Veteran's Day tribute: Army

An Army cook with the 180th Transportation Company prepares a meal at Crane Army Ammunition Activity, Ind., June 14 as part of Operation Golden Cargo. Operation Golden Cargo gives food service specialists the opportunity to get field training that prepares them for future deployments. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David Turner.

Veteran's Day tribute: Air Force

Elmendorf force support squadron earns Lemay award--Airman 1st Class Cortny Pelton, assigned to 673rd Force Support Squadron, prepares food for lunch at the Iditarod Dining Facility April 23, 2015, on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Pelton, a native of Wyoming, Mich., and the rest of the 673rd FSS, earned the Air Force Curtis E. LeMay award for best large installation-level FSS of the year in the Air Force for 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher.

Veteran's Day tribute: Marine Corps

D'ARTA PLAGE, DJ - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Mario V. Castillo, right, a food service specialist with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and native of Escondido, California, grills hamburgers for the 239th birthday of the United States Marine Corps during sustainment training in D'Arta Plage, Djibouti, Nov. 10, 2014. The 11th MEU is deployed as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and 5th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jonathan Waldman.

Veteran's Day tribute: Marine Corps

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. (Aug 26, 2014) - - Lance Cpl. Timothy McKnight, a food service technician at Gonzales Hall, adds peppers to potatoes for the breakfast line before an inspection for the Best of the West competition aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Aug. 26. The air station’s mess hall competed in and won the competition in fiscal years 2012, 2013, 2014, and hopes to regain the title for 2015. Photo by Cpl. Christopher Johns.

Veteran's Day tribute: Army

Sgt. Thao Vangsouan, Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, shows Pfc. Jacques Herrington, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 705th Military Police Battalion, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., how to properly filet a Dover sole during a cook off as part of the Big Red One's Food Service NCO and Soldier of the Quarter Competition. Five Soldiers participated in a cook off, demonstrating their cooking and presentation skills, and were required to make a meal using Dover sole, bacon, leeks and rice. Competitors took a written test after the cook off and attended a board Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. Photo by Amanda Kim Stairrett, 1st Inf. Div. Public Affairs.

Veteran's Day tribute: Air Force

Certified Master Chef James Hanyzeski and Airmen of the 374th Force Support Squadron take photos of the healthy breakfast alternatives they made July 15, 2014, on Yokota Air Base, Japan. Hanyzeski's visit provided hands-on training to services Airmen as part of the Healthy Base Initiative. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class David Danford.

Veterans Day tribute -- U.S. Marine Corps

As part of my annual Veterans Day tribute, I'm featuring a photograph of a cook from each of the services. We owe a lot to these men and women, many who have sacrificed a big part of their lives to serve this great county. A hearty thank you from 'Round the Chuckbox.

Corporal Brian Bieber, food service specialist, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, gives a smile as he hands a box of food over to a Marine from Company D during a battalion field exercise. The food, prepared by food service Marines, will be a part of the battalion’s evening chow after a day of tank and infantry integration training.

U.S. Marine Corps photograph by Pfc. James Frazer.

Veterans Day tribute -- U.S. Army

As part of my annual Veterans Day tribute, I'm featuring a photograph of a cook from each of the services. We owe a lot to these men and women, many who have sacrificed a big part of their lives to serve this great county. A hearty thank you from 'Round the Chuckbox.

223rd Medical Detachment holds field sanitation course

Christina R. Marks, a food services specialist at Camelot, dining facility three, with the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) out of Fort Hood, Texas, and a New Iberia, La., native, inspects a water buffalo for rust during a field sanitation class Oct. 19 through Oct. 22 at the 223rd Medical Detachment at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

Photo Credit: Sgt. Ryan TwistSgt.

Veterans Day tribute -- U.S. Air Force

As part of my annual Veterans Day tribute, I'm featuring a photograph of a cook from each of the services. We owe a lot to these men and women, many who have sacrificed a big part of their lives to serve this great county. A hearty thank you from 'Round the Chuckbox.

The fire inside: an Air Force chef's journey to culinary excellence

Staff Sgt. Ghil Medina, a 633rd Force Support Squadron services journeyman, tries to beat the clock while preparing a meal for the American Culinary Federation's National Student Chef of the Year Award competition at the 2011 ACF National Convention in Dallas on July 24, 2011. While he ultimately did not win this award, Medina has won numerous awards in the military food services community, including being the first Airman to win the 2011 Armed Forces Junior Chef of the Year Award.

Photo courtesy of the American Culinary Federation.

From pallet to palette

Col. Clifton Perry chooses from a variety of food offered by the 18th Services Squadron single pallet expeditionary kitchen during the Pacific Air Forces Operational Readiness Inspection March 11 at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The deployable kitchen can be set up from pallet to serving in under four hours. PACAF is conducting the inspection from March 9 to 15 to validate the mission readiness of the 18th Wing. Colonel Perry is the 18th Wing chaplain.

U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jeremy McGuffin.

Dinner in Afghanistan

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan - U.S. Army Sgt. Timothy Hunnicutt from Atlanta, and U.S. Army Pvt. Clayton C. Hilderbrand from Ceres, Va., both food service specialists from 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, prepare rice and noodles for dinner for Soldiers stationed at Forward Operating Base Tillman.

Photo credit: U.S. Army Spc. Luther L. Boothe Jr., Task Force Currahee Public Affairs, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

U.S. Armed Forces chef's battle in Salt Lake City

I haved spent the morning catching up on YouTube videos. Viewing YouTube with a dial-up Internet connection isn't practical. A decent highspeed Internet connection is hard to come by in the Serria Nevada foothills.

This video was posted to YouTube in April 2008. Chefs from each of the five military services battled in an Iron Chef style competition.

Guard cooks compete for annual food service title

A member of Nebraska's 267th Support Maintenance Company decorates a chocolate cake with an ear of corn during the 42nd annual Phillip A. Connelly Award for Excellence in Army Food Service held at the Greenlief Training Site in Nebraska Oct. 17. Food service units from six states recently showcased their culinary abilities before a national judging panel, while competing for the title. (Photo courtesy of Nebraska National Guard)

By Mark Roland
Nebraska National Guard

GREENLIEF TRAINING SITE, Neb., (10/22/09) -- Call it the military’s version of the "Iron Chef."

Competing on a grassy plain in central Nebraska while the sounds of Soldiers conducting marksmanship training echoed in the distance, food service units from six states recently showcased their culinary abilities before a national judging panel, while competing for the 42nd annual Phillip A. Connelly Award for Excellence in Army Food Service here Oct. 17.

Working together under the ever-watchful eyes of the national inspectors, cooks from Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island and West Virginia prepared a meal for 50 Soldiers in a field environment using their unit's Mobile Kitchen Trailer, essentially a kitchen on wheels.

Along with being evaluated on their cooking abilities, the Soldiers also were graded on 10 separate areas ranging from cooking and sanitation procedures to their adherence to Army administrative, safety and supply regulations.

Simply getting to this point meant that the section, which represented a particular region in the Army National Guard’s National Field Kitchen Category, had to conduct hours of training and practice on the unit's mobile kitchen trailer to develop the level of expertise needed to be competitive.

"At first it was to get some experience for my cooks on a (mobile kitchen trailer), some field training," said Sgt. Katherine Smith, first cook for Nebraska’s 267th Support Maintenance Company. "When they go to (advanced individual training) the MKT is already popped open. They just show them what it looks like. When they actually get to cook on it, it was good experience for them."

"It just grew from there," Smith said. "When I learned that it was the first time Nebraska competed in five years, it became really important to do our best."

The work must have paid off, because the cooks had already won the state and regional competition. Still, this was the national competition, which meant that the Soldiers had to take their efforts to an entirely different level.

Chief Warrant Officer Tollie Yoder, food service officer for Nebraska's maintenance company, said the work actually started at the beginning of the year when the unit decided to compete in the competition.

"When we first talked about competing (the cooks) said 'It would be easy, I cook.' I had to explain to them that it’s more than just cooking… it’s site setup, power plan, field sanitation issues, rodent disposal, sanitary issues, taking care of ration accounting, ration accessibility, ration control, portion control, trash management, water distribution point, and water purification tasks."

Smith agreed, saying the training and preparations made a major impact on the unit’s success.

"When we learned that you have to do more to do it, it was like ‘Alright we can do this.’ Then it became really hard because we realized that we couldn’t do it with just five cooks."

Instead, Smith said, it took the work of the entire unit to help the cooks prepare for the various stages of the competition. That level of support especially came in handy when, the night before the regional competition, a thunderstorm blew in, sending the Soldiers to tornado shelters while it dumped four-and-a-half inches of rain on the training site, flooding the area the mess section had spent days preparing for the competition.

The unit halted training and moved the site to a down range location and completely set up the new site in one day.

"That was very challenging, but they overcame it," Smith said.

This weekend's competition also marked the last time these Soldiers will be together as a team. Two cooks have been transferred to another maintenance company and are preparing for deployment next year, one cook will become a wheeled mechanic to take a position in a detachment closer to home and stay in the unit, and Smith will soon change jobs because of her full-time military position.

Still, that didn’t make the Soldiers work any less hard. In fact, it actually caused them focus that much more on making sure the inspection went well.

"We all knew this was like our like our last hurrah," Smith said, "and the section wanted to do really well. Out of all the cooks I’ve ever worked with, this is probably one of the best because we got along so well. We all hope we will be able to work together in the future."

After completing the inspection, the cooks now are participating in a different type of competition… the waiting game. They should find out how if their work paid off in December when the results are releases. Smith was optimistic.

"I think we set the bar really high. I think the biggest thing is that we couldn’t have gotten this far without the unit’s support and everyone in the cook’s section really, really, really appreciates the help the unit gave us."

Receiving honors

As part of my annual Veteran's Day tribute to U.S. Armed Forces, I'm posting photographs of the cooks and bakers in action this year.

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (8/12/09) -- Pfc. David A. Mantilla, a food service specialist with Headquarters Company, 7th Marine Regiment is recognized by Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills, commanding general, 1st Marine Division here Aug. 12, for superior performance during the regiment’s pre-deployment training exercise. Mantilla, 24, is from Washington Heights, N.Y.

U.S. Marine Corps photograph by Cpl. Zachary J. Nola.

Army's 'Grill Sergeant' matches skills against culinary hero

The Grill Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Brad Turner, takes a look at what Chef Bobby Flay cooks up for an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," filmed at Fort Lee, Va. last summer. The episode airs on the Food Network tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Story and photograph by Kimberly Fritz, Fort Lee (Virginia) Public Affairs

FORT LEE, Va. (July 2, 2009) -- For Sgt. 1st Class Brad Turner, his work is his passion. The culinary artist, currently working in the Executive Dining Facility inside the Pentagon, is also well-known by the moniker of "The Grill Sergeant."

Recently Turner returned to Fort Lee, where he was once an instructor at the Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence, to film a special for the Food Network ... or so he thought.

With food service training students watching and learning, Turner began entertaining and engaging the Soldiers gathered for a special day of culinary training.

Turner, who is known for singing while he cooks, shared his cooking philosophy and culinary tips, as well as his unique lexicon. Words like "marinipulating, splaining" and ingredients dubbed "ooh, wee and wow" roll off his tongue as he cooks. Salt, otherwise known as "ooh," "wee," known as pepper, and "wow," representing garlic are staples in most Turner original recipes. Turner asked the audience to help him by shouting "ooh, wee, wow" when he used these ingredients.

The students happily engaged as he prepared the mustard-based marinade for his special "Sunshine Barbecue Chicken." The origin of his marinade came early in his career when a fellow Soldier asked Turner to concoct a milder sauce that wouldn't aggravate his fierce heartburn.

As the culinary students watched his every move, Turner didn't miss an opportunity to educate and inspire. He told the students how they are learning the same methods during their training as any other culinary student in the world.

With his chicken on the grill, Turner began preparations for his baby red potato salad when famed Chef Bobby Flay jumped from the back of a tactical vehicle at the field services training area and challenged Turner to a competitive cook-off for an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay."

Turner, astonished at the appearance of one of the world's premiere grill chefs, immediately rose to the challenge set before him. Claiming to always be the professional, Turner cited some of the NCO Creed.

"No one is more professional than I," he said.

The set originally configured for one chef was quickly transformed into dueling work stations where Flay's team worked to catch up with Turner's progress.

As the two chefs worked over the hot coals of the charcoal grills, culinary students soaked up the delicious aromas and the cooking tips emanating from the two successful chefs.

When the cooking was completed, the dishes were served up and each Soldier sampled the dueling chefs' creations.

Brig. Gen. Jesse R. Cross, Quartermaster Center and School commanding general, and Frances Daniel, owner of Mrs. Marshall's Carytown Cafe, served as judges in a blind taste test to determine the winner of the cook-off.

The results are a well-guarded secret which viewers will learn when the show airs later this year.

No matter which recipe and chef won the lighthearted and entertaining battle of the barbecue, the young culinary Soldiers walked away winners.

Cross said the students would remember this day for years to come.

"These guys will be cooking their corn bread and their barbecue recipes and they'll remember they saw Bobby Flay at work," he said.

For Turner, the events of the day didn't quite hit him until he walked away from the set. He was overcome with emotion and overwhelmed at the events.

"When one of your heroes steps around the corner and you're doing what you love to do and they do what you love to do, and then to inspire 100 new Soldiers that are going to be in all parts of the world, it's just overwhelming," Turner said. "They saw something today that let them know that anything is possible. Nineteen years ago I was sitting right where they were sitting and someone inspired me."

For a moment he was at a loss for words thinking about the gravity of the event.

"I love what I do," Turner said. "The greatest part of today came when we were cooking and Chef Flay came to the back where I had set my chicken and potato salad down and he ate three more pieces of chicken and dug into the potato salad. "There is no greater compliment than for someone to genuinely like your food. And he ate it genuinely," he continued. "For me that was the greatest compliment."

When asked what he thought of Turner's unique recipe, Flay said he loved it.

"I was eating throughout the competition. I kept thinking there was curry or something in it," Flay said. "It had natural heat from the mustard and the brown sugar for the sweet, it was a great balance."

Flay wasn't able to pinpoint the spice he tasted in the marinade, until Turner told him.

"Brad told me it was ginger," Flay said. "He shared his secret underlying ingredient."

The consensus of all who gathered to watch the memorable event was that both chefs' dishes and the event were a treat.

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma cooks take top culinary team

U.S. Marine Corps photographs by Pfc. Jerrick J. Griffin.

The U.S. Marine Corps Culinary Team of the Quarter Competition had a Mardi Gras celebration theme and each team had to prepare a full-course meal while maintaining that theme. The winners were awarded embroidered chef's coats, gold medals a plaque and a two-week trip to the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Marine Corps Air Station Yuma's team came in first place and the team from Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms came in second. Camp Pendleton, California hosted the competition.

Tamara Zoria, 40, Vista, Calif., and Andrew Rude, 29, Fallbrook, Calif., food service cooks for Sodexo inspects the ingredients for the competition.


Cpl. Jacob R. Ballard, 21, Coventry, Rhode Island, a food service specialist from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, chops tomatoes at the competition.



Pfc. Ja’Lisa C. White, 19, Dallas, a food service specialist from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, watches as she cooks her Jammin’Jambalaya for the competition.







Pfc. Ja’Lisa C. White, 19, Dallas, a food service specialist from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, prepares the chicken for her Jammin Jambalaya at the competition.







Cpl. Austin J. Nelson, 21, Midland, Michigan, a food service specialist from Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, serves food at the competition.


Cpl. Jacob R. Ballard, 21, Coventry, Rhode Island, a food service specialist with Marine Corps Air Station Yuma watches as people served themselves at the competition.

Top sergeant to top sergeant

These photographs serve as a Veteran's Day tribute to the hard-working cooks and bakers of the U.S. Army ...

FORT HOOD, TEXAS (October 19, 2007) -- Sergeant Major of the Army Kenneth Preston, a native of Mount Savage, Md., and the Army's senior noncommissioned officer, welcomes home Charleston, S.C., native Sgt. 1st Class Carl Steed, the senior food service noncommissioned officer for the 15th Sustainment Brigade's Brigade Troops Battalion, at Fort Hood's Robert Gray Army Airfield Oct. 18, 2008.

Photo by Sgt. Robert Strain, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.

Top general to mess sergeant

These photographs serve as a Veteran's Day tribute to the hard-working cooks and bakers of the U.S. Air Force ...

Gen. Norton A. Schwartz thanks Tech. Sgt. Toni Beaty after a senior leader dinner Oct. 22 at an air base in Southwest Asia. General Schwartz is the chief of staff of the Air Force, and Sergeant Beaty is a dining facility manager for the 380th Expeditionary Services Squadron.

U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson.

Cannon cook

These photographs serve as a Veteran's Day tribute to the hard-working cooks and bakers of the U.S. Marine Corps ...

AL-ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ (August 23, 2008) -- Lance Cpl. Terry A. Mastin, a food service specialist with Mike Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5, pulls the lanyard to fire the M-777 Howitzer while Cpl. Andrew C. Ollenberger, a cannoneer with Mike Battery, looks on during an illumination shoot at Patrol Base El Dorado, Iraq, Aug. 23, 2008.

The unit has been able to fire their howitzers more than 20 times this deployment to provide illumination during night operations. Mike Battery is a reserve artillery battery based out of Chattanooga, Tenn., and attached to 2nd LAR Bn.

U.S. Marine Corps photograph by Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson of Regimental Combat Team 5.

Dessert Dining Facility

A tribute to U.S. Air Force cooks serving our nation on this Veteran's Day ...

Airman 1st Class Katherine Parker, 386th Expeditionary Services Squadron food services specialist, performs a quality assurance temperature check Nov. 2 here. Airman Parker is deployed from Minot Air Force Base, N.D.

U.S. Air Force photograph by Staff Sgt. Tia Schroeder.