‘Living Off the Land’: U.S. Military Reintroduces Old Skills to Feed Future Soldiers
In this Aug. 21, 2015 file photo, U.S. Army Capt. Kristen Griest, left, of Orange, Conn., stands in formation during an Army Ranger School graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga.
During the two decades of conflict in the middle east, the U.S. military has relied on convoys and air resupply units to provide food for soldiers–a practice that may be threatened by supply chain issues in the future. Military leaders are shifting their training to tactics that allow units to leverage local food sources to prepare healthy meals for troops.In Cripple Creek, Colorado, pockets of military cooks are being trained to butcher and prepare meat in backwoods conditions in an effort to subvert sometimes-lengthy supply chain issues, according to information gathered by the Wall Street Journal.The training began a few years ago as a pilot program for Green Beret cooks but has recently expanded to include “conventional” units.Army Spc. Jennifer Evans, in an interview, shared how when she arrived at training, she struggled to perform basic tasks like properly sharpening a butchers knife, but a few days later she had learned how to expertly fashion roasts and steaks off a cow carcass and had even learned to boil down its bones for broth.
“Are you going to teach us how to use every part of the animal? asked fellow Sgt.Brendan Leal to local butcher Jason Nauert, who was there to work with the soldiers.
Nauert’s answer was an unequivocal “Yes.”The military term for using local agricultural products and supplies to sustain a military unit is called “foraging,” and it requires military cooks to find and prepare meals for soldiers in remote locations, where Special Forces often work in small teams and may not have access to replacement supplies.According to Green Beret senior culinary specialist Master Sgt. Myron Billingsley, the first field-butchering class started in 2014 after the Green Berets suffered repeated bouts of diarrhea–a common occurrence when exposed to different food hygiene practices.The training course was created by Billingsly and Nauert in the hopes that shifting away from reliance on supply convoys may help Special Forces feed on the local economy, with plans to teach cooks how to identify and purchase livestock from local farmers, and then “ethically slaughter and expertly butcher them.”“That’s a lost art,” said Billingsley. “If I’m in the middle of nowhere and someone brings me an animal, I can break it down.”The training will come in handy in case contractor-run meal halls are impacted by global conflict, Billingsley added. Reliance on contractors could leave gaps, and he wants to see them filled.“This is kind of back-to-the-future,” he said. “Open up the old books.”
