Photo By Spc. Paul Harris | Spc. Al-Lorenzo Williams, native of Ridgeville S.C., cook, Headquarters and...... read more read more
BALAD, Iraq - The Army dining facility at Forward Operating Base
Paliwoda is a wall of sounds that would make Phil Specter proud. You have American Forces Network playing sports and news on the two big screen TV's in the front corners of the room.
Soldiers are coming and going with sounds of laughter because someone told a funny "your mom" joke at one of the dining tables. In the background are the sounds of clanging metal pots and pans slightly drowning out the lone Army cook chopping away at a cucumber.
Wait, Army cook? Yes there are Army cooks that actually cook for Soldiers in Iraq. Kellogg, Brown and Root provide most of the culinary staff for the dining facilities across Iraq. Most of the Army cooks have been tasked out to other units performing various jobs like gunners on logistics patrols or pulling force protection on different FOBs. There are a select few that still cook, an example being FOB Paliwoda.
The dining facility on FOB Paliwoda feeds about 750 Soldiers per meal, according to Staff Sgt. Solangie Bandon, dining facility manager,
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, attached to 1-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers. The food is brought up from Kuwait through Logistical Support Area Anaconda before reaching FOB Paliwoda.
On LSA Anaconda there are four DFACs that serve a wide variety of foods from fish to Mongolian stir fry. On FOB Paliwoda there is only one DFAC and is limited to the types of items it can serve due to it being classed as a field DFAC. LSA Anaconda's DFACs are considered garrison DFACs and have a broader range of items they can prepare.
"We cannot cook any raw food," said Bandon. "All of our food must arrive pre-cooked."
Even with limited items available for ordering, Bandon and her team make sure Soldiers have three nutritious cooked meals available seven days a week. A recent meal on Sunday consisted of T-bone steak, fried scallops and corn-on-the-cob.
"We do not serve Meals, Ready to Eat," Bandon said.
The day starts early for the cooks, around 5:30 a.m. and ends late with self service ending at midnight. Staffing an operation that is almost 24-hours is a constant challenge, especially when Soldiers are not available because of mid-tour leave, said Bandon. Most of the cooks work all day, seven days a week with little time off.
Though the hours are long, Spc. Kenneth Jamerson, cook, HHC, 3rd STB, attached to 1-8 CAB, is happier about the conditions of this deployment compared to the last time he was deployed to Iraq in 2003 with the Iron Brigade.
"We have a place to sleep, a place to shower and you can go to the latrine instead of going in the woods," said Jamerson. "It is not as hectic as last time. Last time we were cooking in full battle rattle."
The thought of cooking in full gear in 120 degree heat is something Sgt. Jason Miller, cook, Forward Support Company, 1-8 CAB, does not want to remember. He was deployed with the Iron Brigade to Iraq in 2003 and this is his second time cooking at FOB Paliwoda.
If it is 120 degrees outside, it feels like it is 100 degrees warmer inside the kitchen especially when you have all the burners going at once, Miller said.
Soldiers are instructed to drink plenty of fluids and take necessary breaks when the heat inside the kitchen gets to extreme levels.
Additional air conditioning units have been ordered to combat the heat problem inside the kitchen but the cooks are used to dealing with adverse conditions.
"You suck it up and drive on," Miller said.
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2006 10:20 |
| Story ID: | 6359 |
| Location: | BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 49 |
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