The icing on top

Photo By Sgt. Jesse Smith | Sgt. Alicia Clopton, a native of Belzoni, Miss. and a food service specialist with the 602nd Aviation Support Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation was one of the Soldiers in charge of making the cake March 9 at G510, a Republic of Korea military base in South Korea. The cake was to be presented during a dinner held by the 2nd CAB for the ROK Army Aviation Operational Command.  

PYEONGTAEK , 41, SOUTH KOREA

03.11.2015

Story by Sgt. Jesse Smith 

2nd Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP HUMPREYS, South Korea – Imagine baking a gigantic cake with awesome designs on it in your kitchen at home. Now imagine pulling it off out in the field in a tiny kitchen with limited supplies and it is freezing cold. Well that’s what the food service specialists from the 602nd Aviation Support Battalion, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade succeeded in doing during the training exercise, ‘Key Resolve’.

The food service team from the 602nd ASB made a cake for a dinner the 2nd CAB held for the Republic of Korea Army Aviation Operational Command on March 9 at G510, a ROK military base in South Korea. The dinner was a gesture of kindness toward our Korean partners and was an opportunity to strengthen the U.S. and ROK alliance.

Sgt. Alicia Clopton, a native of Belzoni, Miss. and a food service specialist with the 602nd ASB, was one of the Soldiers in charge of making the cake.

“I started by mixing all of the ingredients in large square head,” Clopton said. “I added some milk just to make it a little bit fluffier.”

Next she said she spread out the mixture onto two large sheet pans because there would be two layers for the cake. She then heated the oven that she would put the cake into to a medium heat setting.

“The most challenging part about making the cake out here was the method of baking it,” Clopton said. “The ovens back at Camp Humphreys have exact temperatures while out here they only have the low, medium and high settings. We just had to concentrate a lot more on the cake while it was baking then we usually do.”

She said after the cake was done baking, she removed it and made sure it was cooked all the way through and then waited for it to cool so they could begin to put the icing on it.

Once Clopton began icing the cake, she took great care in the design and the message the cake was sending to her ROK counter-parts. She said she wanted them to know that we are all in this together.

“We are partners and we can depend on each other when the time comes,” Clopton said.

Spc. Dae J. Kim, a food service specialist with the 602nd ASB, was another Soldier involved with the design of the cake. He is originally from South Korea and helped write a message in Hangeul on the cake.

“U.S. and ROK Soldiers train and fight alongside one another,” Kim said. “We go together!”

Although the cake may have been a daunting task, the Soldiers from the 602nd ASB went above and beyond to complete their task. Those Soldiers knew that the cake symbolizes the trust and friendship the U.S. and ROK have and will continue having for a long time to come. Katchi Kapchi Da!

• Date Taken: 03.11.2015
• Date Posted: 03.13.2015 01:36
• Story ID: 156881
• Location: PYEONGTAEK , 41, KR