Changes coming to Al Udeid DFACs

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kia Atkins
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  Servicemembers deployed here may notice slight changes in the food selections available at the three Al Udeid dining facilities during their next meal.

The menu changes are due to a routine overlap of food service contracts that the 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron here is managing to ensure a smooth transition.

“We have a new prime vendor contract for our food delivery,” said Capt. Joseph Dowell, 379th EFSS sustainment flight commander.

Despite the temporary change to the DFAC menu, the 379th EFSS assures servicemembers that the quality service they are used to will not be affected during the short transition.

“The food will still be served and prepared as always,” said Dowell. He added, “The quality and standards are still going to remain the same in that aspect, so customers shouldn’t see any change in service, but they may see some change in the type of food for just a day or two until we get resituated, but for the most part we will try to keep it the same if possible.”

The 379th EFSS, which has the second largest food operation in the Air Force, serves meals to over 15,000 servicemembers here daily and do what they can to ensure that Airmen are not only getting quality and nutritious food, but also the food that they want.

“We have the capabilities here to provide Airmen with the same types of meals that they can get back home,” Dowell said. “So that’s really the key: to give them a home station feeling here so that they can complete the mission. This is why we try our best to keep the menus the same because we know what people like. We also get a lot of ICE [Interactive Customer Evaluation system] comments telling us what our customers want, so we try to do our best to get it for them.”

While the 379th EFSS is trying to make the transition as seamless as possible, servicemembers may notice a few of their favorite items may not be available.

“Right now, our prime vendor may not have all the items in their warehouse at a certain time, which is why we place orders for items in advance, so even though we may not have the desired item at that time, it is on its way,” Dowell said. “Our intent is to get these items here before we run out, but sometimes with the whole shipping process it may not get here in time so there may be a day or two where these items have not arrived yet, so we will have to make substitutions.”

Although these changes are small and may even have gone unnoticed, if servicemembers have any questions, comments or issues, they may fill-out ICE comments to vocalize these concerns.