MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. --- U.S. Marines, Sailors and civilian attendants of Mess Hall 303 proved that hard work and dedication pay off by winning the Fiscal Year 2025 Major General W.P.T. Hill Memorial Award for “Best Management and Mess Attendant Mess Hall.” The mess hall is run by a dedicated team assigned to 2nd Marine Logistics Group, who were recognized locally by Brig. Gen. Maura M. Hennigan, commanding general of 2nd MLG, April 6, 2026, and will be recognized at the Food Service Awards Ceremony in May 2026.
“The continuous work ethic of these Marines is unmatched,” said U.S. Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 2 Theus Bailey, a food service officer.“Day in and day out they are putting in the work to ensure Marines, Sailors and civilians are fed with nutritional meals. Providing everyone with the fuel to fight and enjoyable meals to keep them coming back, the establishment is always in a state of cleanliness, orderliness, and has an atmosphere that breeds excellence.”
This award recognizes the top mess halls across the Marine Corps based on superior quality in food preparation and food service, customer service and mess hall management. Mess Hall 303 staff, and all other contenders, were evaluated in person by the Major General W.P.T. Hill Awards Evaluation Team earlier this year.
For U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Fotine Kruashvili, a food service specialist with Mess Hall 303, being evaluated ensured their team was doing the right thing, following orders, and keeping the mess hall clean. She said they were evaluated and tested on theirprofessionalism as cooks, as food service specialists, and had spent the previous months honing their ability to work as a team and follow procedures seamlessly.
“We went into the evaluation pretty confident,” said Kruashvili, a New Jersey native. “We’d been preparing for this evaluation for months and knew our roles and what was expected of us. We were happy and excited that the evaluation went well, and we were relieved that it was over. It was definitely a new experience. I’ve never been evaluated at that level before as a cook.”
Established in 1985, the Major General W.P.T. Hill Memorial Awards for Food Service Excellence includes four elements: active component garrison mess, active component field mess, reserve component field mess and the food service specialist of the year. Co-sponsored by the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF), a food service professional organization comprised of distinguished industry executives, the program’s goal is to improve food service operations across the Marine Corps.
“We always have early mornings and late nights,” said U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Alondra Ruiz Hernandez, a food service specialist with Mess Hall 303,“Most of our Marines are newer to the fleet and we all just wanted to do right by our mentors and all the work they put into us and show that all the hard work was worth it in the end.”
The team running Mess Hall 303 feed various military services to include Marines, Navy, Airforce, Army, Naval Academy, and foreign military. Although theirprimary patrons are from 2nd MLG, they also support patrons from subordinate commands.
“Being in the chow hall, working all the long hours you get to know everyone around you really well – their strengths, weaknesses, personality – and I think that all ties in really well to working as a team as smoothly as we do,” said Ruiz Hernandez, a North Carolina native.
“It can be difficult at times especially when our Marines are competing with other food establishments here on base,” said Bailey.“Our Marines know this, but they continue to show up and come to work and produce meals that meet the daily nutritional requirements for our service members.Mess Hall 303 is not just a place of dinning it is place where our Marines come to fill their bodies and increase their overall readiness for future war by providing them with the necessary vitamins, minerals and protein to fight and win our nation’s battles.”
As one of the oldest mess halls this side of the Mississippi, Mess Hall 303 is the only Marine and Contractual operated Mess Hall on the East Coast and is the premier, and only, garrison training platform for food service Marines at Camp Lejeune. This is the first time that Mess Hall 303 has won the award since it began serving troops in 1968, and the first time a Marine Corps mess hall in the continental U.S. has won the award in more than 16 years.
When asked how she felt about winning the award, Kruashvile had this to say:
“I would say surprised, but I knew we could do it,” said Kruashvili. “I’m proud of our team and what we accomplished and I’m grateful that our work is being seen and acknowledged by not only the command but the Marine Corps. At the end of the evaluation, one of the inspectors mentioned how good our teamwork was and I felt a sense of pride for that being seen.”
According to Base Food Service, the dedicated team of Marines, Sailors and civilians at Mess Hall 303 serve an average of 13,648 meals monthly and more than 133,603 meals yearly, keeping our service members well fed and better focused on the mission.
"This recognition is a tremendous honor for the Marines and their civilian counterparts,” said Bailey. “The hard work and dedication that went into the preparation for this award was nothing less than exceptional. Nonetheless, these Marines displayed a quality of excellence not just for this award, but on a daily basis they ensure the standard has been set.”
“Our mentor, Staff Sgt. Bernal, always says ‘we don’t get ready, we stay ready,’” said Kruashvili. “Her guidance set the foundation for us and made all this happen. As a person it was an honor to be able to work with my team, we’re all pretty competitive and it was nice knowing we won something together.”