BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. –
On New Year's Day, while most people were recovering from a night of revelry, eight members of the 940th Wing Services Flight packed up and headed to Fort Wolters, Texas.
The SVF members who set out Jan. 1, 2010, were deploying to serve an annual tour of duty at a National Guard training center near Mineral Wells, Texas. The team included Tech. Sgt. Leslie Holmes, Tech. Sgt. Curtis Pace, Senior Airman Marcella Valdez, Master Sgt. Domingo Pesquera, Tech. Sgt. Marielinda Pierce, Master Sgt. Henry Brown, Tech. Sgt. Barbra Mateus, and Tech Sgt. Margaret O'Malley.
The group of 940th Reservists spent the next two weeks providing nearly 7,400 hot meals to Security Forces members engaged in the combat training exercise known as Patriot Defender. At the end of the sixteen-day deployment, they returned home with a reputation for excellence that was well-earned, according to Maj. John Alfter, 940th SVF commander.
"Our Services folks are shining once again, representing the 940th Wing outstandingly," Maj. Alfter said.
By email, Lt. Col. Theodore Ruminsky, 934th Security Forces commander, also praised the Beale Reservists. "I've been through many dining facilities over the years, many good, some not so good, and some in-between. This team has done a great job," Lt. Col. Ruminsky said.
"The bottom line is that our SF personnel have looked forward to the meals here, and I've not heard a single complaint," he continued. "Notably, the attitudes of your folks have all been very positive and cheerful."
Lt. Col. Ruminsky's comments were meaningful praise to the Beale Reservists who endured unseasonably cold temperatures and a demanding work schedule.
"It was very cold the entire time we were there," said Tech. Sgt. Barbra Mateus. "If we hadn't gotten our ABU Gortex jackets just before we left, we would have frozen." According to Sergeant Mateus, temperatures dipped below 20 degrees on several occasions, causing the swimming pool at the hotel where the group was staying to freeze solid.
Sleep deprivation was perhaps more challenging than the cold temperatures, according to Tech. Sgt. Marielinda Pierce. According to Sergeant Pierce, the group would leave the hotel every day at 3:30 a.m. to prepare and serve a hot breakfast. After cleaning up the morning meal, the group would go back to the hotel "for a break." Then, at 2:30 p.m., they would travel back to Ft. Wolters to cook and serve the evening meal, not returning to the hotel until after 9 p.m.
"By the time we did all the paperwork for meal planning, inventory and ordering, we were getting maybe 3 hours of sleep between shifts," Sergeant Pierce said.
Despite their lack of sleep, the group stayed focused on their customers, said Tech. Sgt Curtis Pace. "It was a great feeling to see smiles on the faces of our SF troops as they came through the line. They were grateful for the home-cooked food in large proportions. And they really appreciated the little extras, like fresh-made jalapeno cheese and fruit or vegetable salads," Sergeant Pace said.
"It was a challenge keeping up on restocking fresh food items, adjusting menus for special dietary concerns, and tailoring the meal for the training environment that day," Sergeant Pace said. He explained that they would serve soup on extremely cold days and burgers or hot dogs when they knew the troops had limited time to get back to their training schedule.
"We tried to have options for everyone, for example, a choice of chicken, beef or vegetarian dishes," said Sergeant Pace. "Some of the favorites were fajita chicken, biscuits and gravy and, of course, lasagna."
"We tried our best. It was definitely a high ops tempo," said Sergeant Pierce. "I think what kept us motivated was knowing that our food might be the last hot meals these troops got before deploying."
According to Master Sgt. Bryan Nicolos, Services Flight supervisor, the group returned home January 17, 2010, to learn that five of the members would be deploying the following week to Homestead Air Reserve Base in support of Haitian relief efforts there.
"They all volunteered for this while still deployed at Ft. Wolters," Sergeant Nicolos said. "They're a very dedicated and motivated group. We're very proud of them. "