Services serves up thousands of feasts

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Bryan Bouchard
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  The days of the chow hall are gone. They have been replaced by a new trend, which sets the Air Force apart from other branches of the military; friendly customer service and out-of-this world food, even while deployed.

But for the people at a forward-deployed services squadron, making the food taste good is never a challenge; it is making it taste good more than 600,000 times a month that keeps them busy.

“We are the second largest food services operation in the world,” said Master Sgt. Bryon Nelson, food services flight chief. He said the largest food services operation is at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for basic military training.

But not too far behind is this location, boasting four dining facilities, a grab-and-go food facility and all the support and storage to make it happen; however, no operation can happen without good planning.

It all starts with the Air Force Services Agency’s 14-day rotating cycle for menu planning, said Master Sgt. Sean Wade, the facilities’ rations manager.

The cycle dictates to facility managers what they can and cannot serve to the troops. While food items may be added, like ethnic meals and some specialty items, nothing may be deleted from the menus without higher headquarters approval, said Tech. Sgt. Stephen Runyan, food services accountant.

Once the menu has been established, it is up to Sergeants Wade and Runyan to make sure the facilities’ staff get what they need to feed the troops.

“Just about everyone, coalition-wide, comes through this base at some point in their rotations,” Sergeant Runyan said.

This can sometimes add more to the food services flight’s plate. During rotations, the number of meals required can peak, and being able to react to these changes is what sets the Airmen apart from civilian food-service operations.

“Within an air [and space] expeditionary force cycle, critical adjustments have to be made,” Sergeant Runyan explained.

Once he has ordered the food from what the services field refers to as a “prime vendor,” the food is delivered, and it is up to Sergeant Wade to make sure there is ample storage for dry, frozen and chilled goods.

Master Sgt. Lilelani Au, a dining facility manager, said that once they look at the amount of food delivered, it is divided among the facilities based on the amount of customers going through each one.

About three days before a food product is served, it is taken from storage and moved to each dining facility for preparation and inspection, Sergeant Au said.

By the time a dish has finally reached a customer, it has been measured for quantity, quality and public-health standards, Sergeant Nelson said.

“If something is not meeting our high standards, it’s out the door,” he said.

But the food is not cooked in mass quantities. In fact, the food is cooked as it is needed. By progressively cooking meals, the food services professionals can ensure they are serving the freshest food possible, said Master Sgt. Eusebio Gonzales, another dining facility manager.

Filling the stomachs of troops does not end the process for the food services experts. Before the planning, ordering, storing and serving food each month, each facility manager must first annotate production logs and analyze what has been a hit or a miss at their facility.

“If an item doesn’t go over well, we’ll pull it,” Sergeant Au said.

But beyond the stress of the clerical and logistical side of running a dining facility, the bottom line for all of the facility managers is pleasing their customers.

“We try to please everyone,” Sergeant Au said. “We always have customers who want new things.”

The food services Airmen said they try to meet those requests when possible.

“We pay close attention to our customer feedback,” Sergeant Au said. “They are asking for reasonable items. Folks here have been to other places in the (area) and have seen things that may be a good idea here, but some things just aren’t authorized to serve.”

The food services Airmen agreed that no matter how high the quality of food, none of it would be half as palatable without their quality troops working in the facilities.

“Our people take a lot of pride in what they do; there’s a lot of attention to detail here,” Sergeant Nelson said. “Every person who works here believes they work in the best food services flight in the world … and each of us agrees.”