POD provides convenience

The Provisions on Demand resides in Building 16710 on the flight line at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 6, 2016. The POD is available for everyone with flight line authorization and can be paid for with essential-station messing cards. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Christopher R. Morales)

Airmen shop at Provisions on Demand, a satellite dining station, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 6, 2016. The POD is available for everyone with flight line authorization and can be paid for with the essential-station messing cards. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Christopher R. Morales)

POD provides convenience

A customer retrieves a container of carrots and celery at the Provisions on Demand, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 6, 2016. The POD was created through the Food Transformation Initiative intended to supply Airmen with more and healthier options similar to campus-style dining. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Christopher R. Morales)

POD provides convenience

Published May 12, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Christopher R. Morales
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is recognized as a strategic air base, able to reach any location over the Pacific Ocean at a moment's notice when mission dictates. This is achieved through the hard work of everyone on the ground as well as the sky, but who works well on an empty stomach?

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson provides hot meals and more for anyone with flight line access through Provisions on Demand.

"Any one working on the flight line has that critical job where they need to be in place so it may be difficult for them to leave the flight line to get a hot meal from the dining facility," said Air Force Master Sgt. Krista Kotz, Iditarod Dining Facility manager. "This was set up when the Food Transformation Initiative came out, as another option to bring meals to the flight line instead of them leaving the flight line to come to the dining facility."

The small satellite platform is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Building 16710. The Iditarod Dining Facility delivers food to the POD three times a day following a 28-day menu, providing a breakfast, two lunch options, and a dinner.

"The best way to describe it is [as] a high-class flight line Shoppette; not only does it provide meals, but it is also a retail operation," said Michael Thorton, Iditarod Dining Facility assistant manager.

Customers can pay for food with the essential-station messing cards, but anyone with flight line authorization can purchase food.

"[The POD] has more options, healthier options, hot food readily available," Kotz said. "The concept behind FTI is to provide more and healthier options, so they replaced candy with fresh fruit, vegetables, yogurt, and salads."

The POD normally feeds approximately 200 people a day, but when Red Flag and Unit Training Assembly weekends bring more people, the Iditarod Dining Facility increases production by 25 percent to compensate, Kotz explained.

No matter the situation, POD employees consistently provide a service that enables flight line workers to conveniently access a 'grab and go' meal, allowing them to get back to the work as the mission dictates.