In my opinion, this was a intermediary ration - IIRC it's menu is actually the same or very similar to the MCW - so all in all the difference might only be the package labeling...
I believe this ration was intended to be one step towards a unified MCW/LRP ration as referenced below to reduce procurement costs more than likely;
Please note that acquisition for the RCW for the U.S. military services will cease in the near future. Its inclusion here is for purposes of its current availabilty due to its extended shelf life and unused stock. The requirements of this ration for the future will be met by the Meal, Cold Weather (MCW)/Long Range Patrol (LRP) Combination Ration.
All of the FPCW seem to be dated 2004, and the MCW information showed up in the Spring 1998 Quartermaster’s supply publication, so I’m forming the opinion that it is not intermediate.
The proof will be on government procurement documents but I haven’t been able to find it.
I am reasonable I just was asking for further clarification, not attacking. Text loses much of the meaning behind the words.
I suppose I’ll hope for a positive outcome of your phone call. Given how long OldSmokey was on the horn (hours), I’m not expecting clarity to come from them.
In the end, my money still rides on bag printing mistakes.
Ironically, I viewed your MCW vid., and this shouldn’t be a “split hairs” analysis. Name changes occur.
What does my modern MCW video have to do with this or splitting hairs?
Smitty, notice the comma in my sentence and the turn of phrase. Plus the transition to the next sentence.
Be reasonable. A simple phone call might solve the question. And this also applies to your response to cavguy.
OP suggested in his post that he wasn't able to get much information from Natick. Are you able to pull some strings to get some information from them?
OP, out of curiosity, are you looking for any specific information about the ration? A quick search returned this comment from reddit, however they don't point to a source:
All Im doing is offering some assistance to Smitty and OS. I believe you hit on the clues. Cavguy offered a similar interpretation. Right now am caught in the middle of this discussion. I can take a closer look at your post. Thanks.
in my collection i do have a food packet cold weather
my rcw and mcw are al the types that was issued
as far as i have found out these was a trail run for the change over for the mcw anf food packet long range, it was supose to be a tan one for lrp and white for mcw
All of the FPCW seem to be dated 2004, and the MCW information showed up in the Spring 1998 Quartermaster’s supply publication, so I’m forming the opinion that it is not intermediate.
The proof will be on government procurement documents but I haven’t been able to find it.
If your looking for the procurement documents many times they are public information, the problem is finding them... The wording/labeling of the rations would be specified in the downloadable contract document. Sometimes you can Google the contact # on the case of rations (which appears to have been removed...) and get a hit. Sometimes they procure multiple items over multiple years from a single contract, so its a crap shoot.
I used to use FBO.gov which as now moved to https://beta.sam.gov for contract info.
I just was asking for further clarification, not attacking. Text loses much of the meaning behind the words. 
