AF Services fueling Airmen one dish at a time

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Marie Brown
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs
Southwest Asia --  Nearly 1,500 pounds of T-Bone steak, 600 pounds of lobster and 480 pounds of Cornish hen.

Sounds like a plate full, right?

On average, the three base dining facilities here serve a combined 3-5K pounds of meat a day. However, this is what it takes to serve nearly 4,000 Surf and Turf meals at the Oasis Dining Facility on a Monday night.

Each day, the great team of Airmen at the Oasis DFAC works around the clock to ensure that the Air Force’s greatest weapon system, the Airman, is fed.

“We actually fuel the Airmen that work every day, from F-15E Strike Eagle pilots to security forces defending the gates,” said Tech. Sgt. Rahim, Oasis DFAC manager. “Everybody comes through the food facility for fuel to make sure they can accomplish their mission.”

From the dining room and kitchen to the outside rations warehouse, the Airmen at the Oasis ensure that food security remains their primary mission.

“Each and every Airman here is an extra set of eyes,” said Rahim. “We try to combat disease, illness and pest problems that could be considered a threat.”

“We ensure the [Other County Nationals] are cooking the food correctly and nothing bad is going into the food,” said Senior Airman Sterling, quality assurance. “We also are making sure that customers are doing what they are supposed to do as well.”

There are a few rules that every customer entering the DFAC should be following for different reasons.

“We make sure customers scan their identification card for accountability of food,” said Sterling.

However, the biggest reason for scanning ID cards is so that the DFAC team has a proper way of identifying how many people they feed and ensuring they have enough food for future orders to accommodate patrons.

“We use those numbers when we order food,” said Senior Airman Jovitamaria, Oasis DFAC quality assurance, currently deployed from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and a native of San Diego, Calif. “So if 50 people don’t scan their ID card, our next food order will be smaller. So when people wonder why we fall short on food sometimes, it is because of this reason.”

Another important area of the DFAC is the storeroom, which stores several days of food supplies valued at nearly $200K.

“The storeroom is basically the food distribution center for all of the DFACs,” said Rahim, currently deployed from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho and a native of Hyannis, Mass. “We receive about three deliveries a week containing about $50K worth of consumable products.”

Coming up with a well-balanced meal plan is not something the Airmen at the Oasis decide on their own.

“We actually go by an Air Force recipe,” said Rahim. “There is a 28-day menu in place, which has a small window and a process to get things changed. It is different from the Army, but we are trying to find a good balance.”

The main reason some of the Air Force recipes do not have many of the seasonings we are accustomed to using during cooking is that we don’t have to have a dietician on hand, added Rahim.

“So, to cover ourselves, we go by the standard recipes that the Air Force gives us,” said Rahim. “We are trying to tweak them to make them a little better and not so bland, but it is a process to make any drastic changes.”

At the end of the day, each Airman in the Oasis will say that it is the little things that customers do that make them feel appreciated.

“Seeing people satisfied and saying ‘hey the steaks were delicious’, or just a little feedback is rewarding,” said Rahim. “That is probably the best part, seeing the satisfaction from the product that is served.”

Besides the daily meals served, the DFAC also caters food once a month for units that wish to host their own dinners, as well as prepares a bi-monthly birthday meal for Airmen.

Airmen in the Oasis have also dished out their fair share of accomplishments as well during this deployment.

To date, they have worked side-by-side with the wing protocol office, supporting 60 distinguished visitors ranging from host nation visitors to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, by providing specialized meals.
Additionally, they have had two excellent public health inspections.

“Any other place you usually get a satisfactory,” said Rahim. “It is really hard to get an excellent category so to get an excellent rating from public health means a lot. It all comes down to these [Airmen] actually doing their job and doing it really well.”

“I am proud to be part of the mission here,” said Sterling, currently deployed from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and a native of Saint Louis, Mo. “We get to serve others and our country, making sure they are able to do what they need to do. So I am very honored and blessed to be a part of that.”