Nutrition for Soldiers Under Stress
To keep their loads light, soldiers setting out on dangerous missions often pare down their packs. When the choice is between bullets and food, they choose bullets. But “stripping” or “cherry picking” — leaving rations behind — can put soldiers at risk for fatigue, confusion and muscle loss.
Out of this dilemma was born a new military ration dubbed First Strike. The brainchild of a team of scientists appointed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, First Strike Rations pack optimal nutrition into minimal space.
“Development of the ration was put on a fast track to more quickly reach American forces in the Persian Gulf,” says OSU Professor Melinda Manore, who served on the 12-member committee of nutrition experts that designed the ration. In response to a request from the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, the team made recommendations based on their collective expertise in micronutrients, energy balance and sports nutrition, gastroenterology, clinical medicine, eating behavior and related fields.
Besides taking enemy fire in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers and Marines endure punishing extremes of weather and terrain. For elite special forces on long missions, these hazards are magnified by stress, sleep deprivation, dehydration. In sustained military operations of three to seven 20-hour days, nutritional status is particularly vital.
Storied fighters like the Army Rangers, Green Berets and Marine Reconnaissance battalions need 4,500 calories a day to maintain strength, alertness and health in the field, according to the team’s 2006 report, Nutrient Composition of Rations for Short-Term, High-Intensity Combat Operations. Other high-priority issues explored were dehydration, gastrointestinal “gut” processes and immune system function.