Army Food Advisor Innovation Awards presented

By Bob Reinert/USAG-Natick Public AffairsNovember 17, 2011

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Soldiers who showed creativity and innovation in developing field-feeding equipment earned the first Army Food Advisor Innovation Awards, which were presented Nov. 15 at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center.

Specialist Shaunta Cain of the 357th Air Missile Defense Detachment, Germany, won in the individual category. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jeff Lein, CW2 Edgar Walle, CW2 William Wencil and the late Sgt. 1st Class Sheldon Tate of 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., earned the organizational award.

"I have to tell you I'm like a proud momma," said CW4 Georgene Davis, the Army Food Advisor, of this first awards ceremony, hosted by the Joint Culinary Center of Excellence.

"I'm impressed with the initiative they took to put their ideas in play," said CW5 Wade Lovorn, Regimental Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Army Quartermaster School. "You can't train initiative. You have to model it, and you have to set the conditions. So I'm proud of these people for showing the initiative."

Tate died in Afghanistan in July 2010. His awards were presented to his father, Master Sgt. Walter Moore, and his uncle, Master Sgt. Keith Rush. A video tribute to Tate was played as the ceremony began.

The winners also received the first-ever Army Field Feeding Voice of the Customer Awards. In making the presentations, Gregg Gildea pointed to the quality work that had gone into these first award submissions.

"The Combat Feeding team was truly inspired by the enthusiasm displayed by a young, confident, intelligent specialist with her individual kitchen design," said Gildea of Cain. "Most impressive was the innovation, motivation and ingenuity executed by the 82nd Airborne Division team in an actual design and fabrication of their Spartan kitchen. Truly, they made something out of nothing."