Cooking for coalition forces

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Shelia Fourman | Eight Army food service specialist and a three Soldier detail from the 1st Armored Division Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade, received a coin from Col. John E. Pirog, on behalf of the commander of the Train Advise Assist Command-North for the meal they cooked for more than 600 coalition forces on Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan July 5. Since MES, also known as Camp Marmal, consists on Soldiers and coalition forces from 22 countries, each week a different country provides a short presentation about their country and a cultural meal. This weekly event is known as International Wednesday.  

AFGHANISTAN

07.05.2017

Story by Master Sgt. Shelia Fourman 

1st Armored Division, Division Sustainment Brigade

“Camp Marmal is a culturally diverse base with 22 different countries represented,” said Capt. Stephen Miller, the liaison officer in charge for the 1st AD RSSB. “Here, the U.S. personnel make up the minority. Coalition countries take turns hosting International Wednesday and displaying what makes their country great. It is a point of pride, and a chance to highlight your homeland.
Miller stated that because Camp Marmal is a German base, everything from the dining facility to the traffic rules seem foreign to the U.S. Soldiers and contractors.
“International Wednesday is our chance to reconnect,” said Miller. “Most importantly, it is our chance to eat some American Food. The food is the common factor in all International Wednesday, and the U.S. service members, contractors, and coalition forces all count on the American food to be the best.”
In order to prepare this meal, five Army cooks and a small detail of Soldiers, all from the RSSB flew in from Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan to prepare the American feast.
“We flew into MES July 3, to ensure everything we needed was in place,” said Spc. Itzell Rosales, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion, 1st AD RSSB. “We wanted to make sure that we were ready to prepare the meal for military Soldiers, contractors and coalition forces.”
Preparing a meal for 600 people was no easy task. It took a lot of time to prepare and cook each dish that was prepared for the event.
“We started preparing the meal on July 4th,” said Rosales. “I prepared a meal for more than 800 Soldiers before at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, so I knew it would take a lot of hard work. Working as a team makes preparing food easier.”
During the event these Soldiers prepared more than five American dishes to serve to coalition forces.
Rosales stated that they made barbecued ribs and chicken, deviled eggs, egg salad, fruit salad, baked macaroni and cheese, baked beans, peach cobbler, and prepared different desert and fruit dishes for the event.
With the help from other cooks from the battalion, preparations were assigned to each member of the team.
“My job was to season the chicken and help with whatever else that needs to be done in the kitchen,” said Pfc. Devanta J. Gatlin, food service specialist, HHC. “I also helped prepare the barbecue chicken, baked mac & cheese, and peach cobbler.”
Although this was not Gatlin’s first time cooking for a large number of Soldiers, this was his first time preparing and serving coalition forces overseas.
“It wasn’t my first time preparing for 600 Soldiers, but it was my first time serving that many Soldiers while cooking on the grill and in a deployed environment,” said Gatlin.
Gatlin stated that he was truly honored to be part of the team who cooked for International Day at MES.
“It was an honor to prepare the meal with my team and it was also a great experience,” said Gatlin.
While the team often cooks together in the dining facility at Fort Bliss, Texas, each member of the team learned that working as a team can expedite the process of preparing food.
“As long as you have a hard working team and involved leadership, everything will come together and that hard work pays of,” said Rosales.
Since the food brought all the coalition forces together, many had a chance to taste American food during the event.
“The cooks did a phenomenal job preparing the meal’” said Miller. “As with everything else, Marmal provides plenty of complex problems. The 1st AD RSSB team showed great professionalism and adaptability, adjusting to cooking conditions, transportation issues, and missing ingredients in order to provide a high quality meal to U.S. Soldiers, contractors, and coalition partners. The food was hot, on time, and high quality. Nobody left the event hungry, and there was plenty of food to spare. The food was the talk of Marmal for days after.”

• Date Taken: 07.05.2017
• Date Posted: 07.09.2017 05:29
• Story ID: 240532
• Location: AF