Small group of leaders have special mission to feed military downrange

Photo By Brandon Hubbard | Soldiers sample new products Aug. 3 during the U.S. Army Central Food Service Management Board at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The board is responsible for setting the menus at dining facilities across the U.S. Army Central area of operations, including locations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Hubbard, USARCENT Public Affairs/RELEASED)  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

08.10.2016

Story by Sgt. Brandon Hubbard 

U.S. Army Central   

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT – They are not items people might think about when supplying an army at war: Strawberry cheesecake-flavored ice cream, red beans, chicken chunks, vegetarian black bean burgers.
But for the U.S. Army Central Food Service Management Board, who meets four times per year, detailed food and sanitation supplies mean ensuring deployed Soldiers around the Middle East stay fed and healthy enough to accomplish their mission.
The board met Aug. 3-4 at the Directorate of Logistics building at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait for the final meeting of the 2016 fiscal year.
“You have an important mission,” said Col. Roger L. McCreery, U.S. Army Central G4 (Logistics), speaking before the board and who was visiting from the U.S. Army Central headquarters at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. “Last week I sat in a town hall meeting with the base deputy commander and when it came time for questions, food was the first thing to come up.”
About 30 military and civilian leaders attended the two-day meeting, traveling from Afghanistan and Iraq to set a 28-day menu for the upcoming quarter. It gives the group a chance to digest comment cards from diners and other feedback, as well as logistical issues.
The board faces unique challenges, everything from ensuring water is safe to drink to a shipment of non-alcoholic beer.

SETTING THE MENU
Each quarter, the members are tasked with tasting and evaluating new foods to put on the menu in a monthly rotation. The testers are asked to provide detailed feedback like odor, appearance and taste. Lamb, cod, battered catfish and other entrees are on the menu for testing.
1st Lt. Trisha McElroy, an operations officer for the 3rd MCDS in Qatar, considers herself a tough critic. She identifies her diet as pescatarian – someone who doesn’t eat meat with the exception of fish.
“The Army does pretty well by providing halal meals and vegetarian (Meals Ready to Eat),” she said.
But, McElroy believes some minor changes, like offering pasta sauces without meat, would help improve the overall options at dining facilities around the area of operations.
“It feels a little special,” said McElroy, a San Diego, Calif. resident. “You get to take a little bit and give your honest opinion. You are making the menu better for Soldiers in the future.”
Maj. Yi Ling Lee, with the 10th Combat Support Hospital at Camp Arifjan, is a registered dietician for Army Central Command. She said balancing a healthy diet in deployed environments is a constant challenge.
“It is not just about the likes and dislikes,” Lee said.
Lee, of Snow Mountain, Ga., looks at the Department of Defense standards, which require a number of vegetable dishes, meat dishes and low-fat food items.
“It is really hard, just from the logistics portion of the mission. As dieticians, we always want healthy items, but sometimes we just cannot get them to the Soldiers in combat areas or they spoil before their get there,” Lee said.
Watching the product testing, Rodney K. Matthews, ASG-Kuwait food program manager, says the board does a lot of work most service members will never see and works to stay within the basic daily food allowance. Each Soldier in Kuwait is allowed $14.56 for food, broken down for 20 percent for breakfast, 40 percent for lunch and 40 percent for dinner, he said. The tight budget limits how many options can be available at any given time, which in turn makes diner feedback – especially those with special dietary concerns – even more important.
“In this business, we are not going to please everybody,” Matthews said. “We face challenges each and every day, but our role is to try to feed each Soldier a nutritious, standard meal. We are here for the Soldiers.”

• Date Taken: 08.10.2016
• Date Posted: 08.10.2016 20:19
• Story ID: 206753
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW