Photo By Airman 1st Class Savannah Carpenter | U.S. Air Force 23d Wing leadership, airmen assigned to the 23d Force Support Squadron, and the Air Force Services Center Hennessy inspection team pose for a photo at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, Jan. 27, 2025. The inspection team evaluated the Georgia Pines Dining Facility after it was selected as a finalist for the John L. Hennessy Trophy. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Savannah Carpenter) see less
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MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — From Jan. 24–28, the Air Force Services Center Hennessy inspection team evaluated the Georgia Pines Dining Facility team after it was selected as a finalist, marking the facility’s first time earning this distinguished recognition in 12 years at Moody Air Force Base.
The John L. Hennessy Trophy is awarded each year to the Air Force installation with the best food service program. The award recognizes installations that excel in management, support of force readiness, food quality and production, employee and customer relations, and training and safety, highlighting the teams that keep service members well-fed and mission-ready.
“A dining facility being selected as a finalist for the John L. Hennessy award is a testament to just how much love and care the entire team pours into their operation day in and day out,” said Tech. Sgt. Emilee Hinson, Air Force Services Center mission feeding technician. “It reflects sustained excellence across food quality, sanitation, financial accountability, customer service, readiness support, training and leadership.”
During Evaluation Week, the Georgia Pines team demonstrated the dedication, professionalism, and teamwork that have become hallmarks of the facility. From consistently delivering high-quality meals to maintaining exceptional customer service and safety standards, the team’s efforts showcased the excellence of their daily operations. The week gave the inspection team a firsthand look at how the facility supports readiness while fostering a positive dining experience, highlighting the skill and commitment behind every meal served.
“The Hennessy Award is our national championship,” said Senior Master Sgt. Breyson Robinson, 23d Force Support Squadron, sustainment services flight superintendent. “It’s something we strive for every single year, and there are many great facilities out there that never even get nominated as finalists, so to be selected is a huge opportunity for our Airmen to showcase their skills, their training, and all of the hard work they’ve put in.
“This evaluation comes with no surprises,” Robinson continued. “We know exactly what the team is looking for when they walk into our facility. We conduct self-evaluations. Our food service section chief is very stringent, so we catch issues early and improve on them internally long before the evaluation.What really sets us apart is our connection with our personnel. We continue to motivate and encourage our Airmen to get after the mission, even when we don’t have the manning or resources we’d like, because we’re still executing real-world requirements.”
Being selected as a finalist for the Hennessy Award is a powerful reflection of the Georgia Pines team’s commitment to supporting Airmen and ensuring mission readiness, both at their home station and in deployed environments.
“Anyone who’s deployed can tell you there are a few people you need to meet as soon as you arrive at a deployed location: someone in civil engineering and someone in services, " Robinson continued to explain. “We take care of your beddown, your feeding, and your recreation.Meals in a contingency environment are huge. Food brings everyone together. In those moments when you’re separated from your family and looking for something that reminds you of home, when we can provide that, it sustains the mission tenfold.”
With this recognition, the Georgia Pines team can take pride in their accomplishments while looking ahead with confidence. The team is excited to see the official results in March, saying the honor not only recognizes their hard work, but also motivates them to continue delivering excellence in dining operations.
“Airmen can go through an entire career without ever being nominated for this award, so to have this opportunity for our Airmen, they're going to talk about this for the rest of their careers,” Robinson said. “When they're NCOs one day, they can look back and say, I know what it takes to win this thing. That's that generational training that we're looking forward to building with this opportunity, and it only starts with one, and now they'll have this experience for the rest of their career, and hopefully we'll build off”
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