Photo By Michelle Thum | Senior Food Safety Officer Clayton Davenport standing in front of the Veterinary...... read more read more
LANDSTUHL, Germany – Public Health Command Europe Veterinary Corps Food Safety Officer continues to be passionate about his career field and is thankful for the opportunities the U.S. Army provided him during his 20 years of service.
Texas-native Clayton Davenport found himself in a challenging situation, when he had to close his own business in 2006, as a husband and father of three without health insurance.
“I had to provide for my family, so I met with a recruiter,” said Chief Warrant Three Clayton Davenport.
Davenport watched a video of military occupational specialties in the recruiter’s office and saw a few Soldiers candling eggs which brought back memories from high school.
“I decided to become a veterinary food inspector and reported to basic training a day after my 34th birthday,” said Davenport.
His first assignment was in Ansbach, Germany, with the 72 Medical Detachment Veterinary Service Support.
“I was able to get the full scope of the food protection mission,” said Davenport. “In Germany, I started my career as a food inspector and my main focus was the installation, all the food and beverages that service members and the beneficiaries can purchase and consume on the installation.”
After seven years as a veterinary food inspector, Davenport decided to apply for the Warrant Officer Candidate School. Davenport is grateful for the opportunities the Army has provided him.
“I enjoyed food inspection from the get-go and was lucky to meet several high-speed warrants and great mentors who inspired me along the way,” said Davenport. “Think about it.. I was a college dropout, earned an associate degree through the military, got my bachelor’s in public health and a master’s in food science.”
The duties of a warrant officer in the Veterinary Corps focus less on the installation but on the commercial food production facilities that supply the vendors at the installations. Warrants conduct an audit to ensure that the facilities adhere to established food safety standards and regulations.
“We work in the shadows,” said Davenport. “For example, my team and I were able to prevent a foodborne illness outbreak in Guam a few years back. I received a call that a guest got sick from Mahi Mahi which was served at a restaurant.”
Restaurants on military installations need to work with approved vendors. As soon as Davenport received the call, he worked with the Navy and Air Force installations to stop the distribution of the fish at the military restaurants, preventing more service members to get sick.
“Preventing food borne illnesses is our top priority for the service member and the beneficiaries,” said Davenport. “We are doing our best that the Soldier on the battlefield has one less thing to worry about, so they’re able to eat and drink safe food and water while they’re fighting.”
Recently, Public Health Command Europe’s Veterinary Division, Laboratory Sciences and Veterinary Readiness Activity, Rheinland Pfalz worked together to provide safe water for service members at an exercise in Africa.
“We conducted an initial audit at a bottled water facility,” said Davenport. “We received the water samples prior to the audit to cut testing time with the overall goal to get the facility approved for an exercise and it worked.”
Such a process typically takes as long as 3 months to complete.
“Completing an initial audit in less than a month outside of the continental U.S. is an almost impossible task affected by many factors,” said Lt. Col. Shawn Basinger, Chief of PHCE’s Veterinary Division. “PHCE components worked through multiple obstacles to initially audit, finish product test and subsequently approve an acceptable source of bottled water which saves the Defense Logistics Agency over $100,000 in shipping costs from the European continent and provides a faster resupply point.”
Davenport continues to be passionate about his job.
“I started my career in Germany as a food inspector and now I'm back as a warrant officer and oversee food protection,” said Davenport. “I’m extremely excited to move to PHCE in May from the activity, I have big plans for the activities and the food protection mission.”
When asked, if he had any advice for his younger self he said, “I wish I joined the Army earlier. I enjoy the increase of scope of my actual job and being able to gain more knowledge in food protection over the last years.”
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2025 03:44 |
| Story ID: | 491872 |
| Location: | LANDSTUHL, DE |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Veterinary Corps Food Safety Officer is passionate about food safety, by Michelle Thum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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