30 June 15  –   FORT MEADE, Md. – Soldiers from the 200th Military Police Command may soon chow down on tastier and more nutritious meals thanks to professional training the unit’s cooks and supply personnel received July 28-30.

The four-day program, conducted by the unit’s Logistics Office, focused on both ongoing and structured training aimed at improving how they plan, schedule and conduct the task of feeding the force.

This ultimately leads to a better dinning experience for Soldiers because ongoing training provides a chance for the unit’s cooks to continually expand their knowledge. Structured training and development program ensures they each have a baseline of background knowledge.

“The intent was for participants to take the information back to their units to ensure all food service personnel in the command are proficient in food service tasks,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Charles Farran, the unit’s senior food adviser.

Participants received training on the Army Food Information System (AFMIS), and other Army and United States Army Reserve Command (USARC) food service policies.

The Soldiers also received hands-on training for AFMIS, to include submitting and processing real AFMIS request, conduct closeouts, execute head counts and complete cash turn-in. The training is especially important because it puts Reserve Component Soldiers on the same skill levels as their Active Component counterparts.

“This is special because although both active and Reserve Soldiers use AFMIS; there are variations in the way each system works,” said Farran.

More importantly, the training also helps because it serves as an add-on for many Soldiers who weren’t specifically trained on the unique challenges of providing food service in the Army Reserve.

“This training is important because reserve specific trainings are not the focus for the Military Occupation Specialty schools,” said Farran.