US MRE 2. Weltkrieg

Offensichtlich war die C-Ration bei den Soldaten von der Einführung bis zur Ausmusterung verhasst und die Militärbürokratie war nicht imstande, etwas brauchbareres als Feldverpflegung auf die Beine zu stellen und unterband sogar die Entwicklung leichterer Alternativen zu den schweren Konservendosen:

"At its introduction, the QMC stated that the C-ration was intended for short-term use for periods not to exceed three days. After the war, in light of field evaluation reports of monotony, the QMC Food Services Branch used this limitation as a defense to the largely negative response to the C-ration during the war, while at the same time advocating standardization on the C-ration as the sole individual packaged ration for U.S. troops. Not only did the QMC decide not to develop or introduce new alternative lightweight individual rations, it successfully campaigned for the elimination of alternatives, including the K-ration, Mountain ration, Jungle ration, and the 10-in-1 group ration (which had proven somewhat useful in boosting nourishment and alleviating complaints of monotony for men living for extended periods on C-rations or K-rations).

Instead, the C-ration, still designated as a packaged ration intended for infrequent or short-term use, went through a series of largely unsuccessful minor revisions. This decision resulted in limiting troops in the field to a single class of packaged ration that despite meal variances was neither suited to varied field environments nor for long-term use. Troops continued to complain of the monotony of a single class of field ration with one or more unpalatable menu items, especially where A and B rations were not available for extended periods.

Primarily implemented due to cost concerns, the selection of a heavy canned wet ration resulted in a severe weight penalty for troops marching on foot and forced to carry a multi-day supply of rations. The overuse of the canned wet ration reached an extreme during the Vietnam War, where American troops resorted to placing stacked ration cans in socks to save bulk and reduce noise on patrol, while their enemy increased their mobility by carrying lightweight rations of dry rice. The Quartermaster Branch's insistence on canned wet rations for all postwar field issue and the failure to develop a suitable lightweight dehydrated or other dry ration for jungle and other extreme environments led directly to the hurried development of the LRP ration or Long Range Patrol ration in 1966."