Prepping for success

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Meagan Schutter
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla., --  A timer alerts Airman 1st Class Tyler Aguilar that the bread is ready to be removed from the oven and begin cooling. She takes the protection pads to handle the hot pans, removes the bread and moves on to the next item on her preparation list.

For Aguilar, a food service journeyman in charge of food preparation with the 1st Special Operations Force Support Squadron, it’s just another day of work.
It wouldn’t be possible to serve the 400-500 Air Commandos a day without the Airmen behind the scenes preparing and cooking the food.

“Food prep takes a lot of manning time,” stated Staff Sgt. Emily Fuqua, the food service supervisor and production manager with the 1st SOFSS. “If the food isn’t prepared, you have to do it the day of. Try cutting meat for 250 people on demand. If you’re doing a stir fry, think of how much time that would take.”

Depending on how much food is needed, the production manager will determine the amount prepared the day before the scheduled meal.

“As a production manager, it’s my job to prepare the production logs,” said Fuqua. “The logs are needed so that when preparing the food, the Airmen know how much and what to cook.”

By following the logs, Airmen working in the storage room know how much meat to take out to thaw 72 hours before the scheduled meal, allowing Aguilar to prepare the right amount of meat needed for the next day’s menu.

“It’s an ongoing challenge and always changing,” said Fuqua. “We will look at the previous week’s production logs and see what was wasted or if an item ran out before the meal closed. Then we’ll go from there.”

Managing food preparation is crucial when providing the meals in a timely manner and making the correct amounts.

“Prep is a big deal, because if you don’t pull food correctly or cut it correctly, then it messes with the next shift. They can’t prepare their meal if I don’t do my job properly,” said Aguilar.

There are variables when it comes to preparing the food. Food preparers must consider how many people will be dining at the facility and which menu items are scheduled to be served. It all dictates how the meat and vegetables will be prepared.

“Sometimes, for example, the celery may need to be diced and then there’s another meal where the celery needs to be sliced,” stated Fuqua. “It’s a lot and very tedious. There are so many different types of chopping methods, depending on the particular meals.”

With combined efforts from Airmen, Air Commandos dining in for their next meal don’t have to worry whether it will be ready or not.

“It’s rewarding when you see it all come together,” stated Fuqua. “We have great food and people are pleased. Our comment cards show for it.”