Chewing Gum is part of the US Army's field and combat rations.

Soldiers consume gum at a rate 5 times that of the national average.

The desire for gum continued with Americans as they went into war. As a part of their rations, American troops in WWII received gum. Indeed, the gum was an integral part of the rations, and every American GI received it for each meal.

• It was lightweight, unaffected by temperature, stable for long periods of time, and was appealing.
• Over 500 million sticks of gum were chewed by the soldiers every year, and this forced the Wrigley Company to only provide gum to the U.S. Army and Navy in 1944.
• Sleep researcher Gary Kamimori invented caffeine gum, and the U.S. Army readily supplied this to its troops to help through the fatigue of military operations.
• Each piece contained roughly the equivalent of a six-ounce cup of coffee, minus the difficulty of transport, need to go to the bathroom, and can be used in all kinds of temperatures.