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MILITARY CULINARY AWARDS WRAP-UP

Hill Champs Repeat

II Marine Expeditionary FSS and Mess Hall 227 are Tops Two Years in a Row

arine Corps culinary
Mteams that earn a
W.P.T. Hill award for food ser-
vice excellence celebrate their
victory over competitors, but
repeating as champion in a
category is an exceptional
achievement.
For the second consecu- Col. Scott Baldwin, assistant chief of
tive year, Marines with Food U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Joshua U.S. Marine Corps Col. David S. Owen, staff, G-4 for Marine Corps Base Camp
commanding officer of II Marine Ex-
Whamond, the commanding offi-
Service Company, II Marine cer of II Marine Expeditionary Force peditionary Force Information Group Lejeune, presents the Major General
Expeditionary Force Support Support Battalion, speaks to Marines shakes hands with Marines with Food W.P.T. Hill Memorial Award for best full
food service mess hall to the staff of
with Food Service Company, II MSB,
Service Company, II MEF Support Bat-
Battalion, II Marine Support after being recognized as the best talion, to recognize their W.P.T. Hill Mess Hall 227 on MCB Camp Lejeune.
Battalion, Camp Lejeune, expeditionary food service in the award. This is the second year the mess hall
N.C., is the Hill award win- Marine Corps. (U.S. MARINE CORPS PHOTO BY CPL. AARON has won the award. (PHOTO BY LANCE
CPL. NATHAN REYES, USMC, MARINE CORPS
ner in the Best Field Mess (PHOTO BY CPL. AARON HENSON, USMC, II MA- HENSON, II MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, INSTALLATIONS EAST)
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.)
RINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.)
category.
“The dedication of the Marines in the field mess, their are helping them accomplish whatever the nation is call-
job skills, time and meticulousness, [and] the training they ing on them to do.”
do day-to-day, shows they are being fully trained and are Baldwin expressed his appreciation for the mess hall
dedicated to doing their jobs,” said Gunnery Sgt. Diordane staff and all of its dedication toward the work of the past
Pierrelouis, the food service chief with the unit. two years. “When I ask around,” he said, “nine times out
Food service specialists catalog, cook and supply Marines of 10 Marines say that this is the best chow hall on base,
with food so they have energy to complete their mission so you can imagine that is saying something.”
while in garrison, training and deployed environments. The Major General W.P.T. Hill Memorial Award is earned
“The significance of receiving this award is repeating through inspections of mess hall facilities Marine Corps
what we started for this unit,” Pierrelouis said. “This award wide. There are multiple categories in which a mess hall
details that we do have the best field mess in the Marine can win an award in the competition.
Corps and we wouldn’t have won it twice if we did not.” “This award signifies that you are the best of the best in
During the competition, Marines were graded on cleanli- the Marine Corps,” said John Ward, production manager
ness, preparation, teamwork, recipe compliance, customer three of MH-227. “A lot of man hours and a lot of attention
service, kitchen operations and the quality of the food. to detail by our staff went into winning this award and I
Sergeant Julio Cuellar, the platoon sergeant with the cannot thank my staff enough.”
unit, said the Marines have great leadership, which pushes The majority of the mess hall staff was in attendance at
the food service specialists to do more. MH-227 for the award presentation.
“The Marines themselves are highly motivated, morale “It is an honor to win this award,” said Shellie Duff,
is always high, and it doesn’t take much for them to take Marine Corps food management information operator clerk.
initiative and accomplish the mission,” said Cuellar. “The “There is a lot of prestige that goes along with winning this
Marines displayed their tremendous ability to be versatile award and we have won it twice now.”
and always be on time. They don’t need [to be] pushed With reporting by Cpl. Aaron Henson, II Marine Expedition-
in the right direction because they already have that mo- ary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Lance Cpl. Nathan Reyes,
mentum going.” Marine Corps Installations East

FULL FOOD SERVICE CATEGORY
Mess Hall 227 aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
shares the achievement and distinction of maintaining the
level of performance required to win consecutive Hill awards
by repeating in the Best Full Food Service Mess Hall category.
In a ceremony at Camp Lejeune to present the Hill award,
Col. Scott Baldwin, assistant chief of staff, G-4, praised the
staff of MH-227 for their hard work. The staff of Mess Hall 227 display the Major General W.P.T. Hill Memorial Award.
“You are not just feeding Marines,” said Baldwin. “You (PHOTO BY LANCE CPL. NATHAN REYES, USMC, MARINE CORPS INSTALLATIONS EAST)
16 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • JULY 2018