405th AFSB, USAREUR award top culinary specialists, dining facilities

By Steven Stanfill, 405th AFSB Public Affairs and Bill Roche, USAREUR Public AffairsDecember 13, 2012

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (From left) Following the presentation, Col. Christopher Roscoe, 405th AFSB commander, stands with winners of the Connelly award for excellence in the food service category of dining facilities operated primarily by civilian food service personnel. N... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (From left) Following the presentation, Col. Cynthia Fox, U.S. Army Europe, Logistics, stands with Connelly award recipients in the Field Category. Next to Fox are Spc. Gary Gonzalez, Sgt. Kerwin Solomon and Spc. Likisha Green, 16th Sustainment Briga... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HEIDELBERG, Germany -- U.S. Army Europe and the 405th Army Field Support Brigade paid tribute to USAREUR's top food service personnel and dining facilities at its annual food service awards ceremony Nov. 26 at Nachrichten Kaserne.

The Soldiers and civilians were honored as part of the 45th annual USAREUR and 405th AFSB level of the Army's Phillip A. Connelly Awards Program for Excellence in Army Food Service.

Several units were honored with awards at the ceremony.

The Soldiers were honored as part of the 19th Annual Culinary Warrior of the Year NCO and Culinary Warrior of the Year competitions.

The 405th AFSB falls under the Army Sustainment Command, headquartered at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill.

These dining facilities are run by the Directorate of Logistics which was transferred from the Installation Management Command to the Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Ala., on Oct. 1. ASC is a subordinate command of AMC and now manages DOL operations. The transfer covered 73 DOL locations, 49 in the United States and 24 overseas.

The DOL provides many services including food service at Army installations. The total DOL workforce encompasses about 5,000 civilian employees, 100 military personnel, and 18,000 contractors.

The winner of the Culinary Warrior of the Year NCO competition was Cpl. Latia Turley from Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment.

Sgt. Brian Norwood of the 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 16th Sustainment Brigade, was runner-up.

The winner of the Culinary Warrior of the Year Competition was Spc. Yekta Pekacar of the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion. Pfc. Stephanie Dixon of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, V Corps, was the runner-up.

The USAREUR level of the Connelly awards recognizes excellence at the military- and civilian-operated dining facilities across the theater.

The winner of the Connelly, in the category of dining facilities operated primarily by military food service specialists, is Conn Barracks Dining Facility located in U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt and operated by the 72nd ESB.

The runner up was the 10th Army Air and Missile Dining Facility located in USAG Kaiserslautern and operated by the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.

In the category of dining facilities operated primarily by civilian food service personnel, the winner was the Command Sgt. Maj. Lawrence T. Hickey Dining Facility located in USAG Grafenwoehr, and the runner-up was the Stryker Inn dining facility in USAG Hohenfels.

This was the third consecutive competition the civilian food personnel won the Civilian Connelly Category at USAG Grafenwoehr.

Col. Cynthia Fox, USAREUR's deputy chief of staff for Logistics, and Col. Christopher Roscoe, commander, 405th AFSB, presented the awards.

Fox served as guest speaker for the event, and spoke highly of the competitors and their professionalism. She encouraged everyone to spread the word about the great things Army food service professionals are capable of doing in the field.

The awardees were presented trophies for their achievements. The winning dining facilities will go on to compete in the Department of the Army level of the Connelly competition. The Culinary NCO and Warrior of the Year winners also received Army Commendation Medals, while the runners-up were presented with Army Achievement Medals.