Ukraine soldiers will be armed with U.S. field rations of wheat snack bread, Sloppy Joe sauce or any other MRE favorite should a shooting war break out with the Russians, the U.S. State Department announced Wednesday.
Gen. Joseph Dunford, U.S. commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said Ukraine politicians have asked the U.S. for any military equipment in Afghanistan the U.S. doesn't want to ship all the way back to North America. The Marine four-star said the U.S. has not agreed to send any additional weapons to Ukraine.
Of course, sending weapons to Ukraine would cause political complications with the Russians. However, sending food that's designed to survive for 3.5 years and offer 1,200 calories per meal doesn't provide the same diplomatic problems as aircraft, missile defense systems or rifles.
The State Department announcement didn't verify what types of MREs the Ukrainians would receive. Army officials recently made a major MRE break through when the service finally developed the pizza MRE. No word yet if the Ukrainians made special orders of pizza, chicken fajita or Sloppy Joe -- three U.S. troop favorites.
Another possibility is the U.S. could have unloaded the stockpiles of Country Captain's Chicken, Thai Chicken, and Beef Teriyaki MREs the Army scrapped years ago onto the Ukrainians. If so, this could prove to be a major morale issue inside the Ukrainian military, as many U.S. soldiers could attest.
