SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- The Warrior Inn Dining Facility of 2nd Brigade Combat Team won the Phillip A. Connelly Award by outperforming other dining facilities in United States Army Pacific Command this month during a strenuous evaluation of their facilities and personnel.
The Philip A. Connelly Award recognizes excellence in the preparation and serving of food in Army troop DFACs and during field kitchen operations. The competition is held annually and determines which DFAC is the best among those who compete.
"You're competing against every 92 golf (food service specialist) in the Army," said Sgt. 1st Class Floyd Dodwell, DFAC Manager for the 2BCT. "The Connelly Award is a strenuous and stressful competition that evaluates all aspects of DFAC operation."
As the winners of the USARPAC level award, the Warrior Inn DFAC will now compete at the Department of the Army level against all other major command winners over the next few months.
"Now that the Soldiers know they are part of the seven or eight DFACs competing for the DA level award the pressure is on to be number one," said Dodwell.
"It means a lot to the Soldiers to be recognized for the hard work they put in," said SPC Jennifer McCain-Gomez, a food service specialist at the Warrior Inn DFAC. "Motivation is up, and everyone comes in ready to give their all."
Competition in the Phillip A. Connelly awards is optional, however some commanders insist.
"The brigade commander said that 'You will win this' and I took it as a personal challenge," said Dodwell. "It has involved a lot of long hours and weekends spent cleaning."
The Warrior Inn DFAC sets the bar high for other DFACs in the region. They outperformed all other DFACs in Hawaii and Alaska to take the USARPAC award by closely adhering to Army standards and producing better results when evaluated by the panel.
"The standards in this DFAC are a lot higher than where I've been stationed previously," McCain-Gomez said.
The DFAC serves about 1200 meals each day to Soldiers located on Schofield Barracks. Ensuring that those meals are the best in the region is the mission of the 92Gs at the Warrior Inn.
"Winning USARPAC impacted our Soldiers greatly," Dodwell said. "Motivation jumped about 50%, it's nice to be able to say we are the best 92Gs in USARPAC."
The Warrior Inn DFAC will now be evaluated by the Phillip A. Connelly panel on all aspects of food preperation for the Department of Army Phillip A. Connelly Award. Over the next few months the best DFAC in the Army will be determined with this competition. The Soldiers of the Warrior Inn are confident it will be them.
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