Military rations, operational rations, or military provisions are goods issued to sustain the needs of military personnel. As their name suggests, military rations have historically been, and often still are, subject to rationing, with each individual receiving specific amounts from available supplies. Military-issued goods and the rationing of such goods have existed since the beginnings of organized warfare.
Though commonly referring to food and drink rations, "military ration" may also refer to other types of items that are rationed for military personnel, such as fuel, alcohol, expensive items, or consumer goods. Ration acquisition may be managed using allowances or a ration card, or they may be issued without charge.
Military rations are a key component of military nutrition, the field and study of nutrition in the military. Significant research goes into creating military rations, including the nutrition and energy of rations, food spoilage prevention, what meals should be offered, the amount of food each ration should contain, and the exact specifications of each meal and ingredient.
Types
Field ration
A field ration (known under a variety of other names) is a military ration intended to provide nutrition and sustenance in the field, in combat, at the front line, or where eating facilities are otherwise unavailable.
Field rations can be categorized into two main types:
Individual rations, designed and intended to sustain a single person Group rations, designed and intended to sustain multiple personnel
Garrison ration
A garrison ration is a type of military ration that, depending on its use and context, could refer to rations issued to personnel at a camp, installation, or other garrison; allowance allotted to personnel to purchase goods or rations sold in a garrison (or the rations purchased with allowance); a type of ration; or a combined system with distinctions and differences depending on situational factors (such as whether the country is at peace or at war).
History
Ancient and antiquity
In ancient warfare, militaries generally lived off the land, relying on whatever food they could forage, steal, purchase, or requisition. Armies that brought food supplies along with them would have to resort to carrying them in baggage trains and having soldiers carry their rations themselves.
In Mesopotamia, most workers, including soldiers, were given rations of barley, oil, and wool. The first standing army in recorded history formed in ancient Mesopotamia under the reign of Sargon of Akkad, and as the army grew with his conquests, a military bureaucracy formed. According to letters from the time of Sargon II, the primary ration for his army was grain. The letters describe what types of grain are to be held for a campaign, in which locations, which grain to give to the soldiers and which to store as fodder for the pack animals, and provide lists of how much grain to give to the soldiers of specific ranks.The History of Military Rations
In ancient Egypt, soldiers brought whatever they could carry in battle, but were provided with good food and wine while in their camps. Archaeologists have discovered small wooden tokens dating from the Middle Kingdom period carried by soldiers which were to be handed over in exchange for rations in Lower Nubia. The tokens carry inscriptions declaring the amount of bread a soldier is to be issued every ten days. Writing in Histories, Herodotus described warriors serving as the Pharaoh's bodyguards receiving a daily provision of five minae of roast grain, two minae of beef, and four cups of wine.Histories, Herodotus, p. 165 One mina is equivalent to approximately .
In ancient Rome, as with civilians, soldiers subsisted primarily off of wheat, which would be either made into bread or a pottage called puls. Less commonly issued grains were oats, which were seen as fodder and only eaten in times of desperation, millet, which was only grown in small amounts, rye, which was only grown in areas too cold for wheat, and barley, which was issued to soldiers as punishment for minor offenses. In the second century BC, a soldier's wheat ration was per month. Soldiers were also given smoked bacon, fresh meat such as pork or mutton when available, vegetables, legumes, cheese, vinegar, olive oil, and wine. Each soldier had an allotted amount of food they could have, such as of meat daily; the size of a Roman legion meant dozens, if not hundreds of animals could be killed daily to sustain their needs. The cost of the ration would be deducted from the soldier's pay. Supplies were sent in two ways. The impedimenta supplies were carried on a baggage train of carts carried by pack animals accompanying the army while commeatus supplies were sent to an army from Rome or another major city in the empire by road or ship. Soldiers also carried some of their provisions and their mess kits in their sarcina. They were issued rations several times a week. Archaeologists have found evidence of soldiers having access to foodstuffs such as coriander, oysters, and spices including pepper imported from India, suggesting that soldiers, especially officers, could buy finer ingredients. Archaeological excavations in Germany and Britain show that in addition to the meat supplied by the army, soldiers hunted animals such as beavers, badgers, foxes, and wolves while on campaign. Most grain rations were issued whole, meaning that soldiers had to mill and process the grain by themselves. However, grain rations also included hardtack biscuits called buccellatum, which were baked twice to remove the moisture, making them harder to spoil. These biscuits may have been ground into flour. Roman soldiers ate twice a day. The first meal, the prandium, likely required no cooking. The main meal was the cena, during which soldiers cooked and ate communally with their contubernium. Supply of water faced logistical problems. Roman military camps were typically built near water sources and soldiers were expected to collect their water for the days' march in a waterskin that was stored in the sarcina. As fresh water was not always available, water was often transported in barrels. However, this could result in the water becoming tainted, and so it was mixed with wine and vinegar to create posca, a drink which became popular among the urban poor as well as the army.Food History: A Roman soldier’s dietRoman Soldier's Gear During the Byzantine era, soldiers were trained in sustaining their food supplies for as long as 20 days, with many also carrying small hand mills to grind grain to make paximathia.
In ancient Greece, hoplites were expected to bring foodstuffs and wine with them when going on campaigns. However, as the amount they could carry was limited, armies had to live off the land. To ensure that soldiers and pack animals were properly fed, campaigns were timed for when grain was ripe and pastures were full. While on campaign, hoplites and other Greek soldiers would have foraged for food, hunted, purchased food from markets and traders, and pillaged towns and villages. Spartan soldiers are known to have brought bread, cheese, wine, and meat with them on campaigns. During wartime, Sparta's slave population, or helots, were promised their freedom if they brought enough supplies to the army, although historians are unsure if these promises would ultimately be honored. Sparta also offered military protection to villages which paid tribute, with villages failing to do so subject to plunder. Spartan soldiers were trained to carry and pilfer food during their childhood in the Agoge. Boys were taught to march long distances while carrying provisions for twenty days. They were also purposely underfed to encourage them to learn to steal food, but harshly punished if they were caught doing it so they would learn to do it stealthily. The Kingdom of Macedon, which conquered large swathes of territory, initially relied on oxen-drawn carts to carry the soldiers' burden, including food. During the reign of Philip II of Macedon, reforms were carried out under which soldiers would be expected to carry much of their own food rather than rely on oxen-drawn carts. This continued under the reign of his son Alexander the Great. During Alexander's conquests, Macedonian soldiers primarily lived off of grain rations. Soldiers were expected to carry their grain rations and cooking utensils in addition to their weaponry, with their backpacks potentially weighing as much as . Without the hindrance of oxen and carts, this enabled Macedonian armies to move faster than their opponents. The grain provided to Macedonian soldiers would be wheat, barley, or millet, which were available throughout Asia and could be stored indefinitely when dried. The soldiers would use grinding mills carried by servants to turn the grain into flour, which could then be made into bread, biscuits, and porridge. They also ate various kinds of dried fruits such as dates and figs, which were readily available throughout much of Asia. Whenever possible, they would eat dried meat, salted fish, and shellfish.How Did Alexander the Great Sustain His Army?How Did Ancient Greek Armies Feed Their Soldiers?The Spartan Diet: What They Ate and How They Prepared It
In ancient China, soldiers of the Han dynasty ate primarily millet and other grains such as wheat, rice, sorghum, etc. Grains could be eaten as a porridge, boiled, made into a bread or flatbread, smashed and fried in a manner similar to modern fried rice and fried noodles, etc.grains would be supplemented by beans, as well as meats, fish, vegetables, etc. when available. According to Zhao Chongguo, a military commander of the Han dynasty who served in the first century BC, a force of 10,281 men required 27,363 hu of grain and 308 hu of salt each month, requiring a convoy of 1,500 carts for transport. One hu is equivalent to 19.968 liters, meaning that each soldier would have required 51.9 liters of grain and 0.6 liters of salt per month. Another document at Juyan suggests 3.2 hu, or 63.8 liters, of grain.Cosmo, Nicola di (2009), Military Culture in Imperial China, Harvard University Press, p. 74
Post-classical In medieval warfare, military feeding remained essentially the same as it had been in prior centuries. Armies typically had to acquire food supplies from the territory they were passing through. This meant that large-scale looting by soldiers was unavoidable, and was actively encouraged in the 14th century with its emphasis on chevauchée tactics, where mounted troops would burn and pillage enemy territory in order to distract and demoralize the enemy while denying them supplies. Through the medieval period, soldiers were responsible for supplying themselves, either through foraging, looting, or purchases. However, military commanders often provided their troops with food and supplies, but this would be provided instead of the soldiers' wages, or soldiers would be expected to pay for it from their wages, either at cost or even with a profit.