Photo By Charles Steitz | Sgt. Dawn Walles, 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, Kadena Air Base, prepares...... read more read more
USARJ, Japan - Okinawa hosted the first inter service island-wide Cook Off at the Camps Foster Field House. Four members from each service participated in a four hour program designed to test the culinary skills across the island from the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force. The U.S. Army took first place, followed by the Air Force, Marines and Navy. Congratulations to U.S. Army team members; Staff Sgt. Jeason Price, Sgt. Dawn Walles, Spc. Metzaly Ayala and Spc. Joey Prince all from the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. A special thanks to the judges, Edward Miller, Joel Kursman, Manly Slough and Patrick Dean who volunteered their time to assist service members learn more about the culinary arts.
During the opening remarks, Col. Sheila A. Bryant, Commander, 10th Regional Support Group described the significance of the event. “This is the first island wide “Cook Off” but we hope to make this the beginning of strong tradition for years to come on Okinawa. The 10th Regional Support Group, Food Service section spearheaded this event and worked hard with the other services to make this possible. Let’s show our support for these culinary warriors as they strive to be recognized as the best on Okinawa. Again, welcome and enjoy the competition.”
Participants from all services talked about the value of the competition and the impact programs like this will have on their careers.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the different Armed Services to come together and showcase their skills as well as learn different things from each other. It was a pretty intense competition, time flew by quickly but it showed what you were really made of,” said Sgt. Dawn Walles. Organizer, Sgt. 1st Class, Sherri Engelhardt, talked about the importance of the competition in building life learning skills. “I’m really excited that the food service personnel had a chance to experience the culinary world on a different level. This competition is something that opened their eyes to more than just cooking in the dining facility; they are already speaking of pursuing degrees in Culinary Arts. I think there should be competitions like this annually for all food service personnel; it’s not something they see on television anymore but something that they can actually participants in. I’m truly proud of the 1-1 ADA food service team; that they accomplished a title such as the first Okinawa Intra-Service cook off winners.”
“This first inter-service cook off was a great opportunity for the services to showcase their individual and team cooking skills. When working in their respective dining facilities they have to follow Armed Forces Standardized recipes which are good. However, in this type of an event they are able to be creative and capitalize on the talents of all team members regardless of rank. The service members at this level push themselves to develop and maintain the highest standards of professional excellence,” described culinary judge, Joel Kursman.
The winning appetizer, salad, entree and dessert included the following items. A watermelon avocado soup, coconut shrimp salad with honey glazed vinegar, salmon with a honey mustard gaze, almond chicken rice, butter garlic asparagus and three way dessert, fruit pizza, cheese cake and chocolate toffee.
“It was a remarkable event, supported by the Joint Community. It was an honor to have Lt. Gen. Ken J. Glueck and his wife, Elizabeth present to demonstrate the importance of what our culinary artists bring to their respective services. The tension was high, and the competition was fierce. I'd like to congratulate all the teams, but especially the first place winners - Soldiers from United States Army Japan. What a way for Command Sgt. Maj. Williamson and I to conclude our first week in Command. Proud to be a part of the Okinawa community, but I am privileged to be a part of the “Ichi Dan” spirit. It was awesome today, said Bryant.
These thoughts were echoed by Lt. Col. Joseph McCallion, Commander, 1-1 ADA. “This was a fantastic event where our Food Service Specialists received a chance to showcase their talents and culinary skills in a very tough Joint competition. These Soldiers are true professionals who put in a lot of hours of hard work to compete at this high level, and it paid off with them representing the Army well and taking home the trophy.”
| Date Taken: | 07.28.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2012 20:01 |
| Story ID: | 92526 |
| Location: | YOMITAN VILLAGE , OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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