Of course there are probably very few of you that have ever had a "chow hall steak" or a "Chow hall lobster"

They arent much to brag about. Have you ever known Iraq to be popular for it's cow population or crab season?

In addition these are military cooks.

straffo · « **Reply #23 on:** August 03, 2005, 11:54:16 AM »

In fact it's nothing but historic

See what a lanc crew wrote (from the september FlyPast)

eskimo2 · « **Reply #24 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:33:33 PM »

I spent a month in Britain in 1984. The only palatable meals that I had were Chinese take out and fish and chips. I am not a picky eater, but British food is just awful. I have nothing but respect for Britain and its citizens, but they just don’t “get” food. I find it hard to believe that these military “Rat Packs” are anything but nutritious. And let’s face it; the reason why the British soldiers are thin is because they don’t eat any more than they absolutely need to.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #25 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:36:13 PM »

This reminds me of one of my favorite jokes:

Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and it's all organized by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and it's all organized by the Italians.

eskimo

Skydancer · « **Reply #26 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:40:12 PM »

Thats great!

Skydancer · « **Reply #27 on:** August 03, 2005, 12:41:36 PM »

Straffo

Might've had something to do with the battle of the atlantic and rationing!

Chortle · « **Reply #28 on:** August 03, 2005, 02:37:09 PM »

Lunch is or wimps.