“Diet in the service, I think, is a challenge right now,” said DeMaio, 29, who was a sergeant. “A lot of guys, including myself, don’t have healthy diets -- Honey Buns, Domino’s. We stay very physically fit because we’re so active, but things that I see a lot of guys put in their bodies are not all that great for them.”

“If you're looking for energy bars to take on a hike or snack on after a workout, the array of available options is daunting; there's seemingly a bar for every taste and activity imaginable.

But in 2010, on a humanitarian deployment to Mozambique with his Marine Corps Reserve unit, Matt DeMaio realized what he really wanted: a bar that would deliver the same kind of nutritional punch as a meal, ready-to-eat, in a convenient grab-and-go format.

Extreme. The US military works extremely hard in extreme environments, extreme weather – and often for extremely long times. A body’s ability to perform downrange can face extreme stakes. Warfighters need to be able to rely on their physical performance in life or death situations. And maximum performance requires maximum nutrition. Right now, warfighters downrange tend to eat MREs when they do not have the luxury of the big base KFCs and McDonalds.

I first heard about this company on social media through one of their spokesmen, Marine Recon cult hero, Rudy Reyes. Anyone who has heard of Rudy (HBO mini-series Generation Kill; History Channel’s Apocalypse Man) knows that he is the embodiment of fitness, so I decided to check them out.

All of the bars are handcrafted in Brooklyn, New York, and are only made once the order has been placed to guarantee that you are getting the freshest product possible.