In 90 degree heat, soldiers from the 841st Engineer Battalion stayed cool under pressure while competing in this year’s Army Reserve Philip A. Connelly awards, recently in Miami, Fla.
Sgt. Patrick Alveranga, the first cook, along with Spc. Diego Perez and Spc. Marketia Alcindor, all from the battalion’s Forward Support Company, were required to prepare a meal ready to be served in four hours for 75 people.
On the menu were brazed pork chops, minestrone soup, parsley butter potatoes, calico corn, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, tossed salad and beverages.
“With salt, pepper, and garlic, I can cook anything,” Alveranga said smiling.
“That’s what we’re trained to do,” Perez said.
The contest started and cooks were on course to cook the meal within the required time frame, when the burners malfunctioned with approximately 30 minutes remaining. The maintenance section stepped in and quickly repaired the problem, allowing the cooks to serve the meal on time.
The senior evaluator, Chief Warrant Officer John Mercer couldn’t help but notice how well the unit worked together.
“In a hot environment like this, people can get frustrated, but they got together and helped each other,” Mercer said. “There was no bickering.”
The Philip A. Connelly competition is not just a food service competition, according to Mercer.
“It’s an entire unit evaluation. The maintenance team needs to make sure that the equipment is in operational order, and tasked people from the unit need to help set up the site,” Mercer said.
In this the year of the Non-Commissioned Officer, neither Mercer nor Alveranga ignored the competition’s training value.
“They (the soldiers) see what it takes to get stuff done from planning, to execution to serving,” said Alveranga. “They’re getting experience from you showing them because you’re right there with them.”
“Without NCOs the Army would come to a crashing halt,” Mercer said. “We have some good NCOs in food service, and quite frankly, they’re not recognized nearly enough. The Philip A. Connelly Program is an excellent way to recognize the expertise and professionalism of NCOs in food service.”
The Connelly program was established in March 1968 to recognize excellence in Army food service. The program is named after the late Philip A. Connelly, former president of the International Food Service Executives Association. Organized in 1901, IFSEA is the food service industry’s oldest trade association, and is dedicated to raising food industry standards.
If they win the USARC Regional competition, the FSC team will advance to the Department of the Army level contest.
The winner is awarded a championship bowl, and the runner up gets a plaque.
The 412th Theater Engineer Command won the Philip A. Connelly award in 1988, and again in 1993.
“Now that we’ve gotten our feet wet, I feel that we will be the team to beat,” said Alveranga. “We will be practicing on weekend drills.”
