CASEY GARRISON, South Korea - Soldiers eating in the USAG Casey Main Oriental Garden Dining Facility received royal treatment in as the Warrior Country food service staff was evaluated for the Phillip A. Connelly Award Oct. 18.
Phillip A. Connelly Awards are given for excellence in food service and quality throughout all Army installations. The Casey Main DFAC, which claimed top prize in the large garrison dining facility category in the recent 43rd Annual 8th Army and Installation Management Command Korea competition for the second time in three years, is among seven DFAC's worldwide being evaluated for the Department of the Army level award.
Each DFAC is evaluated in the areas of food preparation, taste, nutrition, service and sanitation.
James Riddle, International Food Service Executives Association, Sgt. Maj. Andrea Farmer, chief of quartermaster enlisted proponency at the Quartermaster Center and School's Army Center of Excellence, Subsistence at Fort Lee, Va., and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ellen Magras, chief of its management assistance division and a master certified food executive, were the evaluators.
Magras was no stranger to the Warrior Country DFAC. She helped get the DFAC up and running when she was stationed at USAG-Casey in 1998.
"It's incredible to see how this DFAC has grown," Magras said. "To see the DFAC as it was just getting started to now evaluating it as one out of the seven best DFAC's across the world is an incredible experience."
Sabrina Wilson, the Casey Main Dining Facility manager, who has been running the dining facility for 15 months, made sure everything was running as smooth as possible. She and the food service workers ensured all the Soldiers and the judges were well taken care of that day.
"To make it to this level is a very surreal and esteemed form of honor," Wilson said. "It's a great accomplishment not just for me but for my people as well. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of hard hours. The workers come in day in and day out and perform their duties to the best of their abilities and they deserve to be recognized for such a high level of dedication to our Soldiers."
Wilson said the Soldiers who eat there also have been a big help by taking the time to complete comment cards about their dining experiences.
"They give us a better idea of what we need to do on a daily basis to accommodate them so that each of their visits to the DFAC is enjoyable," she said. "We provide different foods, portion sizes and flavors. It generally comes down to whatever the Soldiers want, we try to provide because we are here to serve them."
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