Unitized Group Ration – A™ (UGR-A™) and UGR-B ... - R&DA

Unitized Group Ration – A 

(UGR-A) and UGR-B 

Updates 

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UGR Update 

Overview 

M. Susan Harrington 

Combat Rations Team 

Research & Development Associates 

1 May y 2012 

• UGR-A Field Test and UGR-A Integrated 

Product Team (IPT) Approved FY13 Menu 

Changes 

• FY12 UGR-A Field Test Plans 

• UGR-A Initiatives to Reduce Frozen Cube 

• UGR-B Field Testing & Plans for Revision 

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Containerized 

Containerized Kitchen 

Kitchen 

Serving Line 

Serving Line 

Field Dining 

FY11 UGR-A Field Evaluation 

277th Field Artillery Battalion 

Fort Carson, CO 

4 Groups of 75 Warfighters for 5 days 

UGR-A control & test menus for Breakfast & Dinner 

MRE control & test menus for lunch 

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UGR-A/MRE Field Test Site, Fort Carson, CO, Sep 11 

UGR-As awaiting pickup for 

remote feeding, Fort Carson, Sep 11 

9 

Dinner pickup for remote 

feeding at Fort Carson, Sep 11 

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Frozen Vegetables, Fort Carson, 

Sep 11


• Fully improved UGR-A FY11 menus 

used as standard control menus 

• Over 300 candidate UGR UGR-A A items 

were submitted and evaluated, with 

over 80 new UGR-A components 

down selected for field testing 

• Results and recommendations were 

presented to the UGR-A Integrated 

Product Team (Jan ( 12) ) for approval pp 

and inclusion in UGR-A FY13 menus 

• Army approval obtained via memo 

(Feb 12) 

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FY11 UGR-A Field Test 

Results/Recommendations 

Current Breakfast Entrée 

Rankings (High to Low): 

Steak 

Ham Slice 

Chicken Breakfast Filet 

Bacon 

Pork Sausage Links 

Chipotle Bacon 

Beef Breakfast Skillet* 

Cheddar Pork Sausage Gravy* 

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9 Like Extremely 

8 Like Very Much 

7 Like Moderately 

6 Like slightly 

5 Neither 

4 Dislike Slightly 

3 Dislike Moderately 

2 Dislike Very Much 

1 Dislike Extremely

Current UGR-A 

Breakfast Entrées 

Scrambled Eggs, Dehydrated, All Breakfast Menus 



Recommended Changes for 

FY13 Menus 

Scrambled Eggs, Dehydrated, Lower Cholesterol to replace 

current Eggs in all seven breakfast menus 

Biscuits Biscuits, Whole Grain to replace all current Biscuits 

Breakfast Wrap/Chicken Sausage No Change 

Ham Slice/Chicken Fillet 

Steak; Sausage, Egg & Cheese Pita 

Cheddar Pork Sausage Gravy; Steak, Egg, & Cheese 

Taquitto 

Chicken Sausage Patty; Chipotle Bacon 

Chorizo Breakfast Wrap; Pork Sausage Links 

Beef Breakfast Skillet; Shelf Stable (SS) Bacon 

Add Honey Butter Spread and Turkey Bacon; move Ham 

Slice to menu #7 

No Change 

Turkey Sausage Links to replace Cheddar Pork Sausage 

Gravy 

No Change 

No Change 

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Turkey Bacon to replace Shelf Stable Bacon; Ham Slice 

(from menu #2) to replace Beef Breakfast Skillet; 



Recommended Bakery y Changes g 

for FY13 Breakfast Menus 

Donut Stick, Whole Wheat (remove powdered sugar donut) 

Mixed Berry Bar (use as needed for variety) 

Mini Apple Filled Bagel (remove larger bagel) 

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Current Dinner Entrée Rankings 

(High to Low): 

Chicken Cordon Bleu (Tuscan Pork Loin) 

Steak 

Spaghetti g & Meatballs ( (Sausage g Scaloppini) ) 

Chili Pepper Beef ( General Tso's Chicken) 

Chicken Alfredo (Split) 

General Tso's Chicken (Split) 

Chicken Tacos (Split) 

Beef Tacos (Split) 

Tuscan Pork Loin (Split) 

Pork Ribs (Jerk Chicken) 

Andouille Pasta & Cheese (Beef Brisket in BBQ sauce) 

Prime Rib 

Sausage Scaloppini (Split) 

Meatloaf (Jambalaya) 

Shrimp Scampi (Penne Pasta with Chicken in Alfredo Sauce) 

Turkey Cutlet 

Beef Brisket (Split) 

Cubed Beef in Gravy (Pork Shank in Spicy Honey Sauce) 

Pork Shank 

Fried Chicken 

Jambalaya* (Split) 

Jerk Chicken* (Split) 

Burgundy Beef Short Ribs* 

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Test Entrée Rankings 

(High to Low): 

PULLED BBQ CHICKEN 

POT ROAST 

SWEET FIRE CHICKEN 

HAPPY FAMILY 

TURKEY ROULADE 

BEEF BARBACOA 

STEAK & CHEESE W/ ZITI 

ROASTED TURKEY BREAST 

BUFFALO TURKEY WING 

SEAFOOD MEDLEY 

BREADED PORK CHOPS 

CHICKEN CACCIATORE 

TEX MEX KIT 

CHICKEN CURRY 

SHAHI PANEER 



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5 Neither 




1 Dislike Extremely 





5 Neither 




1 Dislike Extremely

Current UGR-A 

Dinner Entrées Rankings 

(High to Low) 

Gravies 

Chicken Cordon Bleu split with Tuscan Pork Loin 

Steak 

Spaghetti & Meatballs split with Sausage Scaloppini 

Chili Pepper Beef split with General Tso's Chicken 

Soft Tacos, Chicken & Beef 

Pork Ribs split with Jerk Chicken 

Andouille Pasta & Cheese split with Beef Brisket in BBQ sauce 

Prime Rib 

Meatloaf split with Jambalaya 

Shrimp Scampi split with Penne Pasta with Chicken in Alfredo 

Sauce 

Turkey Cutlet 

Cubed Beef in Gravy split with Pork Shank in Spicy Honey Sauce 

Fried Chicken 

Burgundy Beef Short Ribs 



Recommendations for 

FY12 Dinner Menus 

Gravies, Instant, Trans Fat Free to replace all current Gravies 

No Change 

No Change 

Non Pork Meatball; Remove Sausage Scaloppini 

Happy Family to replace Chili Pepper Beef (move to Meatloaf 

menu, dinner #2); Sweet Fire Chicken to replace General Tso’s 

No Change 

Fried Chicken (from dinner menu #1) to replace Jerk Chicken 

No Change 

No Change g 

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Chili Pepper Beef (from dinner menu #5) to replace Jambalaya 

No Change 

Roasted Turkey Breast to replace Turkey Cutlet 

Buffalo Turkey Wings to replace Pork Shank 

Beef Barbacoa split with Pulled BBQ Chicken; Fried 

Chicken moved to Pork Rib menu, dinner #8) 

Pot Roast 

Additional Items for FY13 Dinner Menus 

RRemove: 

Chocolate Cheesecake 

Vanilla & Choc Cupcakes 

White Choc Lemon Raspberry 

Cake 

Pineapple Coconut Cake 

Sweet Potato Pie 

Harvest Pumpkin Cake 



INCREASE 

VARIETY 

Add: 

Keylime Cheesecake 

Peanut Butter/Choc & Lemon Drop 

Cupcakes 

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Pumpkin Roll 

Dulce de Leche Cake 

Orange Sunshine Cake 

Almond Joy Bar Cake 

Creamed Spinach & Pasta 

Roasted Red Mashed Potatoes

Questions? 

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FY12 UGR-A 

Field Test Plans 

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FY12 UGR-A Field Test Plans 

• UGR-A Test Dates and Site TBD (Aug-Sep 12) 

• Deadline for submitting new items for FY12 consideration was in Apr 12 

• Thanks to industry for submitting an overwhelming number of potential 

items to both Natick and JCCoE 

• Suppliers will be notified by the end of May on the items selected for 

field testing 

• Based on Warfighter feedback the UGR-A field test results will be 

presented to the UGR-A IPT, Dec 12 / Jan 13 for decision to include in 

FY14 menus 

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Future UGR-A Field Test Plans 

• Focus for Potential New Items: 

• Improved Nutrition 

‒ Reduced Sodium 

‒ Increased Fiber – Legumes, Whole Grains, etc. 

‒ Reduced Fat 

‒ Trans-Fat Free 

• Improved Variety 

• Reduced Frozen Cube 

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Initiative to Reduce 

the Frozen Cube in 

the UGR-A 

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Initiative to Reduce the Frozen 

Cube in the UGR-A 

• The UGR-A frozen box (1 per module) ranges from 2.18 to 3.9 

cubic feet 

• The UGR-A semi-perishable box (2 per module) remains constant 

at 11.75 75 cubic feet 

• The UGR-A frozen cube has significantly increased over the past 

decade due to: 

• Providing an additional breakfast meat choice 

• Increased use of commercial prepared frozen entrées 

• Adding frozen bakery items (muffins, Danish, bagels, cakes, 

cookies, and pies), which replaced shelf stable bakery items to 

increase variety and acceptability 

Positive Impact = Increased variety and acceptability of the UGR-A 

Negative Impact = Increased weight and volume of the frozen box; 

Increased cost of the UGR-A; Increased need for reefer assets at 

forward locations 

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Frozen Box Short Side 

View 



2.32 cubic feet 

44 pounds 


62 pounds 


60+ pounds 

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Frozen Box Long Side 

View 



Phase I: Frozen Bakery Items 

Biscuits: 

• Through FY11, biscuits were packed in a 100 

count box (2 biscuits per serving) 

• By reducing the number of biscuits to one per 

serving, we significantly reduced the cube in 4 of 

the 7 breakfast menus 

•Approved by UGR-A IPT for FY13 menus. 

•UGR-A Assemblers / Biscuit Supplier 

accelerated transition in 2QFY12 due to the 

significant cost and cube savings 

OLD CASE - 5/20 ct NEW CASE - 2/25 ct 

Cube = 1.13 

Length = 15.56 

Width = 13.06 

Height = 11.06 

Cube = .48 

Length = 15.56 

Width = 13.06 

Height = 4.125 

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Phase I: Frozen Bakery Items 

Sheet Cakes 

• It was determined that the three major bakery suppliers for the UGR-A program 

provided sheet cakes in various serving sizes sizes, packages packages, and number of packages 

per module 

Vendor A – 3 quarter-sheet trays (bake in box and pre-sliced - 18 slices per 

tray) 

Vendor B – 2 quarter-sheet trays (bake in box and pre-sliced - 24 slices per 

tray) 

Vendor C – 3 quarter-sheet trays (thermoformed corrugated tray, not sliced – 18 

servings per tray) 

• Working with these 3 bakery vendors, it was determined that Vendor B’s 

packaging provided the best solution for the UGR-A 

• Per UGR-A IPT approval, all 3 vendors will transition to half-sheet, bake in box 

trays, pre-sliced, 24 slices per tray, 2 trays per module by FY13 

• Approximately 30% reduction in weight in cube in menus containing frozen cakes 

Current 

Frozen Sheet 

Cake Boxes 

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Future 

Required 

Maximum 

Cube



Th These ttwo changes h alone l will ill 

significantly reduce the cube of boxes 

containing either frozen biscuits or cakes 

by as much as 15% 

Phase II: 

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• Initiate a Process Action Team (PAT) to identify additional 

frozen product types that can be standardized (Boil-in-Bag 

entrées, breakfast sandwiches, proteins, veggies) or 

otherwise reduced 

• First PAT meeting will be conducted in conjunction with 

the R&DA, May 12. Attendees will initially include 

NSRDEC, , JCCoE, , Marine Corps, p , DLA-Troop p Support, pp , 

and the three UGR-A assemblers 

• Status updates and metrics of success will be provided 

at future UGR-A IPT and JSORF meetings 

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UGR-B Field Testing 

and Plans 

for Menu Revision 

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UGR-B Field Testing & Plans 

for Revision 

• Project to identify and reduce the build-up of unused UGR-B components 

and to execute a complete menu revision 

• FY11 accomplishments: 

• Completed evaluation of current UGR-B menus utilized at Camp 

Wilson, Twenty-nine Palms, CA (Mar 11) to determine: 

• Ease of Preparation 

• Overages of Individual Components 

• Additionally, conducted focus group with Marine Corps (MC) cooks at Camp 

Wilson to review preparation procedures and brainstorm ideas for future 

menus 

• Based on this information as well as HQMC input, recipes are under revision, 

components are being “right sized”, and test menus are being developed for 

field testing (Jun/Jul 12) 

• MC has requested that the number of breakfast menus be increased from 5 

to 7 

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for Revision 

Components targeted for right-sizing: 

• Maple syrup bottles (reduce from 5 to 4) 

• Catsup (20 oz to 12 oz) 

• Peanut Butter & Jam/Jelly (reduce amount and 

number of menus) 

• Pancakes (currently in 5 menus; reduce to 4 out of 7) 

• Biscuits (currently in 4 out of 5 menus; change to 4 

out t of f 7) 

• Incorporate canned fruits in desserts (e.g., apple 

cobbler) to increase consumption 

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for Revision 

Breakfast Test Items: 

• Variety of Breakfast Skillets (Pork Sausage, Turkey 

Sausage, Ham, and Beef) 

• Shelf Stable Tortillas for Skillets and Egg Wraps 

• Lower Cholesterol Eggs 

• Variety of Hash (Beef, Ham, Chicken) 

• Breakfast Fried Rice 

• Ham Steak 

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for Revision 

Dinner Test Items: 

• Institutional-Sized Pouches (ILO #10 cans) of Meatballs in Tomato 

Sauce, and Cubed Beef 

• Thicker Pork Chop in Bourbon Sauce 

• Turkey Meatloaf 

• Strip Steak with Garlic Mashed Potatoes 

• Vegetable Chili (as a side) 

• Wrap Menu – Buffalo Chicken, Chicken Fajita with Sour Cream, 

Cheddar Cheese and Guacamole 

• Beef Stroganoff 

• BBQ Chicken Chi k 

• Chili Garlic Chicken 

• Southwest Chicken Alfredo 

• Ham Slice in a Caribbean Sauce 

• Asian Sesame Shrimp 

• Salsa Chicken & Shrimp 

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for Revision 

Bakery Test Items: 

• Cinnamon Biscuit 

• Coffee Cake 

• Dump Cakes with Fruit (Fruit Cocktail, Blueberries, 

Apples) 

• Frosted Brownie 

• Cobblers (Apple, Blueberry) 

• Cheddar Cheese and Jalapeño Corn Bread 

Beverages: 

• Expand variety by incorporating Carbohydrate 

Beverages 

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for Revision 

• Field test results and recommendations will be 

presented to HQMC for decision to include in new 

menus (4QFY12) 

• These “right-sizing” changes and menu improvements 

will increase acceptability and reduce waste in the 

UGR-B 

• Performance-based Contract Requirements, 

Commercial Item Descriptions and Assembly Contract 

Requirements will be developed and transitioned to 

DLA-Troop Support for procurement (FY13) 

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Conclusion 

…looking forward to our continued 

partnership with The Military Services and 

industry, which has contributed 

significantly to the ongoing success of the 

Fielded Group Ration Continuous Product 

Improvement Project. 

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Questions? 

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Unitized Group Ration – A™ (UGR-A™) and UGR-B ... - R&DA

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