Photo By Todd Pruden | Soldiers with the 173rd Quartermaster Company, El Monte, Calif., were presented the...... read more read more
EL MONTE, Calif. – The mess section of the 137th Quartermaster Company from El Monte received the first runner-up award for competing in the 45th Annual Philip A. Connelly Awards Program Field Kitchen Category.
Maj. Gen. Megan Tatu, commander of the 79th Sustainment Support Command, and Command Sgt. Maj. Robert M. Roberson Jr., presented the award to the unit at the Army Reserve Center in El Monte during a ceremony July 14.
“That’s quite an achievement,” said Tatu while presenting the second-place award. “That’s not an easy thing to accomplish.”
The award program is the Army’s top cooking competition. Participants compete with other units Army-wide and are evaluated in areas that include food preparation, taste, nutrition, service, and sanitation.
“I don’t think we could have accomplished what we did without everybody putting forth their best effort and having the right motivation and determination to succeed as to what we did,” said Spc. Brian Serrano, food service specialist, 137th Quartermaster Company. “It was an overall team effort.”
According to Capt. Thuc Nguyen, commander, 137th Quartermaster Company, 17 units competed in the Field Kitchen Category of the award program. He said competing in the competition helped the unit’s readiness and confidence.
“I think it’s very important for the morale of the soldiers,” said Nguyen. “It gives them a chance to prepare themselves for real-time missions.”
Nguyen said that the award was not just for the cooks, but the unit was also tested on field sanitation, rationings, fighting positions and how they feeding troops in a tactical environment.
“That, more or less, prepares us for our (mission essential) tasks that we need to do,” he said. “So, it’s like an all-in-one training exercise for us.”
Nguyen said the award recognized his unit for their hard work and dedication to food service operations.
“I think it’s probably one of the most prestigious awards that a unit can receive,” he said. “I think it was a lot of hard work to get us to this point. The next time we enter this competition, we are definitely going to aim for perfection and aim for the big trophy.”
Named in honor of a past president of the International Food Executives Association, the Philip A. Connelly Awards Program was begun in 1968 and allows active Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard mess sections from across the globe to compete in order to recognize the best in Army cooking operations.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2013 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 111379 |
| Location: | EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 152 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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