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Treesuit wrote:Well, I just sold the newest case of 1979 MRE's to RULERYAK along with a 1982 case I had...

Do the case really have a Date of Pack 1979, or is it only the "79" in the DLA-contract number that describes the age

MREHEATER72,

I have a 1979 case myself and it was exactly like the one I sold to RULERYAK. Mine has a "79" in the DLA code and on one the side it also has a "date packed of 1980" with a "inspection date of 1982". For RULERYAK'S his had a DLA code too and everything on his case was the same as mine.

'79 was probably the contract award date with Defense Logistics Agency. 1980 being the first fulfillment year of the contract possibly?

That ist the oldest MRE case I have ever seen, DoP February 24, 1981. I guess it is now in property of norge




See the DLA contract number with …79…



Here is the oldest MRE case that is in my collection, DoP April 21, 1981. See the DLA contract number with …79…







Here is the youngest MCI case that is in my collection, DoP July 1980. See the DLA contract number here also is with …79…. But I have many B-Unit cans that are dated October 1980.






So the gap is between October 1980 and February 1981: Three month with MCIs or MREs

So long mreheater72

MREHEATER72,

Okay, I think I've got the oldest and earliest MRE case right now. I mentioned that I have a case with a 1979 DLA code but a packing date of 1980 and a inspection date of 1982. I think that's pretty early.

Treesuit wrote:MREHEATER72,

Okay, I think I've got the oldest and earliest MRE case right now. I mentioned that I have a case with a 1979 DLA code but a packing date of 1980 and a inspection date of 1982. I think that's pretty early.

Woooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ! Treesuit, that is really amazing ! Thank you for sharing the pics of that really "vintage" case of MREs ! So we see that for some month MCIs and MREs were packed contemporaneous ! As I mentioned above I have some MCI B-Units in my collection that were packed October 1980 (I will post a photo soon), but I cannot remember seeing a whole case . It would really be interesting to know, what was the earliest date a official MRE case was packed !

So long mreheater72

mreheater72 wrote:As I mentioned above I have some MCI B-Units in my collection that were packed October 1980 (I will post a photo soon), but I cannot remember seeing a whole case...

Here are some photos of an B-2 UNIT packed 1080 (October 1980):

MREHEATER72,

Didn't we discuss that before on the forum before? According to a Natick phamplet the first MRE's weren't supposed to be fielded until 1980 or so. The phamplet was dated 1970 or around that time. It described the idea and concept behind the futuristic MRE. I can't remember where I saw the Natick Ration booklet but the first prototype(s) had field testing around the early or mid seventies. I think Housil showed us a prototype in display from a museum in Germany a while ago.

I suggest that if we're looking for a date when the first MRE's hit the logistic supply chain it would have to be around 1980; Such as my vintage case. We can use that as a starting point.

Treesuit wrote:I suggest that if we're looking for a date when the first MRE's hit the logistic supply chain it would have to be around 1980; Such as my vintage case. We can use that as a starting point.

Treesuit, I agree ! Perhaps we will find some photos with MRE cases that have a earlier DoP than yours, but I don´t think so .

So long mreheater72

I thought I might be able to compete in this "oldest case of MREs" contest...but alas, I just looked through my collection and the earliest I have is a case from 6/16/81. Oddly enough, I also have a case from 6/16/82...what are the chances? But Treesuit still has me beat by 9 months.