FORT PICKETT, Va. - The Virginia National Guard's Gate City-based 1032nd Transportation Company received the Department of the Army's annual Philip A. Connelly Award for excellence in Army Food Service in the National Guard Field Kitchen Category for 2008.
The food service section traveled to Atlanta, Ga., April 2 for the four-day conference, culminating with an awards ceremony. The conference included a military culinary trade show with various receptions. Over 500 personnel from the Active Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Navy and Naval Sealift Command attended.
This 1032nd finished third in 2007. "We really improved upon last year's lessons learned," 1st Sgt. Tim Miller said. "Our NCOs really stepped up to make it happen."
Command Sgt. Maj. Carl Holcomb, the Virginia National Guard's state command sergeant major who attended the awards ceremony, said he was very proud of the Soldiers' achievement and hopes they can continue the hard work to defend their title next year.
The Connelly program is named in honor of Philip A. Connelly, past president of the International Food Service Executives Association, who is highly regarded as the driving force behind obtaining IFSEA sponsorship for the Department of the Army's recognition of excellence in Army food service.
The program is co-sponsored by the Department of the Army and IFSEA. IFSEA representatives participate in the evaluation of finalists in five dining facility categories - Small Garrison, Large Garrison, and Field Kitchens in the Active Army, U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard.
U.S. Army Center of Excellence and Subsistence and IFSEA evaluators traveled around the world during the past three months to obtain first-hand knowledge of how Army food service personnel perform their jobs.
All the finalists were evaluated in a number of areas, including food preparation, taste, nutrition, service and sanitation.