These food industry experts observed all aspects of the food and beverage experience, from delivery of goods to closing the doors at the end of the workday. Evaluation teams — each including a senior NCO food service expert— visited each installation to evaluate the finalists using an extensive process. Evaluators, known as the Hennessy travelers, started their 60th anniversary tour with an orientation at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Feb. 3 - 5, hosted by Air Force Services Activity Commander Col. Marc Piccolo. AFSVA oversees food and beverage operations across the Air Force enterprise.
Travelers for Region 1 (East)
The team visited Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas; Patrick AFB, Florida; Tyndall AFB, Florida; Hurlburt Field, Florida; Robins AFB, Georgia; and Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The Region 1 team members are:
• Jim Wulforst, an industry consultant and former director of Duke University Dining Services. He has won awards for creativity, customer focus and cost-effective management. He was a traveler in 2002 and 2015 and drew from his Hennessy experience to develop a performance assessment for culinary excellence to use at Duke.
• Mark Freeman, senior manager of Global Services Dining for Microsoft Corp. His award-winning dining program includes innovative café, restaurants, retail complexes, celebrity chef restaurants and hydroponic growing systems. This is his first time as a traveler. “I am excited to learn about the military operations, the protocol and what the Airmen have gone through. I am pumped,” he said.
• Master Sgt. Shaerica Waters, food and beverage manager for AFSVA. She is responsible for Air Force food management policy and procedures training, working closely with the Department of Defense, Air Force Headquarters, major commands and other military services, government agencies and civilian industries. She provides operational and financial support for 261 appropriated-fund food and beverage operations. She was a vital contributor in being recognized for food service excellence at the major command level five times, which led to two Air Force Hennessy Awards.
Travelers for Region 2 (West)
The team visited Sheppard AFB, Texas; Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; Peterson AFB, Colorado; Edwards AFB, California; Travis AFB, California; and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Region 2 team members are:
• Glenn Brady, brewmaster of Silver Gulch Brewery, Alaska, a member of the National Restaurant Association and board member of the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers and its Educational Fund. He was reared working in two family businesses, the restaurant/bar industry and a sheet metal/mechanical contracting business. He has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Alaska.
• Mike McCallum, strategy adviser for the National Restaurant Association. He is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the association and its educational foundation. This is his first time as a traveler. “This is my first time on a military base,” he said during the orientation. “I am thrilled to be here. I am one of the many Americans who couldn’t be prouder of all our men and women in the service and am happy to help them serve all the Airmen.”
• Master Sgt. Joseph Youngs, superintendent of Air Force Food and Beverage Technology for AFSVA. He oversees technology for 544 food and beverage operations worldwide and is responsible for three Air Force-level food automated systems. He was a vital contributor in being recognized for food service excellence at the major command level seven times, leading to four Air Force Hennessy Awards.
Ralph Goldbeck, director/owner of Kitchens to Go, Built by Carlin, was the traveler for Air Force Reserves bases. His company has built emergency response and disaster relief units for the American Red Cross and Salvation Army, as well as feeding units for all U.S. military branches. He visited Maxwell AFB, Alabama; Duke Field, Florida; Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts; and Youngstown Air Reserve Base, Ohio.
Mike Rastrelli, president of Rastrelli’s Restaurant in Clinton, Iowa, was the traveler for the Air National Guard and its SMS Kenneth W. Disney Awards Program. The Italian/American restaurant was founded in 1939 by his parents. Rastrelli is a 1965 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. “Then I got a wonderful letter from Lyndon Johnson and joined the Army. I was able to go to cook school and served two years and enjoyed it. That, I always felt, was my master’s degree,” he said. He visited the 123rd Airlift Wing, Kentucky; 157th Air Refueling Wing, New Hampshire; and the 132nd Wing, Iowa.