Photo By Spc. Justin Snyder | Staff Sgt. James Harvey, a cook with the 319th Transportation Company and a native of...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Knife in hand, standing over a plastic cutting board, Staff Sgt. James Harvey cuts tomatoes with ease. Placing the cut vegetables in a large container of lettuce, he quickly grabbed cucumbers and began slicing them.
“Not everybody likes tomatoes,” proclaimed Harvey, a line cook with the 319th Transportation Company located in Augusta, Ga. “I’ll chop these cucumbers up and see if I can’t satisfy everyone.”
With nearly 1,100 service members expected to pass through the mobile dining facility located in the middle of the Fort Bragg wilderness during the first three weeks of June as participants of the 2014 Quartermaster Liquid Logistics Exercise (QLLEX), operationally controlled by the 633rd Quartermaster Battalion, pleasing everyone will be a hard task.
However, it’s a challenge the cooks are ready to take on at full steam. As the famed French military and political leader Napoleon once proclaimed, “An army marches on its stomach.”
“The way I look at it is that we are the start and finish of every mission,” said Harvey, a native of Courtland, Va. “A Soldier with a good, healthy meal in his system is more motivated to perform, and we want to ensure they can perform at the highest level while here at QLLEX.”
QLLEX is the only multi-component, multi-service, multi-echelon and multi-functional training exercise. Units from the United States Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corp train in petroleum oil and lubricant exercises while producing thousands of gallons of purified water to be spread throughout the area of operations for use.
With such a broad collection of real-world training opportunities taking place around them, the cooks realize the importance of providing a nutritious, tasty meal.
“We are just a cog in the wheel out here trying to do our part to make sure the mission keeps rolling full speed,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Ingram, food service non-commissioned officer in charge with the 319th TC. “After a long day in the field, a good meal can go a long way to making for a successful training day.”
Scattered amidst the pine combs, fallen limbs and sand that laid amuck the Fayetteville, N.C. ground, Soldiers, brows dripping with sweat from the June sun, raced feverishly to raise tents and set up a dining facility in the early stages of QLLEX.
Equipped with four mobile kitchen trailers (MKT) designed to accommodate cooking and food preparation needs, two refrigerated trailers housing frozen foods and ice for freshness, one sanitation tent to keep cooking equipment clean and a large tent equipped with tables for eating, the cooks strive to bring a sense of normalcy to the Soldiers training in the field.
Servicemembers will be provided hot meals at breakfast and dinner daily. For lunch, they will receive Meal, Ready-To-Eat individual field rations.
“We take a sense of pride in knowing we are bringing an important service to the men and women serving this country,” said Ingram, a native of Aiken, S.C.
Along with providing a nutritious, good meal to those out in the field, they are also excited to be able to further familiarize themselves with their equipment.
For some of the Soldiers, this is their first real opportunity to utilize the MKTs in a field environment.
“Every now and then we break out the MKTs during drill weekend and cook on them as a way to stay familiar with our equipment,” said Ingram. “However, it’s one thing to be at the drill station and another to be in a real-life training scenario. I want these guys to be in the right mind frame that they feel comfortable doing this overseas if needed. This provides us opportunities we might not usually get at home.”
Along with training on their equipment and practice, the Army Reserve Soldiers are learning to work alongside their fellow Soldiers and service members. Six different units have provided cooks to assist in food service tasks throughout the training operation including Marine cooks.
“It’s always good to have another cook in the kitchen or another hand maintaining equipment while in the field, “ said Sgt. 1st Class Latotcha Ellis, a food service noncommissioned officer for the 894th Quartermaster Company from Jackson, Miss. “In the Army, you meet many people from all over. So it’s important that we gel and work as one to complete the ultimate goal of providing a good meal.”
Ellis is most excited for the opportunity to work alongside the Marine counterparts.
“I’ve never worked with Marine cooks and I’m sure they do things a little differently on their side of things,” said Ellis. “But as cooks, we all have the same goal no matter what branch we serve under, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can bring to the table. It can only make us better as a unit.”
Other units providing cooks for the 2014 QLLEX operations are the 430th Quartermaster Company out of Puerto Rico, the 301st Quartermaster Company out of Grand Rapids, Mich., and the 773rd Transportation Company from Queens, N.Y.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2014 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 132487 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | ABBEVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | COURTLAND, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LIBERTY, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | IONIA, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 174 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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