-Feeding An Army In The Desert-
With the 82nd being the first boots on the ground in Saudi Arabia, they had to make due before logistics could catch up with them. In regards to food, this means that for the first few days they were reduced to “brown bag” lunches; MRE’s or “Meals, Ready To Eat”. Beginning in 1981 these were the US military’s new take on the field ration and came vacuum sealed and plastic bag packed. These meals were tolerable in a pinch and mostly edible, but quickly begin to become repulsive after having to tolerate the same handful of cold menus over and over. 1990-91 saw a new menu of these meals, but it was not uncommon to find meals from the 88-89, 1987, and even 1986 menus. Some unlucky souls even reported getting old C-rations.
Below is an example from my collection of a meal the 82nd might have been subjected to. One I remember eating as a kid.
The MRE’s didn’t last very long though, and this left the logisticians in the 82nd scrambling for other sources of sustainment. At Falcon Forward, local Saudi businesses were contracted to deliver meals but these were found to be underwhelming and not at all filling. Some of the fruits that were received with this catering also caused cases of dysentery.
But luckily, there was a familiar restaurant right down the road. Hardees had opened in the city of Dharhan in 1981 and this seemed a bit more reputable and maybe a bit more palatable than contracting with Saudi food vendors. The only problem with this was the size of the orders meant that lunch for some soldiers was 6 or 8 hours late and arrived cold. At first, lukewarm cheeseburgers were probably a welcome relief from “brown bagging” it, but after eating the same meal for several days anything can become odious. Eventually more MRE’s showed up and the 82nd moved to Falcon Base where a PX and proper field kitchen were established and where “Class A” meals began arriving.
In addition to the better Class A’s, T-rations were also used at various times and in various places. The T-ration is unitized group ration somewhere between an MRE and a Class A. It’s not fresh but it’s a little more like real food.
Holiday meals are always a big deal for deployed soldiers. Christmas and Thanksgiving are guaranteed good eating in the army. Both these holidays were celebrated at Abqaiq with the kind of meal the troopers of the 82nd might have gotten at home. Below is a menu from Thanksgiving.
One other odd footnote in the food history of Desert Storm/Shield was the Hershey’s “Desert Bar”, a chocolate bar especially formulated for hot environments where normal chocolate would turn to liquid. These were dreamed up well before 1990 but Hershey’s ended up really spooling up production during the conflict and a large number of them ended up in the hands of servicemen in Saudi Arabia.
Reviews I’ve read have been mixed. In a vacuum like the KSA, they were probably tolerable. Compared to normal chocolate, they were likely to be noticeably worse. Servicemen found creative ways to use them though. Added to hot coffee, warmed on the hood of a vehicle to make them a little softer, and even coated in MRE peanut butter.
In the post war rush to capitalize on the conflict, Hershey’s also pushed the remaining stock of these things onto the civilian market, and I remember seeing them next to Reese’s and Snickers at a gas station.
Besides food, being in a desert means that hydration is important and sometimes difficult. At first, most hydration was in the form of water bottled in Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries, including common brands like Al Rawdatain, Gulfa, and Alwadi. These were purchased by the truckload and it’s not uncommon to see photos of soldiers and marines carrying around a large water bottle in their BDU pockets. The army’s logistics and sustainment troops would eventually catch up the with the 82nd and provide clean water, but at a price. For starters, the water was heavily treated and tasted chlorinated. It was also served either room temperature (if one were lucky) or more often than not, very hot. Soldiers were expected to hydrate by drinking numerous canteens full of this wretched hot “pool water” each day, and it became less a way to satiate thirst and more an unpleasant chore that had to be completed. There were some ways to soften the blow; troopers realized that Kool-Aid and Gatorade mix made the chlorine taste less noticeable, but it still did nothing for the temperature.
As the weather grew colder and freezing temperatures became typical in the mornings and evenings, that same hot pool water had a tendency to accumulate ice inside the canteens, which could block water flow altogether. Soldiers adapted to this by turning thier canteens upside down in thier covers, allowing ice to accumulate at the bottom of the canteen instead of at the top.
Commercial beverages also found their way into camp. It’s not uncommon to see photos of US servicemen holding Arabic-labeled Pepsi, Fanta, and other less well known colas. Fruit Juices were also readily available “on the economy”, and were very popular in the KSA. Below is a likely soldier bring back from KSA, a brand called Hi-Cola.
