CRISIS IN THE PERSIAN GULF : Even in Desert, U.S. Army Is Still Traveling on Its Stomach

Even when they’re out in the broiling heat of the Saudi Arabian desert, the Army has square meals for its troops, albeit tinned food that has a three-year shelf life.

Although the Pentagon will not disclose how many troops are being dispatched to the Middle East nation to help protect against an Iraqi move, in a typical military exercise individual units send out one mobile field kitchen for every 300 soldiers.

A spokeswoman for the Army Logistics Center at Fort Lee, Va., said in an interview that troops also are equipped with reverse osmosis water purification bladders that can turn out up to 3,000 gallons per hour of fresh water from salt water or brackish water. The gear will supplement supplies drawn from the Saudis.

The Army is recommending that soldiers in the Saudi desert drink several gallons of water a day to avoid dehydration, replacing what they sweat away and what is lost by hot, dry air sapping water through the lungs.

Officials estimate that they must produce 20 gallons of water a day per soldier, with the rest used for cooking, personal hygiene, washing clothes and simply being poured over the head to cool off.

Commanders try to keep the mobile kitchens as close as possible to the troops, and if troops cannot hike in for meals, the food is packed into insulated containers and taken out to them by pickup truck.

And when even that is impossible, said center spokeswoman Joy Whitmore, the soldiers can reach into their packs and pull out the newest in field rations, the “meal, ready-to-eat (MRE).” This is a vacuum-packed meal with an entree, dessert and assorted condiments. It is high in calories--3,600 per package--to provide fuel for a soldier in battle and can be warmed in hot water to make it tastier. But a steady diet of the MREs can tax the taste buds.

The food packs also contain candy, peanut butter and cheese spread with crackers, drink mixes, instant coffee and matches.

Soldiers are sent into the field with three days of MRE meals tucked in their packs, with the heavier hot food service following in early supply shipments.

“The basic scenario is the soldier is given MREs until the rest of the T-rations and everything else catches up,” said Whitmore.

Tins of cooked food (T-rations), which are reheated in water in the field kitchens, include chicken cacciatore and beef tips with gravy. Other tins contain potatoes, rice or macaroni and still more offer various vegetables. Those meals can be kept on the shelf up to three years, and a heated but unopened tin can be reheated safely once.

When fresh food can be shipped in or bought locally, the Army labels the meals as A-rations. The kitchens also can serve up what are known as B-rations, canned items and dehydrated food that can be reconstituted and dished out.

Typically, the military stockpiles food on ships and in depots near potential hot spots. Much of the foodstuffs for the troops in Saudi Arabia is expected to come from stores on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and from supply ships permanently stationed in the region.

The field kitchens are in fact trailers that fold up and can be towed behind a 2 1/2-ton or 5-ton truck.