ARLINGTON, Va. – Tech. Sgt. Trisha Willis often gets edgy if she is not working with food.
As a services specialist with the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Wing, her occupation covers a myriad of concentrations: managing lodging facilities, overseeing physical fitness programs, conducting search and recovery efforts and preparing food.
"But I tend to get restless when I am taken out of the kitchen," she said.
It's that enthusiasm for the culinary arts, Willis said, that overlaps into her civilian endeavors as a chef in Houston.
Though she said running a military dining facility and a civilian-based kitchen are "two very different monsters," Willis doesn't make any distinction when striving to present the best possible menu items.
"When you put out food, people will talk – good or bad," she said, adding that when a dining facility offers high-quality fare, it often keeps spirits high.
Willis got her start in food production when she attended technical school at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, covering all aspects of large-scale cooking. She then attended the University of Alaska Anchorage, earning an associate degree in the school's culinary arts program, complementing the skill sets acquired as an Airman.
Her civilian background brings a wealth of different techniques and skills to the military side, Willis said, giving her the confidence and comfort levels needed to manage a kitchen that feeds approximately 1,500 Airmen.
"Being a chef on the outside has helped me manage my subordinates better because I have extensive knowledge of food – from cooking to plating – and it's easy for me to explain the science behind the cooking to them," she said.
Willis added that teaching new Airmen to "talk and move like a chef helps them to be more efficient and confident in the kitchen."
As a result of her culinary talents, Willis has inspired her subordinates to always think how they can enhance a dish, said Air Force Master Sgt. Phillip F. Giarraputo, the services flight manager at the 162nd Wing.
"She serves as a role model for kitchen [personnel] to always strive for the best and go above the standard," he said.
Though training in classic French cuisine and fine dining brings a creative flare to her resume, Willis said it is her military background that continues to give her an edge over her civilian peers.
"The leadership and communication skills that I have learned in the military have been my biggest asset in the civilian world," she said.
But her culinary expertise isn't just limited to serving those in uniform or working in a commercial kitchen. When tragedy struck a close friend, Willis found that food not only nourishes the body, but eases the mind too.
"It helps when people are grieving and have one less thing to worry about," she said, adding that she makes a point to make special meals for family and friends who may be in need.
Willis said she also makes time for community-based meal programs for the elderly and homeless, causes that reflect the humanitarian missions that have been a part of the more memorable times in her military career.
One of those missions involved a joint operation in Alaska that saw military civil engineering units constructing facilities for a local tribe in a remote tundra area. Though field rations were initially available for on-site personnel, Willis recalled how home-cooked meals made for service members raised their morale.
"Just to sit down and have a hot meal was amazing to them," she said.
Willis added that although running an expeditionary kitchen – especially in the middle of a barren location – was very demanding, the end result was worth the hard work.
"It was all about morale – supporting the troops so they could carry out their mission," she said.
Regardless of where her culinary endeavors take her, or the level of cooking expertise she reaches, Willis said it's teamwork that makes the difference.
"It's like controlling an orchestra where all the different sections have to come together as one to make a perfect plate of food," she said.