Newswise — Bethesda, MD – The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Human Performance Resource Center (HPRC), working in conjunction with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center and the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, Mass., has launched the Combat Rations Database, or ComRaD (http://hprc-online.org/comrad/) which provides nutritional information on individual combat ration meals and their food components. This interactive website features standard nutrition facts, including calories, fat, vitamins and minerals of the MRE, First Strike Ration® (FSR), and Meal, Cold Weather/Long Range Patrol (MCW/LRP), from their most recent production years.
The MRE is the cornerstone of individual-serving operational rations used by all of the military services, providing the Department of the Army, Office the Surgeon General’s approved nutritional requirements for a military ration for up to 21 days as sole source of subsistence. Each meal includes an entrée, side dish, bakery item, condiments, snacks, and beverage mix.
The FSR is a compact, eat-on-the-move, restricted ration intended to be consumed by forward-deployed service members during the initial stages of intense conflict or when on foot patrol. One FSR contains an entire day’s nutritional needs in a single package and is designed to reduce the total carried weight and volume by 50 percent when compared to three MREs.
MCW/LRPs satisfy the high nutritional demands of special operations and extreme environmental conditions, including cold-weather and long-range reconnaissance maneuvers.
“This new website provides military dietitians with up to date, accurate and easily accessible nutrition information on ration components, which is essential when educating warriors on proper fueling during missions,” said Julie Smith, Senior Food Technologist at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass.
ComRaD also puts this information in the hands of the service members so they can track their own nutritional intake more reliably.
“Trying to maintain an effective nutritional program is challenging to warriors in training and in a deployable status,” said Navy Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Patrick L. Hyde, Brigade Command Senior Enlisted Leader at USU. “This website puts real-time nutritional information at the tip of the warriors fingers in order to prepare, plan and execute his or nutritional program.”
More features will be added to the site in the near future including nutrition information on Unitized Group Rations, as well as a “cart” function which will allow users to track what they have eaten by adding and removing ration components to view their overall daily nutritional intake.
“ComRaD provides our service members with a unique tool to aid in fueling for performance,” said Hyde. * * *
About USU:
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s more than 5,000 physician and 1,000 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations around the world, offering their leadership and expertise. USU also has graduate programs in biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research, and in oral biology. The University's research program covers a wide range of clinical and other topics important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
RSS