Photo By Sgt. Carlene Vera | Soldiers from Headquarters, 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) field feeding...... read more read more
Subscribe
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Whether it is cooking in adverse conditions without all their equipment or operating full speed in beautiful weather, the Field Feeding Team assigned to the headquarters 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) has always been prepared to excel at their job of feeding the troops. March 12 saw another opportunity for this group of Culinary specialists to showcase their talents for a chance to be named the “Best Field Feeding Team” in the Army Reserve.
The Philip A. Connelly Field Competition is an annual Army Reserve Component competition where more than 13 units from the Army Reserve Component are evaluated on their cooking skills, cooking knowledge, equipment maintenance, sanitation and site layout in a field environment.
The top 4 units will advance to take part in the Department of the Army (DA) competition, where the Army-wide top field feeding team at the will be chosen. The 143rd ESC team was named as one of those units. The winner of the Army-wide competition will receive an award in May at a ceremony hosted by the National Restaurant Association. The unit will then elect two culinary specialist to send to the Culinary Institute of America located in Napa Valley, Calif to train with some of America’s top chefs.
“I am here to advise them on how to better themselves while doing the job, they have done an amazing job so far,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Harry Acevedo, Food Program Manager and Advisor, 143rd ESC. Acevedo has worked closely with the field feeding team, teaching and training the chefs on various steps that will prepare them for competition at the DA level.
“If they win, they will be the best team in the Reserve Component and that will be a great honor. We have to wait until the last team of the Reserve gets evaluated and then we will know the results,” he said.
The mission of the team is to provide field feeding services to military personnel, in compliance with the Army Food Service Administrative procedures and the Army Field Sanitation standards. Army Specialist Lord Akumah, Food Service Specialist, has a special duty during this mission.
“My mission today is to make sure that everything is kept sanitary and organized. We clean the dishes and return them back to the MKT (Mobile Kitchen Table)”, says Akumah
With this being his 4th time participating in the Philip A. Connelly Field Competition, Akumah is more than confident about the team‘s chances of winning. “Everything is going well and according to plan so far”, he said.
Another member of the team placed emphasis on the importance of adhering to Army standards. “We make sure that the food is prepared and cook to Army standards. “We are in the middle of the preparation of the meal and right now I am making whole wheat rolls from scratch as part of the menu,” said Specialist Craig Henigsmith, one of the culinary specialist team members.
1st Lt. Justin Mirkovich, commander, Headquarters 143rd ESC, believes this year the ESC can reclaim their title and win the competition as the unit did several years ago.
“We are here to support our Soldiers. The set up out here is spectacular, all the cooks did a great job of getting everything were it needed to be, so I think we have a great chance”, said Mirkovich.
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.18.2016 16:33 |
| Story ID: | 192881 |
| Location: | ORLANDO, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | ORLANDO, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 165 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Culinary Warriors Prepare for Another Victory, by SGT Carlene Vera, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
