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thedrifter
12-11-07, 04:19 AM
MCAS cooks provide the fuel that keeps Marines fighting
BY LANCE CPL. LAURA MAPES, SPECIAL TO THE SUN
December 9, 2007 - 10:20PM

The wait may be long but that is OK, because you are hungry. You grab a tray and a bowl and wait for a taste of the food you have been smelling since you opened the door.

While this may sound like a restaurant, this is a scene from the mess hall at the Marine Corps Air Station. Marines who work there serve Marines while in garrison and on deployment.

Twenty-four Marines work in six different sections at the station's mess hall, including the main production line at the station mess hall, the field mess at the Cannon Air Defense Complex, the fast food line at the station mess hall and the specialty bar for the culturally-themed foods the mess hall offers each week.

"I go to work early so I can prepare for my shift. I get the grill ready and everything set up," said Pfc. Amanda Herrera, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron food service specialist. "I'll come in around 8 or 9 p.m., and I get off (work) around 11 a.m. the next morning.

"I (serve) more than 200 Marines a day, just myself and one other Marine," explained Herrera.

Most of the time, Marines working in the mess hall work 12 hours on and 12 hours off. They also work every other weekend. Combat cooks don't stop working when they leave the mess hall.

"When I go home, my family and friends are always asking me to cook," said Cpl. Jon Collins, H and HS food service specialist.

"While it may seem that our mission is small or not important, it is important," said Gunnery Sgt. Sally Sarmiento-Louttit, H and HS food service management.

The station mess hall is the only one at the air station, which means its cooks are always there preparing meals for Marines, said Sarmiento-Louttit. "If something happens and the chow hall has to close down, we will set up a field mess," said Staff Sgt. Carlos Molina, H and HS food services productions chief.

A field mess is similar to the setup which would be organized on deployment. In the field "combat cooks" use a tray rest and heater system to cook the food, explained Molina.

"You can cook up to 240 portions of food per meal, and we usually cook two meals per day," said Molina. "It is really simple, and we can cook while we are on the move because everything is set up in the back of a humvee.

"While there are limited resources when we are deployed in a different country, we will cook what we have on hand," Molina added.

Combat cooks work hard to fuel the most important equipment in the Corps - Marines, said Cpl. Larry Gilpatrick, H and HS food service specialist.

"Without us doing our jobs, in essence, other Marines would not be able to do their jobs," Gilpatrick said.


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Lance Cpl. Laura Mapes writes for The Desert Warrior, the newspaper of the Marine Corps Air Station, from which this story is reprinted.

Ellie