Photo By Spc. Luciano Alcala | The Rocky Warrior Restaurant is a dining facility that opened in November 2023 to...... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Ga. - The Rocky Warrior Restaurant is the newest dining facility at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and is open and ready to serve Soldiers. Soldiers can dine during breakfast, lunch, or dinner and can expect a meal that is both pleasant and up to Army standards. The smooth operation of the restaurant is thanks to the culinary specialists who work to prepare the food and to Sgt. 1st Class China Daily, the dining facility’s dining facility manager and culinary specialist assigned to 3rd Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, who is committed to facilitating the needs of her Soldiers and guarantees the successful operation of the facility.
Daily joined the Army in Dec. 2009 from her hometown in Saginaw, Michigan. Before joining the Army, Daily struggled with finding a solid career since she did not have the necessary skills for college.
“I really just didn’t have the discipline that I needed to go to college. I went to Eastern (college) for like a semester and then I realized that college is not for me right now,” said Daily.
At the time, Daily worked at Old Country Buffet and realized she needed to do something with her life or else she’d suffer the consequences and end up getting stuck working somewhere she didn’t like.
“I was like a teenager and I’m working with people in their late thirties, early forties, and I was like I don’t want this to be my life,” she said.
Luckily for Daily, her stepfather had retired from the Army and he encouraged Daily to pursue an Army career too.
Daily joined the Army, and after completing her Advanced Individual Training, she ended up in Fort Carson, Colorado, where she worked as a culinary specialist. At Fort Carson, she learned about the difficulties of being a cook, but it was also where she built the groundwork that would prepare her to handle greater roles within dining facilities in the future.
“It was a lot of hard work, a lot of early mornings, a lot of late nights. We put a lot into trying to ensure that everything we prepare is to menu standards and to our customer’s liking,” she said.
After her time at Fort Carson, she transitioned to other bases and even worked as a recruiter back in her hometown in Michigan. Daily eventually came to Fort Stewart where she stepped up and filled the role of manager for the Rocky Warrior Restaurant, even though she felt inadequate for the role at first.
“Coming straight from recruiting, I’d been so removed from this MOS, for like four years, so I didn’t feel as confident taking on such a crucial and major role as a manager,” said Daily.
Despite facing challenges like losing multiple close family members, Daily did not let the challenges stop her from successfully leading her soldiers in running the new dining facility.
“I just chose to not allow all those things to push me down, and I just soldiered through it,” said Daily.
Now, Daily and the rest of the soldiers working at the Rocky Warrior Restaurant work to prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving event.
“It’s a big deal for us, it’s kind of like our Superbowl, because we get to show out, and just feed the troops and their families and just have a good time,” said Daily
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.20.2023 10:48 |
| Story ID: | 458112 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 707 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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