Story by Pfc. Chalon Hutson, 301st Public Affairs Detachment
CRANE Army Amunition Activity, Ind. - Out in the humid woods of Indiana, Army cooks spend long hours preparing meals for over 300 Soldiers. They sleep nearby in tents, ready to serve food, even in the middle of the night if that’s what is required. Soldiers may take for granted the ability to just walk through a line to grab a hot meal while in the field. Behind all this is always a group working hard to keep their fellow Soldiers from eating Meals-Ready-to Eat three times a day.
At Crane Army Ammunition Activity, Ind., as part of Operation Golden Cargo, a variety of food service specialists throughout Task Force White joined together to prepare meals for the mission.
Sgt. Percival Woods of Indianapolis, first cook with the 1438th Transportation Company of Camp Atterbury, Ind., noncommissioned officer in-charge of its Mobile Kitchen Trailer, a cooking system capable of quickly being disassembled, transported and deployed in the field in order to serve food anywhere.
Using an MKT gives Woods and the Soldiers with him desirable training they hardly ever get as Reserve and National Guard Soldiers. Woods said this experience benefits everyone.
In an MKT Soldiers can do a variety of jobs to help develop them as well-rounded Army cooks.
“I switch up everybody, everyday, so one person doesn’t get stuck doing the same thing,” Wood said. “By the time this exercise is over, they will have the ability to cook a full meal… hands-on is the best way to learn.”
Even when a late convoy comes in during the middle of the night, Woods and his Soldiers are ready to give them a hot meal. As soon as the truck drivers get in from a mission they are extremely excited to eat the chow made at the MKT, Woods said.
Private Marquisha Grady of Fort Wayne, Ind., and a cook also with the 1438th TC feels she has learned a valuable lesson in patience.
“It’s not like you are just cooking for a family of five, you are cooking for 300 people. So you need patience,” Grady said. She wishes her fellow Soldiers knew the hard labor of an Army cook. “I don’t think people understand the hell and high-water we have to go through... If everybody came and was a cook for one day they would be more appreciative.”
In addition to those who cook the food, those who keep the dishes and utensils clean rarely receive acknowledgment for their vital job.
“A lot of people don’t see it, but we work really hard here,” said Spc. Jake Ackerberg of Muskegon, Mich., and food service specialist with the 180th Transportation Company, also of Muskegon. “We can feed a whole battalion, but if our dishes are bad or not clean, it’s unhealthy to eat.”
Woods said the experience of participating in Operation Golden Cargo training exercise benefitted everyone and prepared them to perform well in future missions. He believed it was the best group he has worked with and they have successfully accomplished a crucial mission for the exercise.
“Our job is very important,” Grady said. “Nobody wants to eat MRE’s all day.”
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