NATICK, Mass. (Jan. 21, 2015) -- What kinds of rations might the military be using to feed its warfighters 15 years from now?
Seeking to provide a window into the future of combat feeding, the
Consumer Research Team, or CRT, working on behalf of the Combat Feeding
Directorate of the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering
Center, developed an online questionnaire for current and former
military members.
A more detailed version of the questionnaire can be completed by
Department of Defense personnel whose work involves military field
feeding.
"This is a great opportunity," said CRT's Wendy Johnson. "It's very
unusual, in my experience, that we stop and we think 15 years ahead and
say, 'What can we do?' Taking a look at the long term is very
interesting, and I think it'll be very beneficial in the long run."
As Johnson pointed out, the Future General Purpose Operational Ration, or FGPOR, could take any form.
"We try not to say MREs [Meals, Ready-to-Eat] because we're trying to
think outside the box," Johnson said. "It doesn't have to be an MRE.
They can look very, very different.
"Do we have to give them meals? Can we think about it in a different
way? And can we give them a bunch of foods that maybe they can graze
on?"
The CRT began its process about 18 months ago with a series of focus
groups. The participants were told that rations could take on virtually
any configuration.
"They were pretty interesting," Johnson said. "There were a lot of
things that came up. What we were looking for were things that came up
maybe multiple times."
Among the concepts that interested the focus groups were just-in-time
delivery of rations, producing food with 3-D printers, and tailoring
rations to parts of the world or missions.
Johnson said she was surprised by how much the groups focused on education.
"They're talking about educating the Soldiers, for one thing, and also
educating their chain of command, so that everybody is aware of the
importance of nutrition and how the rations fit into that," said
Johnson, noting that this aspect of combat feeding is "not always fully
understood."
Jeannette Kennedy, a senior food technologist at Combat Feeding, added
that field rations are about "performance fueling and performance
nutrition."
With data from focus groups in hand, four members of the CRT went to work fashioning the questionnaire.
"We went over every, single idea and talked it over and made sure that
it was as clear and as concise as possible," Johnson said. "That took up
a lot of time. I think we've got a good set of ideas from that whole
process."
The basic questionnaire consists of 14 random questions and takes five
to seven minutes to complete. The extended version, for subject-matter
experts, asks them to rate 14 ration ideas, and they also have the
opportunity to identify any obstacles they see to making each of those
ideas a reality. This version of the questionnaire takes seven to 10
minutes.
Johnson said the questionnaire will be online through March.
"We tried to streamline it and make it go as quickly as they wanted it
to go," Johnson said of participants. "Some people like to linger and
think things over, and they're free to do that.
"We hope they'll be interested, and we hope that they take it seriously and they give us good, accurate answers."
Links to the questionnaire are located in Related Links.
Following data analysis on the completed questionnaires, CRT will
deliver actionable requirements and concepts to Combat Feeding. These
requirements will form the basis of future science and technology
programs, which one day will lead to a FGPOR aligning with requirements
projected today.
"This is another opportunity for us to gather information from our
military customers on their requirements, in particular their future
requirements," said Kennedy, "so that we can focus our efforts on
meeting those needs."
http://www.army.mil/article/141464/Research_team_shapes_future_of_combat_rations/
By Bob Reinert, USAG-Natick Public Affairs
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