Photo By Lt. Col. William Geddes | A judge (in white) in the ice sculpture portion of the Military Culinary Arts...... read more read more
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FORT LEE, Va. — No one got chopped March 1-13 at the 40th Annual Military Culinary Arts Competitive Training Event at the Field House at Fort Lee, Va. and there was no sign of crazed cooks throwing pans at contestants. What the event did have was ice sculpture competition entries that defied the laws of physics, static food displays that made mouths water and live cooking events filled with all the focus and energy that comes with the pursuit of perfection and that put cooking reality shows to shame.
Army Reserve Soldiers from across the country teamed up to compete with more than 25 teams and more than 270 competitors from Army installations, other services, and other countries in the MCACTE, which is the largest military culinary competition in North America. Following a format that mirrors the structure of the World Culinary Olympics held every four years in Erfut, Germany, the Soldiers competed in everything from cooking pastries to cooking seafood, and from creating edible centerpieces to creating ice sculptures.
It’s an outstanding show, one that draws more than 600 people every day, including students from the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence located at Fort Lee, flag officers from all services and local civilians from surrounding communities. The line to buy tickets to eat the fruits of the Military Field Kitchen (MKT) competition begins an hour before tickets go on sale; small wonder after taking a look at the menu, which for the Army Reserve team this year includes prosciutto rolls with drunken cherry tomatoes and grilled halloumi, orange burden glazed Cornish game hen stuffed with chorizo cornbread dressing, a cauliflower and potato mash, and lemon pepper brussel sprouts, with a dessert of lemon custard sitting on a toffee brownie crust with a raspberry glee creme anglaise — all for $5.55, the cost of the basic daily food allowance.
For the Soldiers however, it is much more than a show. “This event is more than a competition,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Charles H. Talley, jr., who when he is not serving as the show chair for the 40th Annual MCACTE serves as the chief of the advanced food service training division at the Joint Culinary Center for Excellence. “It’s competitive training that the individuals and teams here can take home to their respective dining facilities and mobile kitchens and make that local team better.”
For the Army Reserve, that means taking that training and the positive impact it brings not just to one installation, but to multiple commands across the country. This year the Army Reserve team consisted of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Danny Wolf, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Trent Skinner, 311th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) as team coaches, Warrant Officer Colby Beard, 807th Medical Command as MKT Competition team lead and a team consisting of Staff Sgt Markos Mendoza, 311th ESC, Sgt. Aqueelah James, 3rd Medical Command, Spc. Nathanial Dewey, 103rd ESC and Spc. Susan Molnar, 335th Signal Command. The team enjoyed success, with James earning a silver medal in the nutrition event, and bronze in hot food cooking, Dewey earning a silver in sculpture centerpiece, Molnar earning a silver in nutrition, Mendoza earning a bronze in table set up, and the team earning a bronze medal in the MKT competition – lots of medals going to Soldiers across several commands.
The impact of bringing in Soldiers from so many commands spreads the benefits it can bring to a large community, but it comes with some handicaps too. “We don’t have the luxury of pulling everyone together two months prior to the event to practice,” said Wolf, 103rd ESC food services chief. “That works against us sometimes. The uniqueness though is that we draw people from all over the United States, everyone from a police officer from Atlanta, to a landscaper from Des Moines, to a food services manager from a casino in Las Vegas. We bring in all skill levels, and about 50 percent works in food services as a civilian, and the other half works in other industries.”
Overcoming obstacles comes with hard work. The competition means long hours.
“Seventy-two hours straight with no sleep for me,” said James, an enlisted aide for the 3rd Medical Command, and a patrolman in the Atlanta Police Department. She took part in three different parts of the competition at one point that entailed preparation that required that kind of dedication — dedication that allowed her to medal three events. A five-time competitor in the MCACTE, James said she’s been able to bring many of the skills and techniques she has seen at the competition back to the command. “Just showing them how to take our basic menu from our meal plan and make it something elaborate, something the Soldiers in our command will enjoy, makes it worth it. I do a rendition of the bread pudding using cranberries and white chocolate, so just adding a few things to it makes it something special for my Soldiers.”
Using this competitive training to bring something back to the Soldiers is a common theme on the team.
“For me, it’s all about mentoring and teaching the junior 92 Golfs and 68 Whiskeys [food service specialists],” said Beard, food service warrant officer for the 807th Medical Command, and the team lead for the MKT competition. “I want to teach them how to produce a quality meal on a drill weekend, so that when Soldiers show up for drill, they get excited and say, ‘wow, I wonder what the cooks are doing this drill.’ When I was a younger enlisted Soldier in the field, I did that sort of thing. I'd manage my food budget, and plan it into my year so that I could serve prime rib in the field. The Soldiers loved it, it’s great for morale. When I was serving in Afghanistan managing a dining facility, I saw how much food affects morale. You think about it, most of the joyous moments in life revolve around food.”
There are more practical benefits as well. “A catered meal in California, where I’m from, ranges from $10-$12 per meal per Soldier,” said Beard. “Comparing that to the standard basic daily food allowance, you cut the cost in half — it's a huge cost savings. The biggest thing though is you are actually using your manpower wisely. You have cooks on the MTOE [modification table of organization and equipment], you have cooking equipment, you need to exercise the equipment and improve your readiness.”
Reserve units exercising their cooks can build unity too. “The difference is the esprit de corps that having cooks brings to the unit,” said Wolf. “You walk in the building and you can feel it — it’s not the smell of the food. Besides not wasting an hour of training time traveling to a catered meal, one of the advantages is then all the Soldiers eat together. Everyone talks.”
The MCACTE provides benefits directly to the competitors too.
“It gives an opportunity for our cooks to, during the competitive training, to get American Culinary Federation certification to get credentials they can use in the civilian world,” said Wolf. “There’s testing that is going on, and there are classes that are going on — they can get awarded certificates that you need to, for instance, be certified as an executive chef. It’s a very strict, very high standard, and the certification here is the same as you would get no matter where you went in the United States. It opens up so many opportunities for these young people coming in, and it’s great for recruiting.”
The advantages to serving in Army food service goes beyond the certification though. It comes with the possibility of experiences that can set Soldiers apart from their peers in the civilian world. “I use my career as an example — and I got it all from the military,” said Wolf. “I got to cook in the White House for both President Reagan and President Bush, for heads of state like Anwar Sadat [the former president of Egypt]. As a civilian, I’ve worked with Wolfgang Puck and the Cajun Chef Paul Prudhomme, I’ve done catering for Tom Cruise and Steven Segal, I’ve competed in different competitions [Wolf has won three world championships in pizza, including being the first American to win one in Italy]. I wouldn't have gotten there without the military. It’s endless, you can make it what you want.”
It all comes with hard work and long hours — both with the competitive training at the MCACTE and at the reserve center.
“Cooking is very passionate,” said Wolf. “A lot of people see it on TV and it looks easy, and they don’t think about it. What they don’t realize is these cooks here, they are up more than 24 hours straight making sure everything is perfect, they get cut, they get burnt, they spend all day on their feet — but they love their craft. “
At the end of the day, that is what it comes down to for many competitors — love of the craft.
“It’s very different, but I enjoy what I do,” said James. “I came in 12 years ago, and I wanted to be a cook. This is my passion, it is what I love to do.” James loves the contrast between working her civilian job as a police officer, and working in food services in the Army Reserve. “Food is very different, food is a lot better. People smile with food. People don’t smile at police. It’s always great to give someone a plate and watch them smile when they’re eating.
| Date Taken: | 03.13.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2015 21:16 |
| Story ID: | 157155 |
| Location: | FORT LEE, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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