Marines caught short by lack of loo rolls
Discussion
BRITISH troops deploying to Kuwait have discovered that they are to be more than fighting partners with the Americans. They are also expected to use their lavatory paper.
After stocks failed to reach Royal Marines now training in the desert, soldiers are fast running out of essentials. They are even having to eat American rations.
The American meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) are considered so poor that in the build-up to the last Gulf War in 1991, US troops begged to swap their rations for the British ones.
Officials with the Defence Logistics Organisation insisted that hundreds of thousands of rations and loo rolls have arrived in Kuwait for the British troops, but some of the stocks appear to have got stuck in warehouses.
There had been some local distribution problems, officials admitted, and the British troops have had to turn to their American allies for support. Military personnel hated being short of the vital commodity and tended to grab loo rolls when they had a chance to ensure a continuous supply.
The quartermasters in charge of stores were, therefore, being forced to ration loo rolls to get a proper sense of proportion among the troops. “This is one of the reasons why some of the marines have been complaining about running out of loo paper and turning to the Americans,” one official said.
Defence officials explained that, happily, in order to avoid too much duplication, there was an agreement that the Americans would share some of their resources with their British comrades. The Royal Marines are already sharing the same US Marine Corps camp in Kuwait, and if there is a war, the US and British marines are expected to advance together into Iraq.
The food rations issue is expected to be resolved soon, but no British soldier or marine training in the heat is going to want to rely on MREs for too long.
After the 1991 Gulf War, discarded MREs were found all over the desert. The Americans have brought huge stocks with them because one of the plans is to drop MREs over Iraq to feed hungry Iraqis. Often called meals-rejected-by-everyone, the MRE diet includes chicken à la king — known as chicken à la death — and smokey frankfurters.
The British military rations, which include one roll of loo paper, boast tasty delicacies such as Lancashire hot pot, beef stew, chicken pasta and sausage and baked beans.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-583093,00.html
After stocks failed to reach Royal Marines now training in the desert, soldiers are fast running out of essentials. They are even having to eat American rations.
The American meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) are considered so poor that in the build-up to the last Gulf War in 1991, US troops begged to swap their rations for the British ones.
Officials with the Defence Logistics Organisation insisted that hundreds of thousands of rations and loo rolls have arrived in Kuwait for the British troops, but some of the stocks appear to have got stuck in warehouses.
There had been some local distribution problems, officials admitted, and the British troops have had to turn to their American allies for support. Military personnel hated being short of the vital commodity and tended to grab loo rolls when they had a chance to ensure a continuous supply.
The quartermasters in charge of stores were, therefore, being forced to ration loo rolls to get a proper sense of proportion among the troops. “This is one of the reasons why some of the marines have been complaining about running out of loo paper and turning to the Americans,” one official said.
Defence officials explained that, happily, in order to avoid too much duplication, there was an agreement that the Americans would share some of their resources with their British comrades. The Royal Marines are already sharing the same US Marine Corps camp in Kuwait, and if there is a war, the US and British marines are expected to advance together into Iraq.
The food rations issue is expected to be resolved soon, but no British soldier or marine training in the heat is going to want to rely on MREs for too long.
After the 1991 Gulf War, discarded MREs were found all over the desert. The Americans have brought huge stocks with them because one of the plans is to drop MREs over Iraq to feed hungry Iraqis. Often called meals-rejected-by-everyone, the MRE diet includes chicken à la king — known as chicken à la death — and smokey frankfurters.
The British military rations, which include one roll of loo paper, boast tasty delicacies such as Lancashire hot pot, beef stew, chicken pasta and sausage and baked beans.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-583093,00.html
Most MRE's are truly vile - Ham'n'eggs sticks out as particularly disgusting - you have to use the whole of the contents of the liittle bottle of tabasco that's in them.
During the 1990-91 affair the Saudi's suddenly realised their National Guard, which was never really meant to be a field army, had no ration packs - so the good ol' US of A donated several million MRE's - only problem is that back then of the four recipes, 2 contained pork - namely the slice of processed ham in a bag and the ham'n'eggs - so when the first American troops hit the ground in Saudi they were given these Meals Rejected by Muslims - living on that ham slice and ham'n'eggs for months would send even the toughest soldier insane.
This news really is no surprise - we've frigged our forces with all the overstretch and cost-cutting - just wait - next week it'll be begging the Belgians again to sell us a load of ammo as we ain't got enough - just like in 1990 - and then there'll be usual stories of our troops this time using homing pigeons to communicate as their mobile phones won't work in the desert. We are gypsies when it comes to deploying expeditionary forces- but we do get it right in the end - with a little help from our friends.
During the 1990-91 affair the Saudi's suddenly realised their National Guard, which was never really meant to be a field army, had no ration packs - so the good ol' US of A donated several million MRE's - only problem is that back then of the four recipes, 2 contained pork - namely the slice of processed ham in a bag and the ham'n'eggs - so when the first American troops hit the ground in Saudi they were given these Meals Rejected by Muslims - living on that ham slice and ham'n'eggs for months would send even the toughest soldier insane.
This news really is no surprise - we've frigged our forces with all the overstretch and cost-cutting - just wait - next week it'll be begging the Belgians again to sell us a load of ammo as we ain't got enough - just like in 1990 - and then there'll be usual stories of our troops this time using homing pigeons to communicate as their mobile phones won't work in the desert. We are gypsies when it comes to deploying expeditionary forces- but we do get it right in the end - with a little help from our friends.
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