From Chocolate Bars to Missiles: How America Rearms in a CrisisBy Joel Litman, chief investment officer, Altimetry
 'Hitler's secret weapon' came wrapped in brown paper and tasted like punishment...
With World War II on the horizon, the U.S. military had a problem. It needed to keep troops moving and happy. But the country was still under the shadow of the Great Depression... and cash was tight. Enter Capt. Paul Logan, who oversaw the Army's food operations. His mission: finding a portable, calorie-dense "treat" that soldiers could count on in a pinch. It had to withstand melting in a kit packed with canteens and ammo. It had to be light enough to carry around. And it had to taste "a little better than a boiled potato." This requirement mattered more than you might think. Logan sought a treat that soldiers could look forward to... but he also wanted to prevent casual snacking. The perfect ration would stay in a man's pocket until the moment he truly needed it. The Army asked a chocolate maker to make its candy taste worse...To design his mildly disgusting candy, Logan turned to famed chocolate maker Hershey (HSY). He worked with Hershey's chief chemist, Sam Hinkle, running up to 300 experiments in search of the right formula. At one point, Logan even tried adding kerosene to make the chocolate taste worse. By 1937, they settled on a formula built from oat flour, skim milk powder, cocoa butter, and chocolate liquor. "Ration D," as it was called, used far less sugar than a commercial Hershey bar. It packed an impressive 600 calories into a single confection. Best of all – by Logan's standards – the bar was too tough to bite into without cracking a tooth. Soldiers would have to cut pieces off with a pocketknife if they wanted to indulge. True to the captain's wishes, Ration D refused to melt at any reasonable temperature... meaning it couldn't be poured into Hershey's molds. Instead, from April to June 1937, Hershey produced 90,000 bars by hand. The field results were exactly what Logan ordered...The bars held up across extreme environments, from Antarctic testing to the tropical heat of the Philippines. Some soldiers found them inedible and refused to partake. Others learned that a thin slice with a knife could prevent a dental emergency. Ration D soon became infamous among American troops. They nicknamed it "Hitler's secret weapon" thanks to the gastrointestinal havoc it often wreaked. But when the war demanded it, the bar did its job. In 1943, a lieutenant named Louis Zamperini survived 47 days adrift in the Pacific after a crash... living on a few of the chocolate bars, plus whatever he could pull up from the sea. Hershey kept making military-grade chocolate for decades. The Tropical Chocolate Bar (Ration D's younger, slightly tastier sibling) reached soldiers as late as 1991. That strange wartime product tells us a lot about how America responds under pressure.
When our backs are against the wall, we get creative. Logan didn't have a big budget or a lot of time. He had a Depression-era Army, a chocolate company, and a can of kerosene. The details may differ, but the storyline is the same... When supplies run low, the U.S. military pushes manufacturers to innovate and build faster than anyone thinks possible. Today, America is facing another shortage. And it isn't chocolate...The war with Iran has burned through U.S. munitions faster than factories can replace them. The military has already used up more than half of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (aka THAAD) anti-ballistic missile defense system. So the Pentagon is scrambling. It has pressed defense contractors to speed up production and deliveries, and the money is starting to flow into those companies. Lockheed Martin (LMT), for one, recently landed a multiyear Patriot missile interceptor deal worth $58.6 billion. The next round of contracts could land this week. In fact, the most consequential defense conference of the year kicks off today. It's the Association of the U.S. Army annual meeting in Washington, D.C. – where Army leaders, Pentagon officials, and defense contractors come together for wheeling and dealing... just as the military races to restock munitions. In other words, it's primetime for new defense deals. And when key companies make those announcements, they could soar fast. Investors who get in before the headlines roll out have the best shot at riding this wave. That's why we've put together an urgent presentation about the companies best positioned to profit as America rearms itself. But the window of opportunity in defense is closing fast. Click here to learn how you can still get a cut... and potentially make 23 times your investment. Regards, Joel Litman
October 12, 2026
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