Photo By Cameron Porter | Soldiers from the 55th Quartermaster Company serve up lunch at the Knight’s Lair...... read more read more
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ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. – The Army Food Modernization Program is and will be offering different options to meet the needs of Soldiers. It’s an ambitious and evolving program designed to provide nutritional food, boost morale and welfare, assist in recruiting and retention, and advance unit cohesion across the Army to keep Soldiers in top fighting shape with applied 21st century ideas and concepts.
“The end state of Army Food Modernization Program is Soldiers who are fit, nourished, and optimized for physical and mental performance, sustained through modernized, 21st century, best-in-class food services that are integrated across the sustainment warfighting function, effectively resourced, and tailored to the range of operational and training environments,” explained Chief Warrant Officer 5 Curtis Steineke, food adviser, Program Development and Services, Support Operations, U.S. Army Sustainment Command.
Modernization applies to all areas of the Army, food included. In 2019, the Army G-4 revised Army Regulation 30-22, the Army Food Program, creating a commitment to a modernized culinary service program, Steineke said.
ASC’s extensive mission involves tasks that impact all aspects of defense logistics. ASC is responsible for acquiring and moving essential supplies, maintaining crucial equipment, and ensuring that the Army's logistical needs are met efficiently across the globe. It carries out numerous logistics services and missions daily worldwide, supporting wherever Soldiers are stationed, including Warrior Restaurants.
Hence, ASC plays a crucial role in food modernization, as it is responsible for supporting 187 Warrior Restaurants, with locations in the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. These restaurants support Soldiers of all ranks, and often are open to Civilians who work at the installations and spouses or family members.
Steineke recently returned from an Army Food Program assessment that conducted site visits to multiple Warrior Restaurants in Baumholder and Kaiserslautern, Germany, along with personnel from the Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence, and the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
“Soldiers have voted with their feet and told us want they want,” said Steineke. “They want flexible feeding options. They want to have the ability to grab and go. They want to grab a meal and consume it elsewhere because of their busy schedules and work-life balance.”
One example is the Raptor Warrior Restaurant at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, which is supported by ASC, where Soldiers can “Grab-n-Go” two meals daily called the Army Meal Prep Program.
“This is important to Soldiers because there are a lot who can't make it to a dining facility,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony Sumpter, Raptor Warrior Restaurant’s manager. “We’re providing a service to be able to have all of your meals for the day and not waste time.”
“I love this program,” said Sgt. Tyler Bonner, a patron of this Warrior Restaurant. “It saves me a lot of time with the busy military schedule that we have, and I also really love that I can get two meals, so one for lunch and one for dinner.”
Another example of modernization is providing multiple locations and options for the Soldiers, versus just one. Using culinary outposts like kiosks and food trucks will help get the food to the Soldiers.
“It’s all about access,” Steineke said. “How can we get the Soldiers access to various food choices that are healthy and nutritious where they want it and how they want it?”
As of now, there are 19 food trucks and 12 kiosks at installations across the Army.
A kiosk provides Grab-n-Go nutritional items with fresh foods, fruits and beverages, requires two to four 92G Soldiers (food service specialists) to operate, has a microwave oven, hot beverages, and is maintained by the installation central kitchen, Steineke said.
A food truck is a mobile platform capable of feeding up to 200 Soldiers at once. The menus are easy to prepare for nutritional items, supports where Soldiers live, work and train. A truck requires three to four food service specialists, and support from the central kitchen or supporting dining facility, he explained.
“Customers pay for food at food trucks and kiosks the same way they do at the Warrior Restaurants with the exception that the food trucks cannot accommodate credit cards – no Wi-Fi capability,” Steineke said.
He added that just like the Warrior Restaurants, access to this service is determined by the installation commander.
Another example of things brewing up is at Fort Cavazos, Texas, as it ups its game bigtime with what’s called “The 254 Blend” -- a coffee bar offering many blends of hot coffee.
A ceremony was held in March to mark the opening of The 254 Blend at the Operation Iraqi Freedom Dining Facility.
“Coffee has a profound history within the military, dating back to the Civil War. It is a high commodity and a source of morale for Soldiers during training, deployment, and daily operations. The ‘254’ stands for the Fort Cavazos [telephone] area code,” said Chontrelle Sturdivant, installation food program manager, Supply & Services Division, Army Field Support Battalion-Cavazos, a subordinate organization of ASC.
“The 254 Blend has been installed in two dining facilities to date,” said Richard Martinez, commander, AFBSn-Cavazos. “Two additional dining facilities will be installed with The 254 Blend by mid-May 2024.”
So far, the coffee bar is proving itself a big hit.
“The 254 Blend is sustaining its traction and excitement,” said Sturdivant. “We depleted the prime vendor’s six weeks of coffee inventory on-hand in one week and have increased orders due to the demand.”
“The Army is constantly updating menus; it’s an ongoing process,” Steineke said.
In keeping with the Army's priorities of people, modernization, and readiness, there's more changes coming as the Army continues to modernize its food program to meet Soldiers' needs and preferences, Steineke said.
Editor’s note: Article and photo information contributing to this product were from Cameron Porter, 405th AFSB Public Affairs; Spc. Karleshia Gater, I Corps Public Affairs; Samantha Harms, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs; and Jon Micheal Connor, ASC Public Affairs.
Articles were:
“Team, facility, program: 3 reasons why Knight’s Lair is one of the Army’s best warrior restaurants” -- https://www.army.mil/article/271399
“Army Food Program assessment team visits Rheinland-Pfalz to learn what Soldiers want” -- https://www.army.mil/article/274322
“Raptor Warrior Restaurant kicks off Army Meal Prep Program” -- https://www.army.mil/article/274320
254 Blend now brewing hot cups of coffee for Soldiers at Fort Cavazos -- https://www.army.mil/article/275095
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2024 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 471450 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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