Photo By Capt. James Mercure | Corporal Christopher Aguirre, galley captain, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE WHITEHOUSE, Afghanistan – When the Marines of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment come back to base from another operation, they’re dog-tired, dirty and hungry.
It’s one o’clock in the morning, but the food service Marines have a hot meal waiting for the grunts who have just endured 48 hours of combat.
“You’re so tired after an (operation) it’s great coming back to a hot meal,” said Lance Cpl. William Covington from Meridian, Miss., improvised explosive device detection dog handler, Alpha Co. “Chow drives everybody, and theirs keeps us going.”
The cooks at FOB Whitehouse operate with a seven-man crew and start working at 5 a.m. to prepare breakfast for several hundred people.
“Just for breakfast we go through 20 pounds of rice, 700 eggs, 330 sausage patties, 250 orange juice cartons, 250 fruit cocktail cups and, of course, 3 gallons of coffee,” said Sgt. Gabriel Wrigley from Dallas, Texas, food service specialist, Headquarters and Service Company.
For the “combat cooks” of FOB Whitehouse, taking care of their fellow Marines is just part of the job.
“It doesn’t matter what time it is, we’ll do anything to keep those guys fed,” said Cpl. Christopher Aguirre from Plains, Kansas, galley captain, Alpha Co. “What makes us stand out is the pride in what we do. It shows who we are. Whether they get back from an operation or we’re just making a regular dinner, we go all out. We’re telling the guys this is from us.”
Despite the long hours put in and the sweltering heat of the kitchen, the sense of camaraderie and pride is evident in everything on the Marines’ plate.
“We’re all brothers, so it’s like having a family dinner at every meal,” said Sgt. Marcos Medina, the chief cook, from El Paso, Texas. “If we can bring a piece of home to Afghanistan with a homemade meal, then we’ve done our job.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: First Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment is part of Regimental Combat Team 6. RCT-6 falls under 1st Marine Division (Forward), which heads Task Force Leatherneck. The task force serves as the ground combat element of Regional Command (Southwest) and works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Force and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces, and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2012 11:40 |
| Story ID: | 88681 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 532 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Marine cooks serve hot chow with pride in Afghanistan, by CPT James Mercure, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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