November 2,
2008: British troops fighting in Afghanistan are doing so with far fewer
amenities than they had when stationed in Iraq. There, they operated from large
bases, with beds, good food, Internet access and so on. In Afghanistan, the
combat troops are often out in the countryside for months at a time, operating
from small, very temporary and primitive bases. It did take long for the
officers to realize that the one thing the troops missed the most was decent
food. Out in the hills, they were living on ration packs (similar to American
MREs). But they also had the 10-man Ration Pack, which could be used like MREs,
or, in the hands of a trained military cook (or chef, as they are called in the
British Army), be prepared in a tastier fashion. The 10-man Ration Pack was
meant to be used with limited kitchen equipment, but some of the military chefs
were quite imaginative. So the army created a pocket sized, 62 page book
containing the most successful of the recipes and preparation techniques that
the best army chefs have developed. This has turned out to be a big boost for
troops morale, at least for those stationed out in the hills of Afghanistan.
