Now we're cookin'! Ops Center receives new equipment

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Gerald Sonnenberg
  • 932nd AW
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill --  Fully operational kitchens are something most people take for granted in their homes. However, that's something the 73rd Airlift Squadron's  flight attendants have not had until now. To their delight, they received the essentials to having a fully operational kitchen to support the 932nd Airlift Wing's DV mission. 

They arrived shiny and new--a convection oven, grill, six-burner stove, dishwasher, twin industrial sinks, and a large walk-in refrigerator and freezer now installed in the Flight Attendant Operations Center located next to the fire department. 

Both the crews from the 73rd and the active duty's 54th AS have wowed their passengers with meals from bagels and juice to full-course meals including filet mignon. Now they can do it without having to struggle to cook everything within the confines of a small on-board galley or find storage space for the food. 

"The equipment and facility provides us with the opportunity to cook and prepare our meals ahead of time," said Tech. Sgt. Oriel Rodriguez, NCOIC, of the Flight Kitchen. "Cleaning and preparing our vegetables and prepackaging much of what we serve saves us a lot of time." 

As an example, she said they may have 25 passengers on a 15-day trip. This amounts to hundreds of meals depending on the destination and the aircraft. The type of aircraft being used also determines how much storage space they will have. She added that the facility now allows up to four crews to prepare for missions at the same time.
Tech. Sgt. April Tarbill explained that with more storage capacity they want to also use the facility to be able to stock the aircraft here at Scott with "fleet items" like paper towels, aluminum foil and the like instead of having to take care of it at another location like Andrews AFB, Md. 

"The plan is to become self-sufficient in the next month or so," she said.
Senior Master Sgt. Jim Gallagher, 73rd AS Flight Attendant Superintendent, added that there is more than just cooking going on at the facility. 

"We do all of our planning and meal research here," he explained. "We keep in contact with the passengers to plan what we need to prepare for an upcoming trip. That may be as many as 500 meals."