FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Nov. 25, 2014) -- Some Soldiers at Fort Jackson will enjoy their Thanksgiving Day feast a little early this year, while others will celebrate on the traditional day.
"This year, there are more opportunities for civilians to eat with the Soldiers because we're doing it on two days," said John Nelums, quality assurance evaluator with the Directorate of Logistics. "Because of the commanding general's outreach program, there are now more opportunities for the Soldiers to interact with the community."
This schedule will also allow many of the cadre to spend the holiday with their families.
"We're getting calls for reservations as far away as Utah," Nelums said. "We're getting more calls from out of state than ever before. And we're getting more inter-service calls than ever before."
This year's menu includes; 7,710 pounds of turkey, 3300 pounds of ham, 2,144pounds of beef, 1,580 punds of shrimp, 700 assorted pies, 1,235 cakes, and eggnog, cornbread dressing, savory bread dressing, giblet gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, herbed baby carrots, seasoned broccoli, green beans and mushroom casserole, potato salad, macaroni salad, calico salad, garden vegetable salad, assorted salad dressing, assorted pastries, assorted pies, hard candy, assorted fresh fruits, mixed nuts, coffee and tea.
Preparations started at least one month before Thanksgiving. Food estimates are given to the Troop Issue Subsistence Officer, or TISO, in October. The TISO contacts the prime vendors to give them enough time to acquire items to fulfill the post's request.
Preparations range from facility decoration, worker uniform/costume preparations, unit participation in development of the facility theme, coordinating meal periods and command servers, pre-preparation of ingredients, specialty cake decorating, ice carvings, and throwing down in the kitchen preparing all the fixings. Typically, food service personnel establish shifts starting the night before to ensure all of the preparations are ready and on time.
"We served 10,000 people last year, and I think we're going to equal that or surpass it this year," Nelums said.
Following tradition, the meal will be served by commanders, their staffs and senior non-commissioned officers of each company as their Soldiers pass through the serving line.
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