German EPA's in the 80's

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:33 am

Hello everybody,
I had one or two German EPA's when I was in the French army in the 80's.

I remember there was no bread tin (only the crackers) but there was a tube of margarine (same size as a regular toothpaste tube).
I also remember an entree I specially liked: noodles with ham & creamy sauce, “ Nudeln mit Schinken “ or something like that...
Does it still exist?

Currently, I’ve got “hamburger in Tomato sauce”, “vegetables & tofu”, “Cevapcici” and “Indian rice w. steak” but no “noodles & ham”.

olli · Post by **olli** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:58 am

hi again....
i guess you have EPA typeII and typeIII.... the italian noodles are in EPA typeI and i think its the best one ever....

and with the magarine, i like it too, its really good stuff with the crackers... i have seen picture of it in tube, but i only know it from 90´s EPAs, it came in same package as jam or wurst entree... i havent seen it lately in new EPA, maybe its not in anymore..... but if you find EPA from the 90´s, i´m sure it will be in, i had a couple of 1992 EPAs a while ago for cheap price, and the magarine was also there, some ones became bad taste but some were still like new,,,,,,

hope that helps you, still waiting for my french box to come, then i can do some comments about it.. hehe

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:44 am

believe me or not, I have no complete RCIR, only a few elements!

Since the Military Service year is not mandatory anymore, the rations has became rather rare

olli · Post by **olli** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:04 pm

so this one maybe interesting for you:
cause i was waiting the whole week for my box of 10 french rations from the ebay-auction, so i asked the seller whats goin on with it...
he told me, he is a german solider stationed in bosnia jugoslavia, and this is where he sended from, so it will take a little longer for the rations on their way to my home.... i guess he traded with some french soliders to get this whole lot of french rations....
and when they finaly arrive here by next week, me and my friend are goin out to the woods and filming a video from eating a french ration and i will post it here... hehe... watch out for it everyone next weekend, it will be funny...

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:27 pm

Thanks for the pictures Olli.
How do you feel after having eaten a 22 year old MRE?

For the RCIR's I wanted to ask one neighbor who's a medical officer in the Army and who's abroad all the time.

My wife said "NO WAY! Do you want all the neighborhood think we're starving enough to ask for army food?"

olli · Post by **olli** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:40 pm

hehe, maybe she had heard that old rumor of government adding substances to millitary food to make the soliders impotent for the short period of beeing out in the field fighting.... know what i mean??

Stef · Post by **Stef** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:36 am

yes, potassium bromide: it was used during WWI to keep the soldiers "quiet" in the trenches.
I remember an orange juice dispenser in the canteen. Every morning a medic used to pour the powder from a little sachet into the plastic tank, just before breakfast . I asked him about that and he said it was only vitamins. Hmmm, strange...

A friend of mine in my platoon said he couldn't do anything with his girlfriend during the week end after he drank 1 litre of orange juice on Friday morning (he used to describe himself as a kind of... Superman

). Urban legend, I don't know.

Anyway I've heard no rumor about this stuff being in the rations.
Maybe in the EPA's..