FORT SILL, OKLA. -- Military cooks from every branch from all over the world compete in the military version of Iron Chef" annually, and this year's U.S. Army Culinary Arts Competition at Fort Lee was the largest culinary competition in the country.

Fort Sill has been competing for years and came out with excellent fashion by bringing home 20 medals from the competition. The team was comprised of cooks from the 75th Fires Brigade, 214th Fires Brigade, 31st Air Defense Artillery, and Reynolds Army Community Hospital's dietitian.

Specialist Emmanualli Torres, a cook from 571st Forward Support Company, 75th Fires Brigade showed outstanding promise as an upcoming chef when he competed in the junior chef of the year competition. In this portion of the competition the junior chef had 90 minutes to prepare, cook, plate and present his entrée. Torres never competed before but showed a high level of expertise and received a bronze medal.

The nutritional hot food challenge is a competition of the chefs having no idea of what they would be receiving to cook and had to go strictly with instinct and knowledge to prepare a two course meal of less than 750 calories, in 90 minutes. Capt. Lisa Reid and Sgt. Isaac Wilson came home with a bronze medal for the event.

The culinary arts competition is an intense competition consisting of 25 teams, over 250 cooks competing in over 750 events, and lasting for almost two weeks. It is not just simply popping pre-made food in an oven and heating it up or serving 500 troops out of a containerized kitchen (CK). The meal is served to 80 customers over a two hour lunch period. This "Iron Chef" event expresses the abilities of each cook and cooking team in areas like Best Team Exhibit; Best Exhibit; A Special Judges Award, Most Artistic Piece; Best Overall Table Exhibit in the Competition; Best Centerpiece in Ice; Field Cooking Team Competition; Junior Chef of the Year; Chef of the Year; National Culinary Champion of the United States Military; National Pastry Champion of the United States Military; and Installation of the Year. It's the way the military cooks throughout the military away of improving the quality of food service and training for all the services and also away to recognize excellence in the culinary arts.

Judging for this competition is incredibly tough. Judges are flown in from England, Germany, and Sweden along with many other countries to judge the competition and many of the judges belong to the American Culinary Federation and World Association of Chefs societies. With the judges having many years of experience between them, there was definitely a cultural flair to the competition.

"The smallest details determine the winners here," said Sgt. John Thomas, a member of the culinary team representing Fort Sill, Okla. "The judges want to see the cleanliness of your aspect, that all of your pieces are well put together, good variety, multiple kinds of cuts, clean lines and straight edges. Cleanliness of the plate is a big thing also. Really, the standard is to be perfect and then improve on it from there."

The competition guidelines for the team buffet/cold food event read as follows: "Every team must prepare a cold food buffet table (with) a minimum of seven mandatory entries, all with a common theme, and will showcase the team's ability to work together and produce a work of culinary art. These tables are the epitome of beauty, skill and perfection. Included are hors d' oeuvres, plated appetizers, plated desserts, buffet platters and dessert platters. This category demonstrates the differences between cookery and culinary art."

"This is one of those events where the stress can really bring you down," Thomas said. "That's why you have to work together to keep that motivation up. Appreciating those moments when you can step back and say 'I did an awesome job' is important also. And the real payoff of a competition like this is that feeling of accomplishment when you're standing up there with your peers realizing what it means to be part of this team. It's definitely motivating because most of us walk away from this thinking how much more it will take to do better next year."

This competition is away to showcase the chef's abilities and to learn new skills that will be taken back to their post dining facilities and utilized there. Alongside the trophies and medals that were won, some competitors received funding for credits at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). The CIA is the premier culinary arts institute and will only further the chef's abilities to prepare better meals for the troops. Although Fort Sill's team did not take home the first place trophy this year, the Soldiers that participated learned many valuable tools for their trade and have their eye on the first place trophy next year.