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come on dave its not that bad jumping out of a plane. one thing tho that our instructer told us was if your both your shutes dont open , dont forget to put your left arm up . now your proberly wondering why the left arm its so someone else will get use of your watch .

A Harley on the roadside=brokedown
A Goldwing on the roadside=reciving a fax
Yes I ride,scuba,repel,would love the chance to skydive!

Funny guys. ...

Hey guys,
Just got an package from home with a front page article from the NY times dated Sept. 1. It shows a distressed family in MS receiving a HDR from some local Guardsman from the back of a civilian refridgerated truck. What's funny is that the HDR has in big bold letters "JIMMY DEAN" written on the side and in small lettering says meal packet.
For those of you that don't know the Jimmy Dean food company makes these lunch rations for the military. I seriously thought the military stopped buying these packages long ago because they were too expensive to make or so somebody told me but I guess that they are still in production. The last one I had was in Explosive Demolitions School in 1999. We got issued "Jimmy Deans" for lunch breaks and believe me they are oh so good and delicious. The downside is that when I was going through training at Ft. Polk last year the military gave us these really crappy,bad Jimmy dean look a likes for lunch. It was worse than the CCC's
Now if some of you get a chance to have actual "Jimmy Dean" lunch packet do try it, you will be amazed. The components are as such: two real main meals or sandwiches, with a water activated heater unit, a bottle of water or soda, the snack packets, two deserts and a A-packet all in on e carboard pouch sealed up tight. Slight bigger than a MRE packet. All entrees in it are stuff you can find in a grocery store so it's all name brand and nutritional.
Now for the downside: the ones we got in Ft. Polk last year were baltant rip offs that contained no familiar items and the food was all cheap tasteless crap. I don't know why the military even bothered to feed us this bland garbage but the cooks at the dining facility said that the MRE's were going to Iraq and they couldn't be wasted in training. Excuse me! I was really shaking my head after that comment!
What I think is probably going to happen is that these Jimmy Dean's are what's going to start coming up in the near future for future disasters and lunch supplements instead of MRE's. What bothers me is that it costs more to make the Jimmy Deans than it does for the MRE's? But hey give me that over a CCC any day! If anybody wants to shoot me any more questions on these meals just post them here, thanks.

Thanks for the info on that, Treesuit. I recall seeing some pictures of those food packets somewhere but I don't recall exactly where/when. I'm not sure about how expensive they are, but I think the main selling point of those packets is that they can be assembled quickly with off-the-shelf commercial products. The don't last as long as MREs but they're not designed to be warehoused for long.

I'll have to see if I saved any of that info.

Right after I posted that last message, I ran across this article on the web:

Buchanan company rushing ready-to-eat meals south
http://www.wndu.com/news/092005/news_44853.php
(click through to get to a video clip)


Buchanan, MI - J.A. Food Service, a small Buchanan company, is busy trying to help hurricane evacuees. The company has a government contract to package meals for those in need.

As a result, they've nearly doubled their work force and are working two-shifts a day in an effort to fill the order for 20,000 meals. The assembly line is flying as meals are being packaged for shipment to a National Guard camp in Louisiana.

"Usually the government comes in with these hurricanes and gives them MRE's. Apparently now they need all the MRE's for Iraq so they're looking at businesses like us to supply shelf stable meals," says Jackie Abbott, president of J.A. Food Service. "What you see being done here we normally do in a month's and a half worth of business - we had to do in 2-days."

The company has already sent some 14,000 meals south with 6,000 more ready to go.

Abbott says, "It has an entrée which would be like a chili or a beef stew or tuna. It has crackers, desert, juice or milk. Some of them are supplemented with vegetables and there's a fork and knife in there and napkin."

Workers, like Tabitha Bruder, are proud of their effort.

"I just try and get these done as fast as I can and get these people down there fed. We just try to get this done as fast as possible."

Patricia Davis volunteered to help with the packing. "It's helping them eat healthy meals even though they can't cook, they can't get a whole lot of water, so we're putting juice and milk in there so it's nutritional. And it will give them some type of strength so they can do better."

Normally, J.A. Food Services makes meals for Meals On Wheels across the country.

The cost per-meal for those being sent to Louisianan is $2.83. The 83¢ is mainly for shipping.

Another article:

Jimmy Dean beats out MREs
http://jambo.forscom.army.mil/Jambo1997/jimmy.htm

By Jared Judy

The newest edition to the Army’s menu is straight from Tennessee’s Jimmy Dean’s Food. This new item includes soft drinks, sandwiches, a bag of chips pretzels, and a snack of cookies.

John M. Hall, the logistics management officer with the Director of Logistics, says there are many reasons for giving soldiers Jimmy Dean sandwich meals for lunch.

"We have had a lot of complaints from soldiers about eating Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs," says Hall. "Jimmy Dean sandwiches were chosen because recent surveys show that two out of three soldiers prefer them."

Pfc. David D. Duhe, a signal support system specialist with the 555th Military Police Co., agrees with Hall.

"At first everyone moaned when they heard what they would be eating," says Duhe. "When they tried the Jimmy Dean sandwiches, however, most agreed that they were better than the MREs."

"These meals are cost effective," says Hale. "Since the MREs cost a lot more, the Army is saving money while making the soldiers happy."

Jimmy Dean sandwiches can be beneficial for soldiers in the field, too.

"When the Jamboree starts, scouts will be everywhere," says Hall. "It will be almost impossible to get soldiers back to the chow hall to eat. Instead of having MREs everyday, we can send out sandwiches."

Hall also points out environmental benefits.

"With the MRE, there is a lot of leftover waste," says Hall. "The sandwiches cut down on this because there is a lot less packing."

Jimmy Dean comes in four varieties. These include ham, club, chicken, and turkey sandwiches.

For those watching their calorie intake, watch out. The Jimmy Dean sandwich meals just about top the recommended daily values.

Interesting. So since they are saving the MREs for Iraq, does this mean that the 21 million MRE order for New Orleans has been cancelled?

From what I saw in Mississippi. The week of Sept 6-8th there were tons of MRE...when I went back around 15-16th....the were drying of and handing out pkg food. I have a pick of it, but can post it yet. Where there were 25 pallets of mres I saw 2 pallets the next week. More of the civi food going out. Does not mean the mres disapperared, they will resurface on EBay.

No sorry, deanopilot, homey don't ride no Harley. Actually, I thought people who had Harleys never got a chance to ride them because they were always broken done and needed fixin'....

DirtyDave: I've had my H-D for fifteen years, and it never failed on me. Doesn't leak or squeak either. I've owned bikes/cars/trucks/airplanes of all races and creeds for over 25 years. The H-D was the best investment I ever made and only second in fun to a Piper I used to fly in the late '80's. Now, I just need an airplane big enough to stick the bike inside and head on out to Sturgis, SD.