MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, Okinawa, Japan --
Through leadership,
dedication to duty and supervision, food-service specialists aboard Marine
Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, will soon be awarded their fifth consecutive
Mess Hall of the Quarter award for overall outstanding performance within
Marine Corps Installations Pacific.
As the Futenma Mess Hall
manager with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Master Sgt. Paul Rieper is
responsible for the smooth operation of the dining facility, which is a challenge
in and of itself because there is a constant flow of service members.
“Our mess hall does not
see a break,” said Rieper. “Every six months a squadron will leave and another
squadron will take its place. With the contestant rotations, we at the Futenma
Mess Hall are continuously serving.”
Food-service Marines,
commonly known as “cooks”, begin their day early to ensure service members are
properly feed before they tackle the challenges that await them. As they
prepare the first meal, at 3:30 a.m. still exhausted from the day prior, they
stay optimistic and persevere through the hardship.
“Everybody here works
extremely hard and everyone is dedicated to their duty because we care about our
mess hall want to and ensure Marines are getting fed,” said Gunnery Sgt. Juan
Arreguin, assistant mess hall manager with H&HS. “Time and time again, the
Marines here prove it’s
not the facility that really matters but more of who’s running the facility.”
Despite the cooks’ hard
work and dedication, some service members don’t have the time to dine at mess
hall because it is to far of a commute, even with the bus system in place. Some
can’t afford to leave their section too long because their mission is critical
to the airfield and air station. A unique capability provided by the mess hall
is the “sub shop”, which is a facility located near the flightline. It is
strategically set up to ensure service members have the ability to grab a quick
meal and return back to their respective sections.
Whether it’s at the sub
shop or the mess hall, cooks are proud of their work and enjoy seeing the
reactions on service members faces when they take their first bite, said Cpl.
Calvin Martinez, chief cook with H&HS. However, their success and ability
to maintain this success does not come without a sacrifice.
“We work 14 days
straight and get every other weekend off, so it’s very precious when we get
time off,” said Martinez. “Being the senior (noncommissioned
officer)
in the shop, the long days don’t affect me but sometimes it affects our junior
Marines who aren’t accustomed to working so many hours in a week. I do my best
to keep the morale up because we have a high operational tempo and we don’t
have room for failure.”
Through
the teamwork of the Marines, Master Labor Contractors and augments assigned to
the mess hall, preparing more than 1,800 meals on a daily basis is now a
feasible task.
Futenma’s food variety,
quality, customer service and leadership are the reasons why Martinez believes
his mess hall is the best. He only hopes that his Marines hard work is not in
vain.
“As food-service
specialists, or cooks, we are under appreciated. Marines come in here a lot but
don’t really see the extensive or strenuous work we put into each meal we
prepare,” said Martinez. “It’s just expected for food to be there so you can go
in and get out. Only certain people take the time to appreciate what we do.”
As the sun sets and
evening colors begin to play, Futenma cooks finish prepping for breakfast of
the following morning and ensure the facility is clean and sanitized. It might
be a very demanding military occupational specialty aboard the station, but
with five consecutive awards under their belt, the personnel operating it have made
their mark in the Pacific.