NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE, Texas -- Having tasted victory in 2013, Airmen from the 301st Services Flight here were hoping for a second serving Feb. 7 during the Air Force Reserve Command Hennessy Trophy competition.
The Hennessy competition is a joint effort of the Air Force and civilian food industry to promote improvements in Air Force food-service units while recognizing the best dining operations and personnel. To win this competition, Services Airmen must demonstrate sustained excellence in food service management, force readiness support, food quality, customer relations, resource conservation, training and safety.
Three AFRC units are in the finals. The 482nd Services Flight, Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida, and the 911th Services Flight, Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania., will be evaluated in March and April, according to Chief master Sgt. Daniel Kelly, AFRC Services Chief and competition evaluator.
"Both years our team performed at their best," said Senior Airman Angel Agosto, a returning 301st Hennessy team member. "We all gave 100 percent and maybe even more. If I had to choose, which one did better -- even if a little -- I would have to pick this year's team. Specifically because I believe we set up our SPEK (single pallet expeditionary kitchen) faster than before."
In less than four hours, Reservists set up the SPEK, prepared the kitchen, cooked and served meals to more than 165 Airmen all while two judges watched their every move.
"I felt like our team was ready to prove a point," said Senior Master Sgt. Grace Vargas, 301 SVF superintendent. The competition is a joint effort of the Air Force and civilian food industry to promote improvements in Air Force food-service units while recognizing the best dining operations and personnel. To win this competition, services Airmen must demonstrate sustained excellence in food service management, force readiness support, food quality, customer relations, resource conservation, training and safety.
Setting up this type of environment can be very challenging if you've only been in the Air Force Reserve for a year, like Airman First Class Graciela Camuy-Cuevas, 301st team member, but as she explains, "If you have the right stuff, everyone comes together and works as a team from the start."
This year's team consisted of seasoned veterans and new members who trained together to hone their skills. One returning Hennessy veteran was Agosto."I believe our training played an important role in our performance," said Agosto. "Not everyone on our team competed in the Hennessy two years ago. If we didn't practice and train, I believe we wouldn't have done as well as we did."
Last time they competed, the judges arrived to evaluate in August - it was hot and muggy. This year, the services team faced typical February weather - near-freezing temperatures and wet surfaces -- totally opposite weather scenarios.
"In 2012, we had the heat against us," said Vargas. "This year, we were working against the cold, wet, rainy weather during our practice session. Then on Saturday, the weather gods were in our favor and gave us a beautiful day."
The competition switched from the traditional dining facility environment to the SPEK set-up three years ago because of the limited number of hardened dining facilities run solely by Reserve teams. This explains the recent change allowing Reserve Services Airmen a chance to compete in AFRC's 25-year-old competition. Kelly gave the 301st team a big 'thumbs up'.
"Without giving up too much information," said Kelly. "The unit did a great job and set the bar very high."
Judges recognize one star performer on every team. This year the 301st star performer is a two-time winner who says he is humbled to accept this high honor.
"When they called my name to coin the top performer, I was in disbelief," said Agosto. "There were so many of us who did such an excellent job I didn't think I would win again. It is a truly humbling experience to have won it twice and words can't express the thanks and gratitude toward my fellow Airman for bringing out the best in me -- I could not have done it without them."
The 301st Services Airmen battle to achieve back-to-back Hennessy wins. They first won the trophy in 2013. However, AFRC did not hold a competition in 2014 due to budget constraints. Nevertheless, this year's team still feels their performance will be hard to beat.
"The competition wasn't only to prepare the food and hand it over to the customers, everyone put in hard work and dedication to this competition. In my heart, we are already winners," said Camuy-Cuevas.
AFRC will announce the winner in May. Judges will also select an overall star performer who will attend a week-long Culinary Institute of America program.