Photo By Airman 1st Class Jonathan Padish | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Nick Hochmuth, a kitchen supervisor assigned to the 109th...... read more read more
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MOLOKAI, Hi. (Aug. 12, 2018) — Military operations in a deployed environment can be stressful. Delayed flights. Long hours. Lost items. In the deployment whirlwind, service members often long for the basics, such as a hot meal. Luckily, services Airmen are there to make the deployed environment feel more like home.
For Airmen throughout the United States deployed as part of Tropic Care Maui County 2018, that home away from home is made possible by services Airmen who are preparing and serving meals during a multi-week training exercise in Molokai, Hawaii.
The exercise provides medical troops and support personnel hands-on readiness training to prepare for future deployments while providing direct and lasting benefits to the people of Molokai and other locations in Hawaii. For services Airmen, the exercise presented an opportunity to fine tune contingency environment operations.
“Nothing is simulated,” said Master. Sgt. James Healy, a first sergeant from the 194th Wing assigned to the Molokai clinic team. “We have to be innovative and adapt to challenges.”
Indeed, the deployment to Molokai is not a simulation for the services Airmen. It is a real world, contingency operations environment.
“Contingency operations are bare bones.” said Senior Master Sgt. James Wright, a services superintendent assigned to the 181st Intelligence Wing. “You have to change how you do things. It’s going out in an environment that’s not designed for what you’re doing and making it work. It’s very good training for a deployed location.”
Molokai in particular presents unique challenges for the services Airmen, such as basic tasks like obtaining food. The Airmen faced challenges sometimes overlooked by casual observers and addressed them.
“It’s so remote here that we don’t have a prime vendor, which we normally use,” said Wright. “We have to go to local grocery stores, and they don’t have a large inventory. I have to go and see what they have and design meals on a day-to-day basis. It’s very much going on the fly.”
The real-world environment also means executing tasks with limited resources.
“We don’t have access to everything we need to have,” said Staff Sgt. Nick Hochmuth, a kitchen supervisor with the 109th Wing. “It’s not like being on home station, where it’s all there. For example, we didn’t have any utensils and had to wait for them to be shipped to us. Being in a contingency environment means doing what you can with what you have.”
Being able to complete the services mission in the contingency environment provided the Airmen an opportunity to put their skills to the test.
“It’s good training for a deployed environment,” said Hochmuth. “When something like this pops up, you know what to do when deployed because you have the experience.”
Despite the limited resources, the services Airmen have completed their mission, and the other Airmen deployed to Molokai recognize their efforts.
“They have their challenges in this deployed environment and have overcome them,” said Tech. Sgt. Derek Yurko, a traffic management specialist with the 194th Wing. “They’re doing a great job.”
While the exercise continues, all of the Airmen on Molokai can continue to rely on the services Airmen to give them a little home cooking and make life in the deployed environment a little less challenging. The actions of the services Airmen on Molokai demonstrate just one of many behind-the-scenes efforts to support the exercise. From the field to the fitness center, services Airmen act as the motor oil to the military engine no matter the challenge or the location. Mission failure — and empty bellies — is not an acceptable outcome, and the services Airmen on Molokai recognize it.
“We overcome,” said Wright. “We make it work.”
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2018 01:29 |
| Story ID: | 288616 |
| Location: | KAUNAKAKAI, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 156 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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