The servicemen and women of the U.S. Armed Forces are oftentimes plagued by the sleep deprivation that comes with working in stressful combat situations. This sleep deprivation and general lack of alertness can lead to preventable mistakes on the battlefield. Troops used to chew on freeze dried coffee grounds to fend off fatigue but now they are being offered two new products—a beverage and a gum—that were specially designed for use in the field.

“In 1990, after Desert Storm, the Army realized that there were more casualties from accidents caused by fatigue,” said Maurice Green, director of sales and marketing for Montgomery Marketing Inc. (MMI) Federal Marketing Corp, Montgomery, AL. “When troops are tired, they can make bad judgments, whether riding in a convoy or driving a truck. If he’s up for 48 hours, they are most definitely going to be tired.”

In 1998, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) included fast-acting caffeine gum as part of its stimulant research program—later that year WRAIR received a $250 million budget line item to fund the initial research. Two years later, WRAIR completed a study successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of the oral absorption of caffeine on alertness and cognitive abilities.

“Walter Reed worked on a lot of formulas and formats and finally realized that caffeine was the most acceptable ingredient since people drink coffee and tea all the time,” Mr. Green explained. “They found that chewing gum was the best vehicle for getting caffeine into the body because it is absorbed quickly by the mucosal membranes and travels into the bloodstream within 10 minutes. The effect of other caffeine vehicles like coffee and tea take longer to be felt because they must first travel to the stomach and be diluted by the digestive process before being absorbed.”

After WRAIR completed its performance research on caffeinated gum, which at the time was manufactured by Wrigley’s, a soldier acceptability study was completed by U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center in Natick, MA. By 2003 the product was provided for use in Afghanistan and Iraq, with WRAIR approving Stay Alert gum for the Department of Defense (DOD) catalog, which supplies every battalion. Most recently, the gum was granted a National Stock Number and is being prepped to be a standard component of a special kind of troop Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) ration.

“Beginning this month, one pack of five cinnamon-flavored Stay Alert gum tablets will be included in each ‘First-Strike Ration,’ a new type of troop ration designed only for those troops going on high risk operations requiring them to be alert for 48-72 hours,” said Mr. Green. “It is not being put into other rations right now. The First Strike Ration is the first use.”

Each Stay Alert gum tablet contains 100 mg of caffeine, which Mr. Green says is the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee. “Don’t be mislead, just because it’s called Stay Alert Caffeinated Supplement Chewing Gum doesn’t mean it tastes as good as Juicy Fruit gum,” he warned, affirming that caffeine is the only stimulating ingredient used in the gum. “It’s not designed to be a chewing gum; the gum is solely a vehicle to get the caffeine into the body and to bring you back up to a cognitive level where you will not be making mistakes. That’s why directions say to chew it for four or five minutes then spit it out. You can chew it all day long if you want, but it’s not designed to taste good. The cinnamon is merely a short term mask for the bitterness of the caffeine.”

MMI, a 30-year supplier of goods to the military, is the sole distributor of Stay Alert Gum, which is presently available to military personnel only through Army and Air Force base exchanges and via the Stay Alert website. And while Wrigley’s still owns the gum patent, Stay Alert is currently produced by KoKo's Confectionery & Novelty in Cockeysville, MD.

A Shot of Energy

Upshot, an energy beverage shot, was created to fill the same need as Stay Alert gum.

According to Brian Lovejoy, founder of Westlake Village, CA-based Drinks That Work, Upshot was formulated in accordance with research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Defense to be a perfect fit for the U.S. Military. “There was a study commissioned by the U.S. Department Of Defense called “Caffeine for the Sustainment of Mental Task Performance: Formulations for Military Operations, Committee on Military Nutrition Research Food and Nutrition Board Institute of Medicine.” In this study it was determined that the perfect dose of energy could be achieved if a certain volume of caffeine was consumed...the exact volume contained in Upshot. This dose was the amount needed to not only stay awake, but also to be alert, responsive, etc. We followed their guidelines and took it to the next level by formulating Upshot,” he said.

The 2.5-oz. energy shot contains a proprietary blend of energy-producing plant extracts, including kola nut, guarana and green tea, and is scientifically engineered to be two-and-a-half times stronger than canned energy sodas—the “perfect dose” of energy with no “crash.” “Upshot was engineered with the various needs of our troops in mind,” Mr. Lovejoy said. “With energy being the effect most people can relate to, considering today’s beverage climate, we made sure things like stamina, vigilance, awareness and responsiveness were elevated and sustained as a result of drinking Upshot—all things our soldiers desperately need in the field.”

The most visually interesting aspect of Upshot is its camouflaged packaging. The tiny bottle is wrapped in a camouflaged label that conceals well when tucked into the pocket of camouflaged combat gear. “Pilots and tank personnel appreciate it because they can get the energy they need without consuming too much liquid that they’d rather not have to empty themselves of,” remarked Mr. Lovejoy, who added that this is the first of many functional “shots” Drinks That Work plans to develop with military and athletic performers in mind.