As the military moves toward dispersion, autonomy and speed, traditional resupply models break down. Sustaining the operator becomes a design problem. The QRR reflects that logic: integrated, pre-planned, frictionless.

Joost Tuinman – Overview of Service and Achievements
•⁠ ⁠Service and rank
•⁠ ⁠Lieutenant Colonel, Royal Netherlands Army – Special Operations
•⁠ ⁠Over 20 years of military experience, including long-term service with the Korps Commandotroepen and strategic staff roles
•⁠ ⁠Since June 2025: Director / Project Lead Unmanned Systems at AI–Armaments BV
•⁠ ⁠Academic background
•⁠ ⁠MSc in Defense Analysis (Irregular Warfare) – Naval Postgraduate School, USA
•⁠ ⁠MA in Operational Studies (Security & Defense) – US Army Command & General Staff College
•⁠ ⁠BSc in Military Operational Sciences – Royal Netherlands Military Academy
•⁠ ⁠Key functions
•⁠ ⁠Military Assistant to the Commander, NATO Mission in Iraq (2024)
•⁠ ⁠Deputy Commander, TF Drones (2024–2025)
•⁠ ⁠Chief Commander’s Advisory Group – NLD SOCOM (2022–2024)
•⁠ ⁠Senior Staff Officer Land Manoeuvre (Capability Development), Defence Staff
•⁠ ⁠Operational command positions across infantry and SOF units (2001–2017)
•⁠ ⁠Deployments and field experience
•⁠ ⁠Operational deployments in the Middle East and Africa
•⁠ ⁠Expertise in strategic competition, capability development and doctrinal innovation
•⁠ ⁠Decorations
•⁠ ⁠Bronze Cross
•⁠ ⁠Commemorative Medal for Peace Operations
•⁠ ⁠NATO Medal
•⁠ ⁠Long Service Cross with numeral XX
•⁠ ⁠Four-Day Marches Cross
•⁠ ⁠Publications
•⁠ ⁠Contributing author, Into the Void: Special Operations after the War on Terror
•⁠ ⁠Specialist in the relationship between tactical behaviour, strategic effect and SOF doctrine
•⁠ ⁠Personal context
•⁠ ⁠Twin brother of Dutch State Secretary Gijs Tuinman, recipient of the Military Order of William

Redefining sustainment for the new battlespace
The nature of warfare is evolving faster than the systems meant to support it. Autonomy, dispersion, signature management and high mobility have become the baseline – not the exception. Anyone still thinking of logistics in terms of bulk, routes and central resupply is falling behind.

The operator as the reference point
In my time within SOF and multinational deployments, I witnessed a steady shift: less infrastructure, more reliance on the individual. Technology expanded, but margins for error contracted. In that context, sustainment is not a derivative of logistics – it is the logic.

Nutrition plays a critical but often underrated role. Not as comfort, but as a prerequisite for decision-making, recovery and output. Traditional systems are too slow, too heavy, too fragile. They can’t support forward-deployed, autonomous teams. What’s needed is systemic nutrition: designed as a force multiplier, not as a follow-on supply.

From resupply to pre-integration
What stood out to me in the QRR project is that it doesn’t start with food – it starts with operations. Not “what does someone eat”, but “how does a unit stay autonomous without tactical delay”. The bar is just the carrier. The concept is mission-integrated nutrition. One slot in your kit. No prep. No sound. No dependence.
That’s not a detail. In an environment defined by drone surveillance, electronic signature management and physical dispersion, it’s the difference between agility and exposure.

Anticipation is responsibility
As a commander and strategic advisor to NATO and NLD SOCOM, I’ve repeatedly seen promising missions break down due to delayed logistics, insufficient sustainment or operator exhaustion. Not due to intent – but due to systems not keeping pace with modern operations.

QRR is no silver bullet – but it is a forward-leaning solution. It’s designed systemically: small, precise, reproducible and ready within seconds. Not an “addition”, but an embedded capability. And that is what we need if we expect humans to perform in today’s operational reality.

Functional nutrition as infrastructure: applying Wageningen science to real-world constraints
As a food scientist trained at Wageningen University & Research, I approach formulation through function—not fashion. My focus lies in how ingredients behave under extreme conditions: thermal cycles, caloric restriction, cognitive load, and the absence of appetite or preparation time.

During the development of the QRR (Quick Response Ration), that background became essential. This was not a culinary exercise. It was a systems design problem: how do you stabilise and deliver compact, autonomous nutrition that remains effective under military-grade stress?

Wageningen Thinking: Ingredients in System Context
At Wageningen, we are trained to look beyond individual nutrients. The real question is: how does a compound behave inside a constrained system? In this case, that meant a ready-to-consume, shelf-stable ration with:

No synthetic stabilisers
Neutral flavour across repeated exposure
Stable performance in both heat and cold
Full digestibility even under stress
Each ingredient had to be selected not only for its nutritional content, but for its physical stability, metabolic resilience, and compatibility with the matrix. That’s where my scientific training intersected directly with operational demands.

A Role for Functional Chlorella
One of the inputs that met these requirements was Alver’s Diamond and Golden Chlorella. While Alver supplied the ingredient, its inclusion was based on Wageningen-style evaluation: empirical, constraint-driven, and outcome-focused.

Chlorella showed:

Thermal and oxidative stability across varying climates
Compatibility with fat–protein matrices, without off-notes or clumping
Efficient absorption under fatigue, without digestive strain
Support for immune function and cellular repair, via micronutrients and beta-glucans
These were not bonus features—they were baseline requirements.

Reproducibility as a Performance Guarantee
What mattered most was consistency. As in all applied nutrition engineering, reproducibility is the marker of success. The QRR had to work the same for every user, in every condition. Chlorella’s neutral behaviour and metabolic accessibility helped make that possible.

Nutrition as Capability Layer
My contribution to the QRR was not to create a product—it was to translate scientific precision into operational reliability. Wageningen taught me to treat food as infrastructure: something that must function, not just nourish. The QRR isn’t a snack. It’s a designed interface between human physiology and sustained performance.

That principle—nutrition as engineered capability—guided every decision in this formulation. And it remains, in my view, the only valid standard for field nutrition going forward.

Ten years in special operations taught me what truly matters in the field. Weight, volume, stealth — they’re not preferences, they’re mission-critical. The QRR meets that standard: low noise, low weight, low volume, and most importantly — it’s tactically usable. The right energy, when and where you need it.”

Overview of Experience and Distinctions
•⁠ ⁠Service and Rank
Senior NCO, Royal Netherlands Special Forces – Korps Commandotroepen
10 years active duty in SOF missions
Operator and instructor in the Special Forces selection programme
•⁠ ⁠Deployments and Field Experience
Multiple tours in Africa and the Middle East
Expert in long-range reconnaissance, direct action and military assistance
•⁠ ⁠Instructional and Advisory Roles
Basic and advanced SOF skills instructor
Sniper and counter-sniper instructor
Operational field tester in mobility and nutrition trials
Advisor to the QRR development programme since 2024
•⁠ ⁠Key Competencies
Combat nutrition in extreme and tactical conditions
Tactical field integration of sustainment systems

Field-Tested Nutrition Under Pressure
After ten years in SOF—on missions and as an instructor—my view on gear is straightforward: if it takes space and weight, it needs to justify its presence. That includes food.

Most rations are built for average soldiers with vehicle support. They prioritise calories, not output per gram. We often strip them down or replace them with civilian items that work better. Some operators skip them altogether to cut weight and bulk. But when you're short on time, short on carbs, or in a no-prep situation — the QRR is the answer.

Designed for the Real World
The QRR is built for actual use, not checklists. No crinkle, no reflection, and both heat- and cold-tolerant. The two variants cover most terrains we operate in. Compare that to shiny foil bags with orange warnings — no tactical logic.
You can use the QRR at night, eat with gloves, break it into portions, and slide it flat into your plate carrier. No heating. No tools. No setup. On today’s battlefield — with drones, thermal optics, and electronic surveillance — staying dark, quiet and mobile is not optional.

In Practice
Taste is neutral. No sugar spike, no nausea, no crash. I’ve used it in 40 °C heat and after 48 hours without sleep — no problems. One bar gives you 407 kcal. That means predictability. It handles pressure, heat, cold. It doesn’t crumble. It doesn’t melt. It performs.

Simplicity Under Stress
Under stress, simplicity wins. One bar replaces four loose items. No choices, no prep. Just fuel. You eat. You move. You stay sharp.

You don’t just do Everest. Not me, anyway. You plan for it. You train hard for it. You budget for it.
Nothing about it feels normal, or like something you’ll actually manage the first few times you think about it. It feels superhuman.

People often talk about “the summit”, but that’s just one day. What matters much more are the months and weeks before — the acclimatisation cycles, the carries between camps, the waiting, the repeating, the cold. The whole journey.

The mental part — the doubt, the focus, the time away from family — is tougher than the physical side. At least in my experience. I’m sure everyone who’s been there has their own view.

I went up the north side, from Tibet. Less crowded than the south, but harder. Longer traverses. More wind (usually), and colder nights.
I climbed without support above Base Camp. No Sherpa assistance, no porters. I didn’t use supplemental oxygen until Camp 3. From there to the summit and back, I did.

Food becomes part of that system.
Above 6.500 metres, appetite shuts down. You eat by discipline or routine, not because you feel like it. The Sherpas kept repeating the same thing: Eat. Always eat. Always listen to the Sherpas

I brought what I usually bring: plain crackers, salt, nuts, soft gels, white rice. Protein for moments of rest. But I also added 10 units of something new I was testing for FRONTIER — a compact meal bar ration called the QRR.

I didn’t pack it as a miracle food, or to help someone else. I packed it because it was energy-dense, required no prep, and took up almost no space.
The altitude-focused research behind it was something I found genuinely interesting to test in real conditions.

At altitude, space is everything — and every gram you take up a mountain, Everest or not, costs you energy you’re trying to preserve at all costs.

### *Summit Day Nutrition Log*Tomas E. Rauk | Mount Everest North Ridge | May 2024*Intake: 10 QRRs (±4.100 kcal)**Context*The summit push began at night from Camp 3 (±8.300 m), with oxygen support starting at departure. The full effort spanned roughly 16 hours, from high camp to summit and down to lower camp (\~6.400 m). Appetite was significantly reduced — typical at this altitude — so everything had to be compact, tolerable, and ready to use. The QRRs were used alongside water and a minimal base of standard rations (crackers, tea, simple sugars).

### *Intake Overview**Camp 3 (±8.300 m, 21:00)*• 1 QRR, consumed gradually during gear-up and oxygen prep
• Objective: preload usable calories before effort under oxygen
• Result: no discomfort; tolerated well despite low appetite

*Ascent phase 1 (±8.000–8.200 m, 00:00–02:30)*• 1 QRR during a short break below First Step
• Taken with 150 ml warm fluid
• Objective: maintain pacing and mental clarity during early push

*Upper ridge (±7.800 m, \~04:30)*• 1 QRR in parts — first bite before the ridge, remainder before final push
• Result: minimal effort, clean digestion, no GI issues

*Summit (8.848 m, ±07:15)*• No intake — too cold, mask management was priority
• 1 QRR carried but not consumed

*Early descent (±8.500–8.000 m, 08:00–10:30)*• 2 QRRs, spaced over two stops
• Objective: maintain pace and focus during exposed descent phase

*Mid-descent (±7.200 m, \~12:30)*• 1 QRR during structured rest
• Appetite partially returned, no issues with digestion

*Lower descent (±6.800–6.400 m, 14:00–17:00)*• 3 QRRs:
– One at \~6.800 m
– One near 6.500 m
– One after arrival at lower camp (recovery)
• All went down easily; no resistance


### *Summary** *Total intake*: 10 QRRs ≈ 4.100 kcal
* *Distribution*: evenly spread across entire effort window
* *Benefits observed*:
– No GI distress
– No prep or utensils
– Fully tolerated despite high-altitude anorexia
– No major energy crashes or mental dips

*Would I bring the QRR again?*Yes. Not as a full nutrition solution — but as a reliable tool when nothing else works.
It doesn’t freeze. It doesn’t demand water. It doesn’t fight you when your body’s already rejecting most food.
At least, that’s how it worked for me.