The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained individual United States military ration used by the United States Armed Forces and Department of Defense. It is intended for use by American service members in combat or field conditions where other food is not available. MREs have also been distributed to civilians as humanitarian daily rations during natural disasters and wars.
Menu 2, Shredded Beef, and Menu 13, Cheese Tortellini, from the 2019 series
The contents of MRE Menu 2, Shredded Beef
A pair of flameless ration heaters. The instructions advise that they should be rested against a "rock or something".
Meritorious Civilian Service Award presented to Abdul Rahman, father of the modern day MRE
United States military ration
United States military ration refers to the military rations provided to sustain United States Armed Forces service members, including field rations and garrison rations, and the military nutrition research conducted in relation to military food. U.S. military rations are often made for quick distribution, preparation, and eating in the field and tend to have long storage times in adverse conditions due to being thickly packaged or shelf-stable.
U.S. Air Force airmen serving Unitized Group Rations prepared in a single palletized expeditionary kitchen
An American soldier boiling his rations using rolls of silk to create a cooking fire without smoke, 1917
U.S. Army soldiers eating C-rations during the Italian campaign of World War II, 1943
A U.S. Marine eating an MRE, 2005. This Marine is taking part in "The Crucible" training course, part of which has trainees ration their MREs over a three-day period.