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Ohio Reserve unit competes for culinary award

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Charlie Miller
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  A bevy of white aproned 445th Services Sustainment Flight members were scurrying between two buildings, their portable kitchen and a serving tent preparing lunch for 60 Airmen at the base's warfighter training center July 14.

The occasion for Services was not just to fulfill the appetites of 445th Airmen but also to showcase their skills in front of three judges evaluating them for the Hennessy Award, a highly respected culinary award annually presented to an Air Force Reserve wing that has been deemed the best foodservice program in the Air Force Reserve.

It was not your normal field chow under the hot sun at the warfighter training center. Elaborate desserts, creative sides and three main dishes, German sliders, Italian sliders and buffalo chicken sliders, made the menu.

"The recipes, the taste, they were absolutely restaurant quality," said Col. Scott Sayre, commander, 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron.

Master Sgt. Tim Back, 445th Communications Element, information systems chief, said he was pleasantly surprised. "I got haute cuisine when I totally expected to see heat-to-the-proper-temperature aluminum foil pans."

According to Peter Mihajlov, a judge representing the National Restaurant Association, there are 150 questions or data points covered during the evaluation process. Mr. Mihajlov, a restaurant owner/operator in Minneapolis, Minn., traveled to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base with two Air Force Reserve judges.

"There has been a relationship going on 56 years now between the Air Force and the National Restaurant Association," Mihajov said.

The judging started with the single pallet expeditionary kitchen, or SPEK.

"We evaluate them on how they unpack the pallet, set up their kitchen, make the kitchen operational (cook the food), then clean up and re-palletize all their gear," said Tech. Sgt. Shakela McNeill, a judge from Dobbins, Air Reserve Base, Georgia.

Services had 14 different menus to choose from and deviated somewhat with their food choices.

"Normally, you would follow a menu, but here they went outside a little," Sergeant McNeill said with a smile. She said they mixed different menus and used additional equipment. "They pulled it off," McNeill stated.

And those words may be a good omen for winning the Hennessy Award.

"There are 39 Reserve wings eligible to enter, and from all the entries we select a 'Final Four' for the competition," said fellow judge Senior Master Sgt. Brian Denny, from Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

The judges evaluated the 445th first. The will visit the remaining three wings in the next 90 days, one per month. The Hennessy Award will be announced in January of 2013 and an awards ceremony will be held in May 2013 in Chicago.

This is the first time the 445th has been in the competition, and on their first try, they made the final four.

On July 15, the judges held an out brief and discussed the previous day's activity. They also honored Senior Airman Stephan Hall as the top performer. He will go to Chicago next May for special recognition.

The judges provided feedback to the squadron on their strengths and weaknesses as they see them.

McNeill said she loved the level of teamwork the squadron expressed.

"No question, you have skills," Denny said as he addressed the squadron Sunday morning. "You showed up with pride,"  McNeill said.

Maj. Elizabeth Daniels, Services officer-in-charge, was not surprised at how well the squadron did.

"Not only did I see hard work and lots of sweat, I saw smiles. I am so proud of these Airmen," the major said. "I wish I could take more credit, but I can't. I've only been here about one year."

The major said that she saw almost every member of the squadron pitch in during the clean up and pack up stage. She noted that at the end of the evaluation process it went from a 10-Airman team to a 35-Airman entourage.

The 445th Services airmen would have been evaluated in a military-run dining facility, had one been available. Air Force Reserve-wide dining facilities operated by the military have become so scarce the Hennessy competition for Reserve wings is now 100 percent field conditions.