Photo By Sgt. Tamara Thompson | Maj. Gen. Thomas James, the 7th Infantry Division Commanding General, presents and...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – For the second year in a row, the Ghost Inn Dining Facility was recognized as the top dining facility on post for Thanksgiving.
Dozens of culinary specialists worked countless hours in the days and weeks leading up to the meal, which the unit held Nov. 25, to ensure the facility was ready for the hundreds of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Ghost” Soldiers and families.
The preparation was multi-faceted with some Soldiers responsible for cooking the meal and others for building the decorations.
Pfc. Ashley Rodriguez helped craft a number of ice sculptures for the meal. For her, the prep work began nearly a month before Thanksgiving when she attended an ice-sculpting class and began building the sculptures.
“I’ve never done ice sculpting before,” said Rodriguez, a Cape May, New Jersey, native. “It was a learn-as-I-go process.”
Rodriguez helped build a large Ghost crest and an ice cornucopia along with a few other items.
Rodriguez joined the unit straight out of advanced individual training a little less than a year ago and this was her first year helping with a Thanksgiving meal like this.
“It was hectic, but it was fun,” she said.
There were a few stressful moments for her, though. The one that stood out the most was when her and her team had to move the ice sculptures that they spent nearly a month creating.
“It was scary and slow,” she recalls. “We were in the back of the truck and it was freezing cold. We were going, like, 10 miles an hour.”
Spc. Sean Harris was part of the group who actually prepared the meal. This was his third Thanksgiving with the unit.
Harris said the preparations were fairly intense. Since the dining facility planned to serve such a large crowd they actually had to borrow oven space from another facility across post.
“We cooked 31 turkeys,” Harris said. This was in addition to the hams, roast beef, shrimp and plethora of other Thanksgiving goodies they made.
Harris spent 15 hours in the kitchen the day prior to Thanksgiving ensuring that the turkeys were ready. He wasn’t even aware that his work contributed to the facility being recognized as the best on post.
“I had a couple of the Soldiers come over to my house for Thanksgiving,” said Harris, a Lansing, Mich., native. “They told my wife and I about it. I was very excited that we took the award again. I’m glad to see we were able to keep the trophy here again.”
Maj. Gen. James Thomas, the 7th Infantry Division Commanding General, presented an award to the Dining Facility staff following the Thanksgiving meal.
Harris attributes the win to the level of teamwork present at this dining facility.
“I think we work really well together,” he said “We work with each other all the time. We understand the amount of teamwork and hard work necessary to get the mission accomplished. I think we demonstrated that during the Thanksgiving prep.”
With this win in their pocket, the staff at the Ghost Inn is confident that they will continue their winning tradition in the year to come.
“We’re going to three-peat,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Bamrick, a Tampa, Fla., native who helped guide the decoration team.
Bamrick said Thanksgiving is a great opportunity for the young culinary specialists at the dining facility to see what their job is all about.
“It blurs all together for them,” Bamrick said. “They do breakfast, they do lunch, and they do dinner everyday. For them to have an opportunity to see that we do a whole lot of other stuff: the ice carving, the culinary stuff...it gives them an opportunity to learn that there is a culinary aspect to this job.”
Bamrick was really happy with just how well his Soldiers did at decorating.
“Overall, I think they did a great job,” he said of his team. “They were motivated and excited to do the job and to see the chain of command come in and serve. They all seemed super pumped.”
With Thanksgiving over, it’s a chance now to look back and see what their teamwork can accomplish.
“It’s just a really fun day for everybody in the 1-2 SBCT footprint to get together and celebrate the holiday season,” Bamrick said.
| Date Taken: | 12.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.08.2015 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 183885 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US |
| Hometown: | CAPE MAY, NJ, US |
| Hometown: | LANSING, MI, US |
| Hometown: | TAMPA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 819 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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