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Polish and Romanian soldiers swap rations

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Pork neck in a can? Orange juice in powdered form? Watch a Polish and a Romanian soldier swap their rations.

Synopsis

Every military in NATO has its field ration, known as MREs (meals-ready-to-eat). While perhaps not the height of culinary expression, these rations give soldiers the calories they need to power through a hard day in the field. From Ally to Ally, their contents differ in sometimes small, sometimes big, but always interesting ways.
Watch a Polish and Romanian soldier swap their ration packs while on exercise near Craiova, Romania. With food ranging from canned pork neck to powdered orange juice, these two soldiers sit down and test traditional meals in a way less traditional setting.
After this tasting session, the ‘Red Scorpions’, as the 26th Infantry Battalion "Neagoe Basarab" of the Romanian Land Forces are known, trained alongside their Polish allies from the 12th Mechanised Brigade. They practised embarking and disembarking from armoured vehicles and clearing simulated explosive devices off of roads and vehicles. The units shared tactics and procedures, bringing them closer together and ensuring their ability to work effectively in a time of crisis.

Transcript

TRANSCRIPT (AUDIO AND TEXT ON SCREEN)

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I would say poftă bună. That's bon appétit.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Huh, once again? Poftă?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes, that’s it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

-TEXT ON SCREEN-
RATIONS SWAP

GRAPHIC
Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces

GRAPHIC
Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Hello.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Hello.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I’m Mirela.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Bartek. I have a gift for you.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Oh, thank you.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Here you go.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Here is something from us too.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Thank you very much.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I hope you enjoy it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, you too.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“So Bartek has here the daily combat ration pack meal for the Romanian Army.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“So Mirela has a 24-hour ration pack of the Polish Army.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It’s enough for me, I think it’s enough.”
“Okay, let's have a picnic!”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“So maybe we will start from Mirela.

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
Okay.

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces

We'll open it.
Here we have some cups, disposable cups, some napkins, sugar, salt, some sweets.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It looks like a party goodie bag.
We have some candies in here.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, exactly.”
“It’s coffee. You’ve got coffee here.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Składniki?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yes, składniki.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Okay.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Your Polish is quite good.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Ah, thank you.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Tea with some lime extracts.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Oh, just coffee for me today please.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok.”
“And, my favourite one. Here we’ve got like chocolate bar.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“This is for me?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, here you go.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Thank you.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“When I would be in the field training, I would start my day with ‘konserwa lisiecka’ for sure with some crackers. So canned meat basically, with crackers. I would go for some coffee, and that would be it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Ah yes, I’ll try the canned meat.”

GRAPHICS CANNED MEAT

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Ok, this is how it looks like.”
“It doesn’t smell… It smells ok. So I could definitely eat it but not the whole of it, just a bit.”
“I would eat it with a bit of bread maybe, some biscuits.
But it’s really good cold.”
“Should we start the stove for the main dish?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Sure.”
“So, in order to heat up a Polish ration, we’ve got like stove. We’ve got some fire tablets and some matches.”
“When it comes to the ingredients, it’s pork neck. There you’ve got some carrots, some beans.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I like the way it’s boiling here.”
“Ok…”
GRAPHICS PORK NECK

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I like it. I like the beans.

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
‘Ok.’

It’s really similar to homemade stew. But for a picnic meal, in a field after you’re very tired and very hungry, I would say it’s an 8 or 9.”
“Ok, ready for the Romanian one?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Can’t wait!”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“We’ve cleaned the table. So we can just put it all again here. As you can see it’s a pretty big one. It’s around 3 kg, but it has three full meals in it. But I’ll only give you one.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“The MRE is really big, it’s about 5,000 calories.”
“So we have breakfast here. And then this is the lunch one, and this is the dinner.”
“Ok, so, which one do you want to try?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“I would go for the lunch.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Good choice, the lunch is the biggest one.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok, perfect.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It’s almost 2,000 calories.”
“Let’s see, oh, it’s easy-open.”
“Creamy pasta chicken!”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Our main dish.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Perfect.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“We’ll put it to the heater, and then I’ll mix you some isotonic drink.”
“So this is our flameless heating device. Then we’re gonna put the main course inside. Let’s add a bit of water.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Close it?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes, yes, we should seal it. But it’s starting to simmer a bit. It’s a chemical reaction that will release some heat.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“You can hear it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It’s bubbly!”
“Maybe we can just leave it here. And meanwhile maybe we can just prepare another isotonic drink. The strange thing about it is that all the meals have the same colour. And if I want to choose something, I need to really check to see what’s in it.”
“Oh, it’s orange. Yes, it’s pretty common to use orange flavour in Romanian drinks.”
“And yeah, it’s orange. It’s like really, really orange.”
“I want you to feel like you’re having a cocktail.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok, oh my god.”

GRAPHICS ISOTONIC ORANGE DRINK

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, that’s good. You cannot feel the artificial ingredients, it’s more like real orange. Yeah that’s good, that’s really nice.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Ok, so, our meal is cooking… your meal actually.”
“And also if you want to put something else inside to make it warm, it’s still going to be working for a while.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“So that’s actually useful.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes, yes, you can warm lots of stuff with it.”
“So this is the creamy pasta with chicken. It’s a bit warm, I think it’s ok. Let’s see.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“It actually smells a bit similar to what you have.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Ah, ok.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“It’s like homemade, some vegetables. Alright.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“So here is your weapon.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok. Let’s dig in!”

GRAPHICS CREAMY PASTA WITH CHICKEN

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, it’s really similar to our…like as you said you can… it’s like homemade.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“If you were hungry, would you eat it?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Of course, yeah! It’s really similar taste to our so…yeah, I’m used to it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I would say poftă bună. That's bon appétit.”


  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok. Dziękuję bardzo.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Huh, once again? Poftă?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună?”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes, that’s it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Poftă bună.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“After you’ve had your meal, now you can have some peanut butter with the crackers.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Oh!”

GRAPHICS PEANUT BUTTER WITH CRACKERS

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Ok, let’s try it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“I’ll try some too.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, that’s nice.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It’s the kind that you usually eat in the morning. I like to eat it in the morning.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“As for one meal, I would say it’s enough. You’ve got some sweets, you’ve got like dish. That would be it. I haven’t tried different meals but concerning everything, I would give a solid 8, solid 8. Yeah, that’s real nice. As for one meal, that would be perfect.”
“Ok, yeah. Here you go.”


  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Thank you.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“It was a pleasure, sorry. I really enjoyed your meal.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“I also enjoyed it.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Actually, we only did the tastings, so we should eat it now.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH - Bartek, Polish Armed Forces
“Yeah, we cannot waste food.”

  • SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH – Mirela, Romanian Armed Forces
“Yes, we should really eat it.”

END
Music
Golden Groove instrumental by Stephen Gray Kitsch ‘N’ Kool instrumental by Adam Saunders, Mark Stephen Cousins Under the Radar instrumental by John K. Sands, Marc Ferrari, Michael A Tremante
Usage rights
This media asset is free for editorial broadcast, print, online and radio use. It is restricted for use for other purposes.
Reference
NATO944877
ID
2238