with thanks to Carl Kurfess
By the time of World War II, American servicemen were consuming 32.5 pounds of coffee per capita, per year, with the Army Quartermaster Corps going so far as to roast, grind, vacuum pack and ship its own beans overseas. Meanwhile, legend has it that when soldiers in Italy encountered espresso, they watered it down to make a concoction similar to the coffee they drank at home. There are many competing accounts, but some people surmise that these were the humble beginnings of the drink we now know as an “Americano.”
In Vietnam, soldiers and Marines would burn C4 explosive to make their coffee in the jungle. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army and Air Force Exchange System (AAFES) had Green Beans coffee stands so servicemen and women could get their espresso and Frappuccino fix.
and then, there’s Navy coffee:
