The Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) was a United States military ration of canned and preserved food, issued from 1958 to 1980.

The MCI was eventually superseded by the Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) in 1980, with retort pouches replacing the cans, contained in a cardboard box for lighter weight.

The MCI was intended as a modest improvement over the earlier canned C-ration, with inclusion of additional menu items to reduce monotony and encourage adequate daily feeding and nutrition.

Each carton contained a single complete meal providing approximately 5,000 kJ (1,200 kilocalories or 1,200 kcal), with a packaged weight of 1.2 kilograms (2.6 lb)[3] and volume of 1.5 litres (0.053 cu ft).

The Accessory Pack came with salt, sugar, instant coffee, non-dairy creamer, two pieces of candy-coated chewing gum, a packet of toilet paper, a four-pack of commercial-grade cigarettes, and a book of 20 cardboard moisture-proof matches.

Typical commercial brands issued in the cigarette ration were: Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, Kool, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Pall Mall, Salem, or Winston.

[5] This goal was rarely achieved in the field, and some Army and Marine forces in Vietnam would operate for two weeks or more while consuming only the MCI ration or other processed, canned foods.

[7][8][9] US Marines, paratroops, infantrymen, and armored vehicle crewmen, particularly AMTRAC (Amphibious Tractor) personnel, believed that halved apricots were bad luck to eat during combat operations.

[10] The peanut butter issued in the B-1 unit was unappetizing to some and was often discarded, but was consumed by those with diarrhea, as it was certain to stop a case of "the runs".

[11][12] Soldiers in Special Operations units hoarded B-1 peanut butter in empty ration cans to make improvised smoke candles while on long patrols.

[13] Being extremely oily, the peanut butter burned with ease, and could be used to boil water for coffee, although it left a greasy black stain on the bottom of the canteen cup.

On July 24, 2009, with news media and dignitaries in attendance, Colonel Moak opened the forty-year-old can and ate the contents.

[15][16] Throughout the Marine Corps 'Beef Slices w/ Potatoes' were known as "Beef and Rocks" due to their half-cooked texture caused by the chemically maintained integrity of the potato slices to prevent disintegration during storage and "Beans with Frankfurter Chunks in Tomato Sauce" were more commonly referred to as "Beans and Baby Dicks".

[14] Despite the inclusion of additional menu items, the MCI was still designed only for "infrequent use" (unlike later individual rations, which would be required to pass a new field test of seven consecutive days of consumption as the sole diet without complaints of monotony).

socks to save bulk and reduce noise on patrol, while enemy forces improved mobility by carrying lightweight rations of dry rice in scarves.