JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Across the U.S. Air Force food service Airmen work to provide meals for military members wherever they may be assigned. They accomplish this mission in 172 dining facilities on installations worldwide. Airmen receive initial training at Ft. Lee, Virginia where they learn to maintain and operate hotels, restaurants and fitness centers in a 29-day training pipeline. Similarly, U.S. Army culinary specialists train at the same place but for 56 days, focusing specifically on cooking techniques.
Rarely do chances arise for military members in this field to improve their skillsets and their experience beyond the routine tasks that they perform in dining facilities. Since 2023, Master Chef Jeffery Mora, CEO of Food Fleet, a food service management company. and other master chefs from across the nation have come together to help provide an opportunity for those in these jobs to be mentored and taught through events.
During a week in February, Airmen and Soldiers stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, worked together in this joint-forces mentorship event where they prepared and served meals to guests during an Armed Services YMCA event and the 2026 673d Air Base Wing Annual Awards Ceremony.
“A lot of times in our career field, we have to follow procedures, step by step, very strictly,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Alexandria Tyner, 673d Force Support Squadron, production manager. “Here, we can learn from the master chefs and be more experimental with the meals we are cooking.”
This opportunity not only gives military members more technical skills but also encourages them to deepen their passion for the job. It also provides them with credits towards a culinary degree should they decide to further their education and pursue a career in the culinary arts. One of the main aims of the Department of War is to maintain and reinforce the warrior ethos, and in order to do that, personnel need energy to accomplish their missions and that’s where food service Airmen and Army culinary specialists come in.
“This has turned into something special for the Airmen that show up and they learn a lot in a few days…” said Mora, “...They get to learn to do something different every day [outside] of the same [monthly] rotational menu.”
Events like this one are not very common for personnel in the culinary or services career fields to have. Opportunities such as this mentorship can provide invaluable experience that could help further improve the skills of these specialists throughout all military services.