Army's Best Dining Facilities Receive Recognition

By Jim Bolton

FORT LEE, Va. (Army News Service, Jan. 13, 1999) - Soldiers and civilians from across the globe will converge on San Diego in mid-March to see the Army's best food service professionals get their just desserts.

The 1999 Phillip A. Connelly Awards ceremony will take place at the Town & Country Resort Hotel, located at 500 Hotel Circle North, from March 9-11.

The program is named in honor of the late Phillip A. Connelly, a former president of the International Food Service Executives Association. Connelly backed IFSEA sponsorship for the Department of the Army's recognition of excellence in food service.

The Connelly Awards program is co-sponsored by IFSEA and the Department of the Army. IFSEA representatives participate in the evaluation of finalists in five different dining facility categories: Small Garrison, Large Garrison, Active Army Field Kitchen, U.S. Army Reserve, and U.S. Army National Guard.

The 1999 Connelly Award recipients, by category, are:

Small Garrison Winner: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 20th Area Support Group, Taegu, Korea;

Small Garrison Runner-up: 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate), Fort Wainwright, Alaska;

Large Garrison Winner: 528th Special Operations Support Battalion, Fort Bragg, N.C.;

Large Garrison Runner-up: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, Vilseck, Germany;

Active Army Field Kitchen Winner: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 29th Signal Battalion, 201st Military Intelligence, Fort Lewis, Wash.;

Active Army Field Kitchen Runner-up: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany;

U.S. Army Reserve Winner: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 372nd Engineer Group (89th Reserve Support Command), Des Moines, Iowa;

U.S. Army Reserve Runner-up: 352nd Combat Support Hospital (63rd Reserve Support Command), Oakland, Calif.;

U.S. Army National Guard Winner: Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1/114th Field Artillery Battalion, Mississippi Army National Guard, Greenwood, Miss.;

U.S. Army National Guard Runner-up: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 111th Engineer Group, West Virginia Army National Guard, St. Albans, W. Va.

U.S. Army Center of Excellence-Subsistence and IFSEA evaluators traveled the globe last year to obtain first-hand knowledge of how Army cooks perform their jobs in both garrison (installation) dining facilities and during field operations. Army cooks are evaluated in a number of areas, including food preparation, taste, nutrition, service, and sanitation.

Leading up to the ceremony, food service soldiers and civilians will have the opportunity to participate in a number of IFSEA-sponsored seminars and special events.

The 36th Army Show Band from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., will provide musical entertainment.

(Editor's note: Bolton is a public affairs specialist at the Fort Lee, Va., Public Affairs Office.)

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