Photo By Sgt. Jeremy Brooks | U.S. Army National Guard Soldiers receive dinner chow by members of the field feeding...... read more read more
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Tennessee National Guard’s 142 Quartermaster Platoon of the 230th Sustainment Brigade and the Headquarters, Headquarters Troop of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, are feeding Soldiers in the field; providing a critical service to those participating in the Exportable Combat Training Capabilities (XCTC) operations at Fort Cavazos, this month through the completion of their training.
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. In the case of Sgt. 1st Class Amanda Hines, a senior culinary management non-commissioned officer with 142 Quartermaster Platoon, temperatures reach nearly 150 degrees in her mobile kitchen trailers (MKTs).
Hines is responsible for tasking out duties to 11 Soldiers. Ultimately, she is responsible for getting food to the table for nearly 1,000 Tennessee Guardsmen.
“We really feed everybody,” said Hines. “If we’re not here the mission can’t be completed. Everyone must eat, and it’s hot too! So, we play an important role.”
For Hines, leading a team comes with a lot of responsibility. As a culinary specialist there are no days off. Not showing up to work means Soldiers will not have the energy needed to complete the mission.
“I normally start waking up around 0100, get the generator on and get the burners powered on,” said Hines. “We do a quick rundown and make sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be. Being the NCO is a lot of responsibility. You have to make sure everything is running smoothly. You have to make sure your team is on point and make sure there’s no slack, because we have hit times we can’t afford to be behind.”
Sgt. 1st Class John Williams, readiness NCO, platoon sergeant and acting 1st Sgt. for the 142 Quartermaster Platoon, is aware of the daunting task of field feeding—but he’s prepared to complete the mission at hand.
“We’re supporting roughly 1,000 Soldiers by sending out mermites to those that are actually forward in the field,” said Williams. “Then we have the rear elements here, the white cells and the maintenance elements; so, we’re supporting at the chow hall. So, we have two separate missions.”
In order to get food on the table at sunrise, culinary specialists in the field feed team are preparing meals while others are still sleeping.
“A lot of people don’t realize these cooks most of the time end up working extremely long hours,” said Williams. “And as hot as it is out here in the desert, it’s even hotter in these MKTs with the burners running. They clocked at 150 degrees yesterday in the containerized kitchen alone, midday. So, working in 150-degree heat in there with those burners—fast paced job. Up at 0200 and going to bed at 2200 or 2300 at night. It makes for a long day.”
A single MKT can support 75-300 Soldiers, and are used to support troops quickly and efficiently, and while the field feeding team is providing a service for this year’s XCTC, they are also undergoing training in pursuit of readiness and preparation for future conflicts.
“People think—what happens if we get into a new conflict?” said Williams. “Or if we are establishing a new base we’ll be cooking and running MKT’s. If they’ve never touched these before it’s going to be a huge learning curve. So, stuff like this gets them prepared. They learn the kind of heat they’re going to experience in a foreign land, plus they learn the equipment, and how much time they need to prepare meals so they’re not showing up to cook for 1000 people an hour later than they should have.”
Soldiers who do decide to pursue the job of culinary specialist must be dedicated and motivated, ready to jump in where they are needed and learn on the fly. According to Hines, this year’s team has all the right ingredients.
“They’re doing a great job,” said Hines. “I couldn’t ask for a better group. All of these Soldiers come from different backgrounds. I’ve got Soldiers that are police officers, cooks, food service workers, factory workers. They’re from all walks of life, from all across the state, and up until March most of these people never even met each other. Three months later, they’re jumping right into their first annual training together and they’re doing exceptional.”
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| Date Taken: | 06.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 06.12.2024 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 473805 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 567 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cooking under fire: 142 Quartermaster Platoon and HHT feed Soldiers during XCTC, by SPC Grayson Cavaliere, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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