Military and community lead-ers gathered at Fort Sam

Houston, Texas, on April 19 for a groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Army Installation Man-agement Command’s new $26.4 million headquarters (IMCOM HQ), which will also become home for the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command (FMWRC) and U.S. Army Environmental Com-mand (USAEC).

IMCOM HQ is relocating from Arlington, Va., per the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act.

“To bring this organization from the Washington, D.C., area to San Antonio is a blessing for lots of reasons,” said Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, commanding general of IMCOM and assistant chief of staff for In-stallation Management during the ceremony. “It’s not going to be just one building, but six buildings en-

compassing 444,000 square feet of office space to house our IMCOM soldiers and civilians, who do such great work on a daily basis. It’s a big deal for us to come join Mili-tary City USA, and we are proud of that fact.”

Two buildings are being newly constructed, and four are being completely renovated, one of which is getting an addition. During the next two years, over 2,400 people will be moving into new offices.

“What’s most important about the mission of IMCOM is to ensure our soldiers, our civilians and their families have a quality of life that’s commensurate with their quality of service,” the general said. “Our soldiers are fighting and winning our nation’s wars in combat, and we in IMCOM focus on the families so the soldiers forward deployed can focus on the fight.”

After the groundbreaking, USAEC Commander Col. Maria R. Gervais oversaw an Earth Day recognition ceremony.

“We have an environmental

stewardship obligation to meet, while at the same time ensuring our soldiers are prepared to com-plete their mission,” she said.

The colonel then presented the general with a crepe myrtle tree in honor of Earth Day and the com-mand’s move to Fort Sam Hous-ton. “We are indeed stewards of our environment,” Lynch said. “That’s part of what we do, so it’s only appropriate to recognize that we have, and will fulfill, that re-quirement.”

USAEC is coming in from Aber-deen Proving Ground in Maryland, while FMWRC is relocating from Alexandria, Va.

Community and military leaders “dig in” to commemorate the groundbreaking for the new Installation Management Command headquarters at Fort Sam Houston April 19. (PHOTO CREDIT: STEVE ELLIOTT)

Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, commanding general of IMCOM and assistant chief of staff for Installation Management, addresses the audience during the groundbreaking cer-emony April 19. (PHOTO CREDIT: STEVE ELLIOTT)

Groundbreaking for FutureIMCOM HQ at Fort Sam Houston

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The commander of the U.S. Army Environmen-tal Command, Col. Maria R. Gervais, presents

Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch with a crepe myrtle tree as part of an Earth Day recognition ceremony after the groundbreaking April 19 at Fort Sam

Houston. (PHOTO CREDIT: STEVE ELLIOTT)

GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 20106

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Bunge, an edible oils food manufacturer

whose products have seen the insides of many a mili-tary kitchen, has found a unique way to deliver its message that foods baked and fried with healthier cooking oils can still taste great. Its food truck, nick-named “MOE” (Mobile Oil Experts), allows the company to deliver great-tasting street food at key customer events around the country. “We can now bring Bunge to our customers’ doorstep,” said Bill McCullough, the company’s marketing director.

The inspiration for MOE came at a meeting of top chefs at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Napa, Calif., last year, where Kogi, a mobile Korean food

operation, held a demonstration.A used Mac Tools delivery truck,

the vehicle has been rebuilt to be a fully operational kitchen that can feed 1,200 people. The 18-foot truck has been converted to bio-diesel and utilizes used cooking oil to partially fuel the engine.

Chef Adam Moore, a Bunge Oils corporate chef from Chicago, will be behind the wheel of big MOE as

it travels to major food shows and restaurant chain franchisee meet-ings across the nation.

MOE’s debut fed 350 people in late April at the annual Steak ‘n Shake/Western Sizzlin franchisee meeting in Indianapolis. The next day, MOE invited 1,200 Dow AgroSciences em-ployees at their India-

napolis agribusiness campus to try products ranging from veggie wontons to Oreos fried in Bunge’s 0 grams trans fat Nutra-Clear NT, an Omega-9 canola oil. During the National Restaurant Show in Chicago, MOE will lead the biggest tailgate party outside US Cellular Park just before a Chicago White Sox MLB game.

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Bunge’s Food Truck Sets Trend inMobile Food Marketing for Manufacturers

Sodexo held the fi nal round of its fi rst Regional Chili Cook-Off

Competition at Camp Pendleton’s 41 Area Mess Hall on May 11. The West Coast’s top Marine Corps chefs and their civilian counterparts took part in the contest, with the win-ner having the honor of seeing his or her creation served at all West Coast Sodexo dining facilities.

Six different Marine Corps Instal-lations were represented during the cook-off, including Marine Recruit Depot San Diego; Marine Corps Air Station Miramar; Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.; Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twen-tynine Palms, Calif.; and Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center Bridgeport, Calif.

Marc Murphey from Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif., won the top honor with

his chicken-chili recipe. Bassel Henry from Camp Pendleton’s 22 Area Mess Hall took second place with a traditional style chili, and Sandra Malina from Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Cen-ter Twentynine Palms, Calif., took third with a Texas-style version.

Murphey pledged to participate in next year’s event — with not a sin-gle change to his recipe.

Retired Lt. Col. Bruce Bancroft, Sodexo’s regional oversight man-ager, Marine Corps Installation West, was quoted in a release as saying, “The competition brings food services recognition because, now, the chili we serve is award winning.”

He continued, “The talent of our cooks continually amazes me. All we need to do is give them the op-portunity to exhibit their ability.”

GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 20108

The Heat’s On at Marine Corps Chili Contest

Retired Lt. Col. Bruce Bancroft, Sodexo’s regional oversight manager, Marine Corps Installation West, taste tests chili that was created by military cooks during Sodexo’s

fi rst Regional Chili Cook-Off Competition at Camp Pendleton’s 41 Area Mess Hall. (U.S.

MARINE CORPS PHOTO/ PFC. MICHELLE S. MATTEI)

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In April, the Phoenix Group’s Wish For Our Heroes Foundation, a

non-profit organization that grants wishes for active-duty military and their families, became one of 10 causes to receive $50,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Project. Wish for Our Heroes finished 3rd among nearly 1,100 organizations competing in the $50,000 category.

The Pepsi Refresh Project is a grant program that in 2010 will award through an online, demo-cratic voting process $20 million to projects intended to improve and “refresh” communi-ties. In total, the Pepsi Re-fresh Project awarded two $250,000, 10 $50,000, 10 $25,000 and 10 $5,000 grants.

“This is the first grant Wish For Our Heroes has received, as contribu-tions to date have been from individuals or small businesses,” explained Jeff Wells, president and founder of Wish For Our Heroes, as well as a former Army captain. “This grant surpasses the total value of wishes we have granted since our inception in No-vember, and this amount of money will help many deserving families of our active-duty military.”

Wish For Our Heroes strives to relieve hardship circumstances not covered by existing military chari-ties. Since November, the foundation has granted 25 wishes with a total value of $45,000.

“We couldn’t be more appre-ciative of the efforts Pepsi and its partners have made to better com-munities. Not only will this grant assist us in helping our U.S. mili-

tary, it has raised awareness for our foundation, and the many other organizations working hard to make a difference in the world,” explained Wells.

One of the first recipients was U.S. Army Sergeant Brad Baker of Fort Gordon, Ga., who had spent the last few months without transporta-tion. Having to deal with draining medical bills, his family got behind on their automobile payments and eventually their car was repossessed.

Wish For Our Heroes found an economical and reliable used car

for the Baker family, and once the foundation received the initial check from Pepsi, it purchased the car.

On May 2, Wish For Our Heroes presented Baker with a ’99 Buick LeS-abre Limited Edition. The Bakers now have a way of getting their daughter, Isabella, to school and Brad to work each day, and his wife, Calista, can finally start her dog care business, a plan that had been on hold due to the lack of transportation.

For more information, visit www.wish4ourheroes.org.

Wish For Our Heroes Awarded $50,000 in Pepsi Refresh Project

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Calista and Brad Baker, a U.S. Army sergeant, receive the gift of a new car from Jeff Wells, president and founder of

Wish For Our Heroes.

The Martinsburg VA Medi-cal Center’s (MVAMC) Nu-

trition and Foodservice Staff received the VA Sustainability Achievement award. “The an-nouncement of this coveted award is truly an honor for our staff and we are extremely proud of our “Going Green” efforts through our highly suc-cessful waste reduction and composting practices,” said Medical Center Director Ann R. Brown.

In a letter to MVAMC’s Chief of Nutrition and Food Service Barbara Hartman, VA Senior Sustainability Officer James M. Sullivan praised the staff as “an excellent example to other VA facilities on how to employ innovative waste reduction strategies.”

According to Hartman, the Waste Watchers program is based on the EPA’s Food Waste Hierarchy, which has an end result of reducing food waste, saving money and decreasing the amount of food that ends up in landfills, creating meth-ane gas.

“Receiving this award,” said Hartman, “recognizes and vali-dates the importance of proper food waste management to the environment.”

The program reduced weekly solid food waste to less than 300 pounds from approximate-ly 1,521 pounds.

In addition, the MVAMC has had an existing “Green Kitchen Project” for the procurement of local sustainably grown fresh produce with Kilmer Farms in Berkeley County, W.Va.

VA Reduces Solid Waste

GOvERNmENT FOOd SERviCE • JULY 201010

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In May, Sara Lee Foodservice of-ficially opened the first North

American Douwe Egberts Cafitesse Academy in Suffolk, Va. The three-day intensive course will act as a training destination for hundreds of sales and service members to become experts on the Douwe Eg-berts liquid coffee system, Cafitesse.

“A great sales force needs to pro-vide more than just information, they need to be trusted partners,” said Jan Pieter Schretlen, general manager, Sara Lee Foodservice bev-erage unit. “The Cafitesse Acade-my’s innovative approach brings participants together to learn, taste, smell and experience Douwe Eg-berts Cafitesse liquid coffee. Upon completion, participants will be better partners to their operators, helping them tackle the variety of coffee issues they face daily.”

The Academy fo-cuses on the Douwe Egberts brand legacy, coffee cultivation and production, and even sensory exercises. It demonstrates how Cafitesse is a user-friendly, efficient, and easy to maintain liq-uid coffee system that consistently delivers high-quality coffee. Participants learn how the Cafitesse coffee system also pro-vides operators higher profits while reducing labor costs and minimiz-ing product waste.

“By the end of the year, we will have hundreds of individuals trained and dedicated to providing a more profitable solution to opera-tors whose customers expect a quick

and great tasting cup of coffee every time,” said Chad Black, senior train-ing manager of beverage solutions.

Douwe Egberts Cafi-tesse combines “café” (cof-fee) and “vitesse” (speed) to equal fast coffee. This system is used to dispense liquid coffee on-demand, providing a consistent cup of coffee at the touch of a button. A single carton

of the liquid coffee concentrate (0.52 gallons) can serve the same number of cups as 50 pots of tra-ditional filter-brewed coffee. The system reduces time and waste for foodservice operators at healthcare facilities, hotels, convenience stores, restaurants, offices, cafeterias and gaming businesses.

Sara Lee Introduces First North American Coffee Academy

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Eleven soldiers, all young mothers with young chil-dren, in the Chippewa Falls-based 724th Engineer

Battalion-Task Force Badger were treated to a special Mother’s Day celebration this year.

The 11 women arrived at the battalion head-quarters in Joint Base Balad, Iraq, on the night of

Mothers Day for Mothers in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Safe Food Certification

The Quality Control Department of Berks Packing Co. Inc. completed the Safe Qual-

ity Food (SQF) program, and achieved a Level 3 rating, the highest certification attainable, with a score of 98.73.

The program is a leading global food safety and quality certification program and manage-ment system designed to meet the needs of buyers and suppliers worldwide. SQF is an ac-cepted certification, which includes food safety as well as food quality.

the holiday with no clue of what was to come. They were greeted by Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Da-vid O’Donahue and Command Sgt. Maj. Scott Genz. The officers wished them a happy holiday and an-nounced that they would be treated to a Mother’s Day dinner.

The treat was the base’s Ciano Italian restaurant, where they dined on pizza, pasta, calzones and steak and enjoyed the engaging atmosphere. The evening’s conversation included Spc. Jennifer Denhartog’s ex-plaining the various uses of Facebook to Genz.

“I thought it was very generous of them to take us out — I really enjoyed the quality one-on-one time with the leadership,” Sgt. Andrea Wahl was quoted as saying. The mother of 2-year-old girl, she is on her second deployment.

“We wanted to do something special for these young women,” O’Donahue said. “Their situation is so special because they are. Everyone that deploys makes sacrifices. However, their sacrifices are unique.”

724th Engineer Battalion Commander Lt. Col. David O’Donahue (back row, far left) and Com-mand Sgt. Major Scott Genz (back row, far right) bought a Mother’s Day meal for 11 724th Engineer Battalion Soldiers - who are also mothers - Sunday (May 9) at a non-military dining facility located at Joint Base Balad in Iraq. The 724th recently deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Also pictured are Spc. Jessica Brad-ley, Pfc. Stephanie Morris, Spc. Suzanne Davis, Sgt. Kimberly Rawson, Sgt. 1st Class Jean Imm, Staff Sgt. Clarissa Zimmerman, Pfc. Kaylee Gross-jean, Sgt. Jackie Heppner, Spc. Jennifer Denhar-tog, Sgt. Andrea Wahl and Spc. Adair Flug. (724TH

ENGINEER BATTALION PHOTO/1ST LT. PETER M. OWEN)

GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 201014

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The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) launched an official Face-

book page at http://www.facebook.com/dla.mil, joining 350 million people already on the popular social media site.

The DLA page is available for viewing by anyone in the world, but DLA’s primary audience for the page comprises customers and suppliers, Department of Defense leadership, media representatives, other DoD organizations and DLA employees.

“Knowing that thousands of people now turn to social media sites for information was a primary factor in adding a Web 2.0 initiative to my 2010 Director’s Guidance,” DLA Director Navy Vice Adm. Alan Thompson said.

DLA’s Office of Strategic Com-

munications will manage the page. The content posted on the page will inform fans of DLA news and milestones, highlight extraordinary employees and provide a calendar of DLA events as well as photographs and videos.

Taking advantage of Web 2.0 technology, DLA officials hope to receive comments and feedback on postings and create an active dialogue.

“Dispelling rumors, correcting inaccurate information and helping customers solve problems are other reasons to join the social media world,” Deb Parker, chief of plans and analysis in the Strategic Com-munications Office, said. “Applied correctly, new media technology provides a conduit for effectively

reaching segmented audiences in an increasingly complex informa-tion space.”

The Facebook page joins the agency’s public Web site, http://www.dla.mil/, and the agency’s in-ternal communication site, DLA Today, as methods to communi-cate with employees, customers and other stakeholders.

DLA Joins Facebook

Joining 350 million people already on the popular social media site, the Defense Logistics Agency has

officially launched its official Facebook page.

GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 201016

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Having considered The National Defense Authorization Act

for Fiscal Year 2011, (H.R. 5136), the House Armed Services Com-mittee (HASC) issued a favorable report and recommends it pass as amended.

While the bill addresses many categories in the Department of De-

fense budget, it does not authorize appropriations for fiscal 2011 or generally provide budget authority. Subsequent appropriation acts will provide budget authority.

In considering the bill, the HASE report, which was released May 21, 2010, contained many sug-gestions, including one regarding

the Air Force Food Transformation Initiative.

The Air Force has begun an ini-tiative to transform its food ser-vice operations, including dining facilities, flight kitchens, snack bars and catering services. It will be conducted through a two-phase pilot program that comprises 12 military bases, beginning with six in October followed six months later by the remaining six.

Ultimately, the plan is to in-clude all 78 Air Force bases in the initiative, which affects appropri-ated funded facilities and non-ap-propriated funded (NAF) facilities.

While no civilian or military personnel employed at the ap-propriated funded facilities will be affected, the committee under-stands that NAF employees either could be reassigned or have their employment terminated.

Further, prime contracts held by AbilityOne, a non-profit that provides employment opportu-nities for the blind and severely disabled, will be brought under the new initiative.

The committee is concerned that this initiative is being con-verted from performance by gov-ernment employees to contractor employees without a public/pri-vate competition being conducted. Also, the committee believes that all NAF employees and AbilityOne employees should have the “right of first refusal” for any positions for which they would be eligible that are available under the initiative.

While the committee recognizes that improving food service at Air Force bases is an important objec-tive, it does not believe that the Air Force has provided an adequate rationale for its food transforma-tion strategy, which is expected to result in an increase in food service fees to military personnel.

The committee directs the Sec-retary of the Air Force to restrict

Suggestions on Air Force Food Transformation

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The Comptroller General’s re-view should address eight ques-tions. First, how has the initiative achieved the Air Force objectives to improve food quality, increase the customer base and expand hours at the dining facilities? Second, is the concept of a single foodservice provider to serve appropriated fund-ed dining facilities, NAF facilities and catering requirements a viable solution? Are there other models that could be considered? Third, since both appropriated funded facilities and NAF facilities now will be managed by a single con-tractor, what impact will this have on the appropriated funded facili-ties, including funding for military construction and the purchase of food supplies? What impact will this have on NAF facilities and profits? Fourth, how effective is the foodservice officer in managing the contract? What were the challeng-es in implementing the contract? Fifth, was there adequate competi-tion for the contract? Sixth, how were efficiencies achieved under the initiative, without impacting the appropriated funded facilities? Seventh, what was the percentage increase in foodservice fees paid by military personnel as compared to foodservice expenses paid before the initiative took effect? Eighth, what impact has the initiative had on civilian, including NAF em-ployees, and military personnel, and employees of AbilityOne? How many AbilityOne and NAF employees were employed by the prime contractor? How were small businesses and their employees impacted?

The committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force not to move forward with expanding the pilot program to the additional six bases until 90 days after the Comptroller General has submit-ted the report to the congressional defense committees.

—GFS

In addition, the committee di-rects the Comptroller General of the United States to undertake a comprehensive review of the initia-tive as implemented at the first six bases, and report its findings and recommendations to the congres-sional defense committees within six months after the award of the initial contract.

this initiative to the six initial bases, and conduct a thorough review of how it is meeting objectives before any additional bases are brought under the initiative.

Within 30 days after completion of the review, the Secretary should provide a written notification of compliance to the congressional defense committees.

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