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peted in the rounds leading up to the announcement of winners. Overseeing
the evaluations was Philip A. Connelly program officer Chief Warrant Officer
4 Charles H. Talley Jr., special programs directorate at the Quartermaster
School’s Joint Culinary Center of Excellence (JCCoE).
Talley praised the winners for the recognition they earned by meeting the
Connelly’s strict judging standards. “The four winning teams were spot-on
with their execution and intent,” he said. “Their training effectiveness and
efficiencies led to the end results.”
He was also impressed with the degree of individual effort revealed in this
year’s competition, especially at the lowest level. “Our most precious resources
are our young culinary specialists,” he said. “We saw support at every level
affecting the training and development of those soldiers in a way that con-
tributed to the overall success of their operations.”
Talley considers individual soldiers the foundation of success in how din-
ing facilities operate from a management perspective, and that the pride and
spirit evident in their performances this year signals continued improvement
in the future.
He congratulated all the food service operations in this year’s competition,
commended their contributions to mission readiness and recognized that the
culinary specialists understand that there is more to competing in the event
than simply receiving an award.
“At the end of the day, they want to be the best of the best,” he said. “It’s
not thinking about a trophy or we get to go to the awards ceremony. They
want that label of knowing they are the best of the best, and that’s what the
Connelly program represents. It is the epitome of what culinary excellence
should be.”

PROMOTING READINESS
The Connelly program promotes food service readiness while supporting
commanders and their missions by focusing on management practices, cus-
tomer service, accountability and sustainment operations.
Teams compete for Connelly awards in four categories, each recognizing
accomplishments in meal production, whether working in high-volume gar-
rison dining facilities or demanding, rugged field kitchens.
As Connelly judges stood by with notepads in hand, making notes and
exchanging comments, culinary specialists with the 536th Brigade Support
Battalion (BSB) at Camp Bullis, Texas, worked in a tight Mobile Kitchen Trailer
under the central Texas sun chopping salad, grilling potatoes, boiling beans
and frosting chocolate lasagna.
The team was competing to represent Region V at the national level of the
Philip A. Connelly award. “The Texas National Guard is one of the final four
at the Department of the Army level competing for the No. 1 culinary team
for the National Guard Bureau,” Chef Roman Davis, Connelly Award judge,
said. “So, it is a tremendous honor and testament to the soldiers’ skills that
they have made it to this level.”
Evaluated on everything from site security, field sanitation, hygiene, food
safety, proper cooking techniques, site layout and hospitality, the Guardsmen
have made their way to the nationals by winning the state and National
Guard Bureau Region V level competitions. For Spc. Maria Foust, a culinary
food specialist with the 536th BSB, this is more than just bragging rights.
“Making it this far in the competition means we must be doing something
right,” Foust said. “Everything we do is aimed at feeding our company and
our soldiers, so if the quality of our food is good then they are going to feel
good when they’re out training.”
Outside the National Guard, Foust is a part-time nursing student and
full-time mom who made time to prepare for the competition at home. “I
practiced making my product, the chocolate lasagna, with my family,” she
GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 2017 45