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COOK AWARDWARD
COOK A

Spirit Drives Competition

MSC Cook Award Motivates Higher Performance

he civilian mariners on the food service teams aboard
TMilitary Sealift Command (MSC) ships have resumes 2017 MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND CAPT.
that include either experience gained during active duty or DAVID M. COOK FOOD SERVICE EXCELLENCE
certification earned from the American Culinary Federation. AWARD WINNERS
These skilled culinary professionals are committed to
culinary excellence, and harness that drive by competing
annually for the Capt. David M. Cook awards to raise the LARGE SHIP
level of performance to an even higher standard. USS EMORY S. LAND (AS-39)
Many of the former service members who choose to Ship’s Leadership – Captain: Douglas Bradley
continue their culinary career path as civilian mariners in Supply Officer: Raphael Cui
the Military Sealift Command are Navy retirees. Chief Steward: Junior Vermont
Whether former enlisted members or commissioned
officers, the seasoned professionals competing for the Cook MEDIUM SHIP
award draw on their years of experience to demonstrate USNS RICHARD E. BYRD (T-AKE 4)
the skills and commitment required to win. Ship’s Leadership – Captain: Lee Apsley
The growing preference for healthy eating, complying Supply Officer: Kelvin Thomas
with changing nutritional guidelines and dietary require- Chief Steward: Danilo Puniesto
ments challenge the civilian mariners to demonstrate ad-
ditional signs of their commitment to excellence for the SMALL SHIP
Cook evaluators. USNS WALTER S DIEHL (T-AO 193)
Judges evaluating teams for a Cook award give a thor- Ship’s Leadership – Captain: William Hartman
ough, detailed analysis to all the culinary teams on ships Supply Officer: Ronald McCann
participating in the competition. Evaluators observe meal Chief Steward: Ricardo Bautista
preparation during breakfast, lunch and dinner, ensuring
compliance with MSC requirements that menus be varied
and well balanced.
As much effort needs to go toward customer service as
to food quality. Ships exhibiting top-quality food prepara-
tion skill and performance, but poor customer service, face
a difficult path to reaching the Cook finals.

OPEN COMPETITION
All MSC ships can compete for the Cook award. Evalua-
tions of each participating ship first determine initial-round
best-of-the-best candidates who go on to the final assessments
where a single, final-evaluation judge identifies the overall
winners. Overall winners are then selected in each of the three
Cook categories: Small Ship, Medium Ship and Large Ship.
When the competition was established in 1992, the
aim was to improve all aspects of food service aboard
MSC vessels. It became named in honor of Capt. David
M. Cook, SC, USN, 10 years later.
Cook was the MSC director of logistics from 1995 to
1998, and is considered a catalyst in improving all aspects
of food service operations aboard its ships. He died in 2002.
Another role of the Cook program is to celebrate the
contribution shipboard food service professionals make to
maintaining morale and fitness to accomplish missions.
To achieve his vision, Cook recommended the menu
comprise restaurant-quality advanced foods to improve
quality of life and instituted programs to ensure that food
service personnel receive up-to-date training to maintain
the quality for the fleet.
Military Sealift Command provides ocean transportation
for the Navy and the rest of the Department of Defense, and
operates approximately 110 ships daily around the globe.
—GFS
GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 2017 53