Inter-service branch rivalry. Worth fighting over????

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druryj

In Remembrance / Dec 27 2021
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MRE's are dangerous.
We were doing a field training exercise on the Big Island in Hawaii, and me and a few of my guys got the okay to roll our poncho liners out in a GP (general purpose) supply tent back in the rear that the REMFs were using to store cases of MREs in. Wow! It was great! We actually had a dry place to sleep for a few hours for a change; more often than not, we just slept in a mud hole or under a pile of dead brush or in the weeds or something when we were in the field. Anyways, back to my story; and this is no-shizz by the way: Sometime during the night, I woke up to the sound of squealing and grunting and cardboard between shredded. 25 watts of blazing brain power slowly came on and I realized those damn pigs were in the tent and into the MREs! So, being the sharp-minded Marine I are, I sat up and popped my hi-intensity guvmint issued flashlight on and yelling Marine Corps crap (Oohrah; mostly, I imagine) at the pigs, pointed it in the general area of the commotion...Holy Crap! What I thought at the time must be the biggest pig on the island was right in my face, staring at me, sitting there under an about to collapse GP tent surrounded by torn boxes of MREs and quaking under my poncho liner. I think the smell of bowels almost being evacuated is what scared the hellish beasts off. Anyway...we just stayed awake until first light and on a high alert as we wanted to make sure the damn things didn't come back. The supply tent and carefully stacked cases of MREs was a jumbled, torn, shredded mess. We GTFO outta there as soon as we could and hit the hills, doing a patrol of some kind or the other; I can't really remember. Before too much longer, one of the Marines with my group found a dead pig...it looked like the thing had swallowed a grenade and it blew up. I think he got into too many of the dehydrated strawberries or something; that crap swole all up inside his pig belly once he ate 'em and basically; he exploded from the over extended gut thing one gets from expanding MREs. Those dehydrated "food-like" products were like those old sponges that get about 15 times bigger when you add water (or pig belly fluids). So; fellow OSA'ers, I repeat:
MRE's are dangerous.
 

Chuckie

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Never tried an MRE but did chow down on my share of C-Rats back in the day. With a tad bit of Tobasco added = good groceries, for sure.

I do credit those C-Rats with my [now] ability to eat just about any food product . . . unfortunately, I also credit that ability to enjoy almost any food products as the reason for my, um . . . girth.:grumble:
 
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John6185

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Sleep well tonight, your Air Force is Alert! They really do have a shortage of pilots.
 

Rod Snell

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I once had the privilege of teaching in a highly technical service school that was transitioning to a truly all-service school, with the Marines the last ones to be incorporated. I was sensitive to the fact that some of our students were battle heroes who had been reduced to permanent rank simply as part of the ongoing drawdown, and one wearing 2LT Bars had several rows of battle ribbons, but was getting a little carried away with pranks and "pimping" the other services.
When I went in to teach my part of the class and rolled down the power screen, it had a huge poster "The Marines Are Looking For a Few Good Men."
I read the poster aloud, carefully and thoughtfully, and commented on the high-quality motivation. I rolled the poster carefully and deadpanned that "most of us air force guys spent our off duty time looking for a few good women, but do not criticize our "sister services." THEN I LAID THE POSTER QUIETLY ON THE HERO'S DESK WITH A quiet, "Here you are , Captain" (his brevet rank awarded in battle).
The class exploded with laughter, and we had a great class from then on, a group of men and women specially selected to learn new equipment and science designed to keep people alive.

I truly miss working with all the wonderful men and women I was privileged to serve with, from all the Armed Services. Of my full career, 17 years was in some flavor of joint unit where not all the blue uniforms were Air Force. Thank God for the young people who continue to volunteer to serve today.
And yes, Air Force has the best shore billets, but the Navy might have the best chow.

Snell, LTC, USAF (Ret)
 

druryj

In Remembrance / Dec 27 2021
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Well, it's probably a toss-up, as far I'm concerned, as to whether the Air Force or the Navy had the best chow. But the Marine Corps damn sure had the worst. There's been plenty of times I'd just sit on my pack and eat left over C-Rats (and later, MREs) as
drag my worn-out self over to the chowhall and try to choke some of the "food" down. But then, there's been a few times I'd come in late at night with my guys and we'd have something hot and waiting for us too. It might not have belonged in Martha Stewart's kitchen, but at the time, it tasted pretty darn good and it sure was appreciated.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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dennishoddy

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Never tried an MRE but did chow down on my share of C-Rats back in the day. With a tad bit of Tobasco added = good groceries, for sure.

I do credit those C-Rats with my [now] ability to eat just about any food product . . . unfortunately, I also credit that ability to enjoy almost any food products as the reason for my, um . . . girth.:grumble:
Meatballs and spaghetti were the only C-rats that were edible. 4 pack of lucky strikes or Pall Malls, and a few squares of Tpaper in the can.
Still carry a P-38 on my key ring for deer season snacks in a can that need opening.

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