What Does MRE Stand For?

What does MRE stand for, word by word?

• Meal: one complete meal, not a snack bar.
• Ready: already cooked and sealed.
• To Eat: it can be eaten straight from the pouch, cold or warmed.

The official name uses a comma and hyphens, Meal, Ready-to-Eat, and the common plural is MREs. Service members joke that the letters really mean something less flattering, but those are just jokes, not the real name. MREs replaced the canned Meal, Combat, Individual ration that earlier troops carried.

What is inside an MRE

Menus change over time, and there are many to choose from, including vegetarian options. A typical pouch includes:

Each meal provides about 1,250 calories on average, and troops in hard field work may eat three a day.

How the flameless ration heater works

The heater is a thin pad that contains a magnesium and iron mix. When you add a small amount of water, a chemical reaction gives off heat in about a minute, with no flame or fuel.

1. Slide the main course pouch into the heater sleeve.
2. Add water to the fill line.
3. Fold the top over and prop the sleeve upright so the water stays in contact with the pad.
4. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes and carefully open the hot food.

Shelf life and storage

MREs are built to last. Stored at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit, they are rated for roughly three years, and cooler storage stretches that much longer. Heat shortens shelf life fast, so a box left in a hot car or trailer will spoil sooner. The pouches are designed to survive airdrops and rough handling.

That durability is why relief agencies hand them out after hurricanes and floods, when power and kitchens are down. Civilian versions sold for camping follow a similar design but are made separately from the military supply.

MRE vs other ration and food terms

• Field ration: any food issued to troops away from a dining facility; MREs are one kind.
• First strike ration: a lighter, compact meal pack for short, fast missions.
• Freeze dried meals: camping meals that need hot water added, unlike MREs, which are already moist.
• GI: a term for a US soldier, often heard alongside ration slang.

MREs also appear in classic military slang lists along with words like SNAFU. Dozens more service short forms are listed in the government and military acronyms roundup.

Saying and writing MRE

Troops spell it out, "em ar ee," never as a single word. In print it stays in capitals without dots, and because "em" begins with a vowel, you write an MRE, not a MRE. In casual talk people say "eating MREs" or "living on MREs" for a stretch of field training.