Feeding troops in the field is arguably the most critical component of force sustainment. The Army has been engaged in a multi-year effort to improve the fuel-fired appliances used in field kitchens for preparing UGR-A ration menus. This effort is primarily intended to improve the energy efficiency and environmental conditions of field kitchens. A range of different appliances are provided in field kitchens to enable military cooks to correctly prepare each menu component to a high quality level so that it has maximum appeal to soldiers. However, even using the latest appliances, ration preparation requires significant time by well-trained cooks to produce a quality result. The potential exists to improve the efficiency of military field feeding by developing a single cooking appliance that combines the rapid cooking capability of microwave combination ovens with the continuous (and rapid) cooking capability of jet impingement conveyor ovens. This would enable a single appliance to prepare any UGR-A menu item in a more compact kitchen using fewer personnel who require less training, while maintaining the level of quality achieved by fully equipped field kitchens.
