A NASTY rumour is spreading far and wide throughout the ranks as to the demise of an old and faithful friend that has been both a saviour and an ally over the years.

Could the rumour regarding the replacement of the ration pack Fred with ring pull cans actually be true?

As far back as World War II, the faithful Fred has been issued in one form or another to be utilised for whatever means it was required. From opening tin cans to cleaning fingernails or personal assault weapons to a makeshift screwdriver, the humble Fred has served well. It has never been decorated, mentioned in dispatches or given a Commanding Officers Commendation. It has gone about its business, serving the Australian soldier, sailor and airman in every conceivable country and operation in the world without the recognition it so rightly deserves.

The American, Canadian, Chinese and Japanese defence forces have tried to emulate the functionality of Fred but have never been able to copy its unassuming construct.

Ration pack tinned cheese will never be the same and, I might add, how can one eat ration pack cheese with a plastic spoon? It’s sacrilege.

Gone are the days when the first thing the wife asks on return from exercise is “Did you save all the Freds, honey?” knowing only too well that coming home without replenishing the kitchen utensils drawer was almost grounds for divorce.

In this day of accountability, I can see the rationale behind out scaling Fred, as a plastic spoon would cost $0.27 and the Fred could be as much as $0.32. I am sure that all serving and ex-serving ADF personnel would gladly give up 0.000001 per cent of their next pay rise to keep the humble Fred in the ration pack. After all, what price do you put on the flavour of cheese being consumed off the Fred after using it to clean your finger nails?

I appeal to the Service Chiefs to stop this lunacy and order DSTO to keep Fred alive.

Capt Brian Tuohy
HQ 3 Bde

Well stolen, please quote.

Like it matters.

By the time they implement it into rat packs, it'll be 2 years before we use them because we still got to eat 2 years worth of already existing rat packs.

Have you seen the use by date on the M&M packets lol.

BTW who eats the tinned cheese anyway?! It's the sole reason why we've got scratch and teeth marks all over the cubical doors in the SAL's.

the cheese is good, dont knock it.

I wasn't fond of bush shits. Canned cheese was my friend.

Like dig said, it will clog you up. I rate it highly. There is nothing worse than doing a bush nard everyday.

You can tell a recruit has had the cheese or the condensed milk when you go out field and see a tree that looks like it had a psychotic koala climbing it.

Too true but when you're out for longer than 7 days it does get hard to hold it in

Mind you after that amount of time it was very much like I would imagine giving birth to be. Hard and painful but so exillarating and life changing once it's over

Hahaha this thread is hilarious, though I don't really have any idea of what this exactly means. Do I eat, or not eat the tinned cheese?

What the f*** were you doing perusing threads from 2006? Anyway yes, you eat the cheese, unless you enjoy trekking 40km from your harbour or LUP to find a place to put your bottom that isn't infested with green ants.