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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§8242 Rations

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle C— - Navy and Marine Corps › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 827— - RATIONS › § 8242

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The President decides what and how much makes up the Navy’s daily meal and can substitute similar items when doing so saves money or helps sailors’ health and comfort. An enlisted member on active duty gets one ration each day, and an emergency ration is extra. Hospitals must be given fruits, milk, butter, and eggs needed for sick or injured service members under rules set by the Secretary of the Navy. The Secretary can raise daily rations for a ship or station with fewer than 150 authorized members if the President finds the operating conditions justify more food.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §8242

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The President may prescribe the components and quantities of the Navy ration. The President may direct the issuance of equivalent articles in place of the prescribed components of the ration if the President determines that economy and the health and comfort of the members of the naval service require such action.
(b)An enlisted member of the naval service on active duty is entitled to one ration daily. If an emergency ration is issued, it is in addition to the regular ration.
(c)Fresh or preserved fruits, milk, butter, and eggs necessary for the proper diet of the sick and injured in hospitals shall be provided under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy.
(d)The Secretary of the Navy may increase the quantity of daily rations for members of the naval service on a vessel or at a station that has an authorized complement of less than 150 members if the President determines that the vessel or station is operating under conditions that warrant an increase in rations.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 6082(a)34 U.S.C. 902a.Mar. 2, 1933, ch. 184, § 1 (2d sentence), 47 Stat. 1423; Feb. 21, 1942, ch. 106, 56 Stat. 97. 6082(b)34 U.S.C. 902b.Mar. 2, 1933, ch. 184, § 2, 47 Stat. 1423. 6082(c)34 U.S.C. 902c.Mar. 2, 1933, ch. 184, § 3, 47 Stat. 1423. In subsection (a) the words “issued to each person entitled thereto” are omitted as surplusage. In clause (2) the words “or fresh” and in clause (6) the words “together with” are omitted as surplusage.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 6082 of this title as this section. 1990—Pub. L. 101–510 substituted “Rations” for “Navy ration: composition” in section catchline and amended text generally, substituting subsecs. (a) to (d) for former subsecs. (a) to (c) which specified the contents and quantities of the Navy ration in detail, authorized issuance of articles in addition to the authorized quantities, and provided for increases in the daily allowance of provisions on certain vessels or at certain stations.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Executive Documents

Delegation of Authority Authority of President under subsecs. (a) and (d) of this section to prescribe uniform military ration applicable to Navy delegated to Secretary of Defense by section 3(a) of Ex. Ord. No. 12781, Nov. 20, 1991, 56 F.R. 59203, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 8242

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73