of aspects of the revised draft confusing and discussed their findings with the full committee. The CMNR concluded that the confusion generated by the present draft could most likely be alleviated through expansion of several sections and the addition of explanatory footnotes and text. The committee verbally conveyed a request for additional materials to Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army (OTSG, DA) and deferred further discussion and formulation of recommendations until receipt of additional material or a second revised draft.

In late January 1994, the CMNR received another revision of the MRDAs for their consideration and recommendations. The committee included discussion of this revision in their executive session after a workshop in February 1994. After the initiation of the current grant in November 1994, the completion of this letter report (along with other outstanding commitments from the previous grant) was a priority for the committee. The completed report was delivered in October 1995. The letter report is thus based on past reviews of AR 40-25, reviews of military rations and ration developments, workshops on nutrient requirements for military personnel in environmental extremes, and committee deliberations regarding the present version, and is a thoughtfully developed presentation incorporating the scientific opinion of the CMNR and comments of the anonymous peer review panel of the National Research Council.

It is the view of the CMNR that there does not appear to be a scientific basis to have distinct military recommended dietary allowances for individuals performing duties in normal peacetime military operations and non-field conditions. However, since the MRDAs have an extensive history of use by the military in areas such as menu planning and procurement of military rations, the committee recognizes that they may serve an essential purpose beyond that usually identified with the RDAs. In addition, nutritional standards for the development and procurement of operational and restricted rations are necessary to assure that the issued rations meet the needs of service men and women whose entire diet while under simulated or actual combat conditions may consist of the issued rations for extended periods of time, such as experienced during Operation Desert Shield/Storm and during peace-keeping operations in Somalia and Haiti.

The staffs of OTSG, DA and U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command are urged to review whether there continues to be a need to maintain separate MRDAs in light of existing information that has been developed by the Institute of Medicine, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other organizations for the general population.