Army cooks provide a taste of home during deployments

Photo By 1st Lt. Kenya Saenz | Cooks from Task Force Pacemaker, deployed from Fort Lewis, Wash., prepare lunch for Soldiers at the Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration Dining Facility at Forward Operating Base Sharana on March 4.  

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, AFGHANISTAN

04.03.2008

Story by 1st Lt. Kenya Saenz 

Combined Joint Task Force - 82 PAO

By Capt. Kenya V. Saenz
Task Force Pacemaker Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, Afghanistan - Army cooks from Task Force Pacemaker are providing their own unique touch and a taste of home with each hot meal they serve to Soldiers throughout Regional Command-East, Afghanistan.

The Task Force Pacemaker Headquarters Support Company cooks, deployed from Fort Lewis, Wash., work throughout RC-East, often in remote areas for extended durations. Not only providing meals to forward operating bases where there is no other support, they serve Soldiers homemade-style meals here.

"Our cooks use the Army-standard recipes as a guide, but as soon as a new cook learns those standards, we show them how to customize the recipe, and this is what makes it a traditional homemade taste," said Army Staff Sgt. Melanie Scott, lead cook at FOB Sharana's Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration dining facility. "Our weekly barebecues are the most-loved meals by the Soldiers."

Scott, a Grosse Ile, Mich., native, has a staff of eight military cooks and 16 Afghans, who work on midnight- and day-shifts.

"Transportation has been a challenge, getting supplies to these remote locations," said Scott. "KBR and other contractors do not support these locations for security reasons.

"Army cooks are more than capable and prepared for these kinds of missions," Scott said. "During the winter and in the rainy season, it is especially hard for supplies to get to these areas."

Pvt. Christopher Henderson, a Beech Grove, Ind. native, studied the culinary arts before joining the Army.

"I like to know that someone enjoys the food I prepare," said Henderson, a cook of two years. "Those compliments make my day."

Spc. Michele Maximova, a 70th Engineers cook attached to Task Force Pacemaker, has 13 years of previous experience as a chef.

"I love feeding Soldiers," said Maximova, a Cleveland, Ohio native. "The biggest challenge is the lack of products available in the theater of operations. We have to improvise with food, for example we have to use one type of stew beef and use it for six different varieties. I love being an Army cook."

Army Maj. James DeLapp, a Barrington, Ill., native and TF Pacemaker executive officer said, "The dining facilities run by our Army cooks rival that of the contracted dining facilities."

"The cooks take more time in preparing the food and adding their personal touches," said DeLapp. "Soldiers and civilians walk across the FOB to enjoy their meals and wait in line when they would not have to at other contracted dining facilities."

The Pacemaker cooks established dining facilities at new FOBs throughout Afghanistan such as FOB Logar, Combat Outpost Herrera, FOB Kushmond and Khyr Kot Castle.

These Army cooks continue to provide more than just the essential food rations needed for survival, they also provide a taste of home during deployment.

• Date Taken: 04.03.2008
• Date Posted: 04.03.2008 15:49
• Story ID: 18046
• Location: FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA, AF