Photo By Sgt. Benjamin Slankard | A soldier from the 401st Transportation Company serves dessert to soldiers at dinner...... read more read more
FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Cooking dinner in the cozy confines of your home or grilling outside can be a relaxing experience. You can take a trip to the grocery store, choose what you like and leisurely prepare a meal. That isn’t always the case when you are cooking for more than 550 hungry soldiers in the field.
The soldiers of the 401st Transportation Company, based in Battle Creek, Mich., do just that while supporting the 620th Combat Service Support Battalion during the Combat Support Training Exercise 91 at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif.
soldiers of the 401st receive supplies, prepare, cook, and maintain all aspects of the food and dining facility.
All operations take place in two shifts. The first begins at 2:30 a.m. with breakfast. The food is prepped, cooked and placed on the line in time for the doors to open at 6 a.m. After breakfast all dishes and the hall must be cleaned. This same routine begins again at 1 p.m. for dinner when the second shift takes over.
Sgt. 1st Class Cassandra Van Streain, the senior food operations noncommissioned officer-in-charge, from Kalamazoo, Mich., oversees the dining facility. She orders the food, coordinates shifts and improvises meals. When food is received Van Streain must use what is delivered to make a well-rounded meal.
“We strive for customer service and support. Everyone works hard and does their part,” Van Streain said. “The sanitation room is one of the harder jobs though.”
Van Streain said the temperature in the sanitation area during the day is usually around 130 degrees.
The 401st is responsible for most of the preparation and cooking, but with only 12 cooks, they need help serving the troops. This is where the kitchen police step in to provide support. On average, 22 KPs will help with serving, trash disposal and cleaning.
The cooks are in charge of the KPs, along with setting up the serving and drink stations and placement of tables.
Van Streain believes this training is necessary to prepare soldiers for deployment. She said coping with the heat, dust, and long hours will give soldiers an idea of the conditions in an overseas environment.
Sgt. Joseph Ferris, a food service specialist with the 401st, from Lansing Mich., knows exactly why this training is beneficial. While deployed to Afghanistan, Ferris provided food services in a general’s mess hall.
“It was similar to this training here,” Ferris said. “We received indirect fire a few times in Afghanistan.”
In addition to providing hungry soldiers hot meals, these cooks know they are still soldiers.
“We are always soldiers first,” Van Streain said. “We provide a service, but we are combatants as well.”
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2012 11:14 |
| Story ID: | 92788 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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