What I do for the Army

So, if anyone was wondering what I do for the U.S. Army - well, I'm a journalist or more correctly a 46Q. It's nice to have synergy somewhere in my life. Not that it really helps. This is the most recent article that I worked on - it was for a health issues magazine our unit put together which I helped edit. Enjoy.

Spc. Olivia Cobiskey
318th Press Camp Headquarters

Chicago -- Master Sgt. Emilia G. Shumpert didn't eat the rabbit or the rattle snake during her survival course.
"I survived on wild spinach, pine needle tea, and ant eggs," said Shumpert, who has been a vegetarian for nearly four decades. "I was very weak and hallucinated a bit by the end of the week."
With longer deployments Soldiers like Shumpert, who for philosophical, religious, or medical reasons do not eat certain foods, are having to make some tough choices?
The hardest is when to compromise those beliefs. Shumpert said she fell off the "veggie wagon" for a couple of years after basic training in 1985.
"I've been an ova-lacto, pesce vegetarian since the late-70s," Shumpert said. "(But) I was so hungry and the drill sergeants didn't give you much of a choice."
So, she decided to start eating meat during basic training. However, she quickly returned to a diet that doesn't include meat. And remained one even though she later married a "carnivore."
"I just cook two different items most days. I decided to become a vegetarian somewhat for health reasons, but mostly for environmental and humane concerns. Factory Farms continue to pollute our waterways and destroy our land," Shumpert said. "Also, if you don't eat your dog or cat then why eat your lamb, or pig? They feel pain too."
She even managed to stay a vegetarian while deployed to Argentina, beef capitol of the world.
"I survived on bread, cheese and wine, salads, and onion and cheese empanadas," said Shumpert, who is currently NCOIC for Recruiting and Retention Joint Forces HQ New Mexico.
While Shumpert found local fare that met her dietary needs, for some being deployed means eating MREs at least once a day.
MREs, individual Meal, Ready-to-Eat have long been the source of ridicule from "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians" during the 1980 when a famine ravaged Ethiopia and killed nearly one million people or more recently "Three Lies: It's not a Meal, it's not Ready, and you can't Eat it."
The military has worked on improving the meals increasing choices from 14 in the 1980s to the 24 currently available, offering more exotic entrees like Chicken Tetrazzini, Jambalaya and Penne with vegetables and sausage in spicy tomato sauce. However, unlike a restaurant a Soldier can not ask the kitchen for substitutions or changes to the meal.
Army Regulation 40-25 (AR 40-25), Nutrition Standards and Education, published in June 2001, recommend 3,250 calories for male and 2,300 calories for female Soldiers, respectively, when they engage in moderate activity typical of most Soldiers. However, some Soldier's needs increase during military deployment, perhaps as high as 4300 calories a day or even higher for some active male Soldiers whose military duties are very physically demanding like infantry or combat engineers.
"No one calorie level meets every Soldiers' needs. Caloric requirements vary depending on sex, age, body size, and especially physical activity of military duties. The vast array of jobs Soldiers do, cause individual caloric requirements to differ widely," said Holly McClung, MS RD, Research Dietitian, Military Nutrition Division, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Massachusetts. "However, Soldiers with relatively sedentary jobs, even when deployed require fewer calories. For these Soldiers deployment may interfere with exercise programs, and weight gain may become a problem. Both weight gain and excessive weight loss impedes the performance of our Soldiers during deployment and therefore Soldiers need to learn to adjust intake to maintain stable body weight."
For soldiers who are vegetarian this makes getting enough protein a serious concern.
However, MREs are not the only source of nutrition for most Soldiers during deployment, McClung said.
"Typically one MRE is consumed at lunch with a more traditional meal eaten for breakfast and dinner," she continued.
The Military Recommended Daily Intake (MDRIs, listed in AR 40-25) for protein ranges from 0.4 to 0.7 grams of protein per pound body weight, or about 50 grams of protein for a small woman to about 120 grams of protein for a large male, McClung said. One MRE provides about 30 grams of protein per meal. And four vegetarian MREs are available - cheese and vegetable omelet, veggie burger in BBQ sauce, cheese tortellini and vegetable manicotti - which also each provide 30 grams of protein per meal.
Major protein sources within the vegetarian MRE meals range from the main entree (8-22 g protein/serving), sport bars (3-9g/bar), nut mixes/butters (8-14 g/serving), cheese spread (5-6 g protein/serving) and dairy shakes (20 g/shake).
However, while some vegetarians, lacto-ova, eat dairy produces others, vegans, don’t eat any animal products at all.
"Although the MRE provides the required protein, whether the Soldier actually eats it depends on the type of vegetarian restriction, lacto-ova vs. vegan, and individual likes and dislikes," McClung said.
Shumpert isn't a fan of the vegetarian MREs calling them "bland."
"I almost prefer a regular MRE that has peanut butter, crackers and cheese spread," said Shumpert, a member of the New Mexico National Guard. "I'm 5 foot 3 inches and 130 pounds, so for me those are enough calories to keep me going."
However, sometimes she carries protein bars, just incase.
With only four vegetarian choices in the traditional MREs units with Soldiers who keep kosher or halal have to order specially made MREs for their soldiers.
Kosher law is based on the tenets of the Old Testament book of Leviticus and regulates the preparation and cleanliness of food. The word kosher is an adaptation of the Hebrew word meaning "fit" or "proper."
Kosher products not only fulfill the dietary laws of "kashrut" for Jews, but meet the requirements of Muslims and some Seventh-day Adventists who follow similar dietary restrictions. One of the main requirements of "kashrut" is the separation of meat and dairy. So, many vegetarians looking for products that contain no animal by-products look for the dairy kosher products.
Muslims also will purchase kosher-certified food. However, even though both religions forbid the consumption of pork, Islam also forbids the consumption of alcohol. Food manufacturers use ethyl alcohol to create powdered products or dissolve flavoring which would make the final product "unclean" according to Islamic dietary law.
The kosher MREs are produced by a Chicago-based company My Own Meal® which has created and supplied the US Military with its kosher ration needs since Desert Storm, the first Gulf War.
According to the My Own Meal® website kosher military rations are not like standard military-issue rations. Unlike standard MREs, components in the kosher military rations are commercial products in commercial packaging with brand names you know. Unlike standard MREs which are produced and then stored for about 3 or more years before being sent to our men and women in the armed services to eat in the field, My Own Meal® kosher rations with names like My Kind of Chicken, Chicken Mediterranean, Chicken & Noodles, Chicken & black Beans, Beef Stew, Old World Stew, Pasta with Garden Vegetables, Vegetarian Stew, Cheese Tortellini, and Florentine Lasagna are assembled and shipped to sailors, soldiers, airmen/women, and marines to enjoy right away.
One of the perks of kosher MREs is they offer an entire case, 12 meals, of vegetarian entrees. The case includes six dairy meals and six pareve (non-dairy) meals. The My Own Meal entrees are also a great option for Soldiers with allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts just to name a few.
McClung said Soldiers can develop allergies as adults. Soldiers are advised to read food labels before consuming MRE foods. All MRE components have food labels similar to those on grocery store food which list serving size and content: calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein, vitamin and minerals. In addition, all MRE manufacturers now list the eight most allergenic ingredients: wheat (gluten), milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and soy that are in food on the food label.
"Any Solider with a suspected food allergy should seek medical evaluation and speak with a Military Dietitian for advice prior to deployment," McClung said. "Allergic symptoms vary from gastrointestinal bloating, abdominal pain, skin irritations such as hives, rashes, eczema, to more severe symptoms like migraine headaches, anaphylaxis or loss of consciousness."

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Interested in ordering MREs from My Own Meal®
The exact procedure is unique to each service, but here is some general information to get the ball rolling. The NSN for the Kosher Ration is 8970-01-E10-0001. The point of contact is Tom Carlin at (215) 737-7348, DSN 444-7348 or by email at: Thomas.Carlin@dla.mil.