Narrator: When US Army soldiers are on deployment
or running field exercises, they have to eat a lot.
Instructor: You got this burning right here
and no food cooking. Stop!
Narrator: That's where Army culinary specialists come in.
Nicholas Davis: If a unit goes out to the field,
if a unit deploys, well, they've got to eat,
so we're going with them.
Narrator: After completing basic training,
future culinary specialists head to Fort Lee, Virginia,
to train for eight weeks,
where they'll learn how to cook
for up to 800 soldiers in this.
It might not look like much now ...
Davis: Stand clear.
Narrator: But when it's fully assembled,
it has the capability to act as a fully functioning kitchen
that can keep troops fed in the most remote of environments.
Davis: We went from a box on wheels
to a whole freaking kitchen, right?
Narrator: But before trainees cook for
hundreds of hungry soldiers out in the field ...
Correy Fox: That s--- looks like more than five, doesn't it?
Narrator: They have to start with the basics.
Fox: There you go, OK?
Adalberto Campos: Some of them don't even know how to
turn a stove on.
Narrator: Insider spent five days at Fort Lee
observing several classes at various stages of training.
Davis: One of the main things that I like to tell
my soldiers as I'm training them is,
we don't just provide food,
we provide fuel for those personnel
who are on the front line, for the war-fighter.
Fold this side in.
Narrator: 3,000 to 4,000 members of the Army
and National Guard graduate every year
from the eight-week course,
which is broken down into five sections.
First, classroom training on food safety,
sanitation, and nutrition.
Then hands-on training in the techniques of cookery
before moving on to baking cookies, pies, and more.
Next, five days of cooking in the garrison dining hall.
Finally, training culminates outdoors,
with a week of cooking in the Army's mobile kitchens.
Trainees arrive at Fort Lee with varying levels
of cooking experience.
I cooked a lot with my mother.
I have an associate's degree in culinary arts.
I had no experience at all cooking.
Davis: Prior experience is not necessary.
One of the awesome things about our job,
everything you need to know, we can teach you here.
Craig Brown: So, the customer ate it, they got sick.
That's all it takes.
Narrator: Training begins in the classroom,
with two days of instruction in sanitation and nutrition.
Brown: The information that trainees learn is to ensure
that they're cooking good, nutritious food
for the war-fighter.
And then they also learn about safety, sanitation,
how to prevent infectious disease,
how not to transfer and cross-contaminate food,
and then how to provide safe meals.
Leaha Koss: Sanitation is everything.
If your people aren't safe and if you aren't safe,
then the mission can't be completed.
Narrator: Trainees are tested at the end of each
block of training in the form of a 50-question exam.
Brown: We have anywhere from nine to 15
different diseases that they learn.
And then they have to understand which food items
they're found in, how do their practices
impact their ability to be able to spread those
diseases to different customers within those facilities.
Campos: You will go to your stations,
you will put on your hat, and you'll put on your apron.
Narrator: Training moves from the classroom
to the cooking labs during Techniques of Cookery.
Campos: The techniques of cooking is basically
their first introduction to the kitchen.
Some of them don't even know how to turn a stove on,
so that's where I get to teach them
how to use their equipment.
Narrator: But before they start cooking,
trainees need to become familiar with the tools
they'll be working with.
Campos: This first bend in your finger,
this first little knuckle, all right,
this is going to be the furthest point out.
So this is going to be on your knife.
It'll be just like this.
There's a couple methods that I use, like a claw method,
making sure that they tuck their fingertips underneath.
Because in our field, you kind of need your fingers.
You kind of need all of them.
Cube is what? Same size all around, right?
Trainees: Yes, Sergeant.
Campos: All right, so ...
Narrator: Trainees get to see instructor demonstrations
on how to cook certain foods
during their first four days in the labs.
But they won't have that luxury later on.
They'll come up to our front of our stations,
and we'll literally show them how to do it
step-by-step, accordance with the recipe card.
Then they have the opportunity to go back
to their stations and apply what we taught them
how to do that product.
If you don't have rice in your small pot yet,
half a cup of rice.
All you have to do is read your recipe cards, guys.
That is key.
If your beef stew is at a boil,
you're going to put the lid on your beef stew
and then turn it down to a simmer.
I think, in this whole procedure,
if you don't understand how to read a recipe card,
then you're going to fail.
You have to be able to read it step-by-step.
That way you can learn how to do these things and execute.
That s--- looks like more than five, doesn't it?
Trainee: Looks like six.
Fox: Jesus!
There you go, OK?
The hardest thing is probably retaining information,
learning the techniques that we teach them,
and then applying it.
Take your ladle.
You don't want to overkill.
Make it look nice and neat.
Part of your grade is presentation, guys.
Narrator: Once the trainees have completed their recipe,
they bring their finished product
to the back of the cooking lab to be graded
on presentation, technique, and execution.
Fox: We teach them the basics: how to cut, how to slice.
We also teach them how simmer, how to braise,
how to sauté.
And then we teach them about moist heat, dry heat.
All those things, incorporated, get them ready
for what is known as a cook-off at the fifth day.
Don't stress out.
Have fun.
Make sure you have your utensils.
Narrator: During the cook-off,
trainees have one hour to prepare a chef's salad,
green beans lyonnaise, and spaghetti with a ragù sauce,
but won't receive a demonstration
or explicit guidance from their instructor.
Brandon Sparks: Coming in today for cook-off, I was actually
excited because I enjoy cooking. It's fun.
I was a little nervous about what to expect,
you know, unknown,
not knowing if I make a mistake.
Charles Thomas: It was just a whole lot of anxiety,
a lot of nervous thoughts,
and excitement bunched into one cluster.
Sometimes they are scared,
because there is a time that they're timed with,
and also it's just stressful.
And then you've got me watching you around your back
and all that stuff.
Narrator: At the end of the cook-off,
the trainees' dishes are graded on a number of criteria.
They'll be docked points if items are not cut properly,
dishes are undercooked or overcooked,
or if their sauce is not the right consistency.
Fox: The thing that you did wrong was,
it was supposed to be slices, correct? So ...
Thomas: I thought when you meant "slice" ...
Fox: Those are rings.
Thomas: Oh!
Fox: Yeah.
But you did good on everything else.
You overcooked your onions a little bit,
and they're a little bit too big, OK?
A lot of the students did a lot of things right.
The biggest thing is when they do cut-ups,
some of their cuts that they do for these products
are either too big.
Some things that are wrong is they don't drain
all the liquids off of certain individual items.
Presentation is important because it's all about eye appeal.
So when you go to any restaurant
and you serve something outstanding,
that's going to show the people
that you put your flair into it.
You put your own artwork into it.
Sauce looks outstanding. Good job.
Salad, good presentation and good cuts.
All right? So good job.
All the trainees passed all their products today,
so that makes me feel very happy.
It makes me feel like they listened to what I had to teach
and they applied it to everything
that they plated on their presentation.
Thomas: And actually preparing it and seeing actually
how you got all this put into one dish,
it comes out so well, it tastes so good,
it puts a lot of pride in your heart.
[laughs]
Mm.
Sandra Harrison: So, use your rubber spatula to get all that
sugary goodness inside the bowl.
Narrator: Now armed with a foundation
in the techniques of cooking,
trainees move on to baking.
Harrison: Well, you know, everybody has a sweet tooth.
But like I said, we're just not feeding soldiers,
we're feeding civilians too.
So we just make sure we give them a nice
home-away-from-home treat,
and I think everybody deserves that.
When you're putting your sweet-potato-pie mixture
in your shell, ensure you do not get it on the edges,
or it's going to burn.
Everybody tracking?
Remember, get your butter knife.
You will stick it in the center and then pull out.
It should come out clean.
So if not, just put it back in there.
But sometimes, in Techniques of Cooking,
they have trouble in that,
and then they become the best baker in this section
because they know they have to pay attention to detail
and they can't skip any steps.
Erica Simmons: Baking is a science, and if you don't
pay attention exactly, you're going to get it wrong.
Harrison: If we had a conventional oven, yeah,
it would be done, but these gas,
because the heat is coming up from the bottom,
it's taking longer for it to cook around.
Ryan Taylor: I've learned a lot with Miss Harrison.
She's a great cook, great teacher.
Harrison: So, once your fruit pie
and your sweet-potato pie, when they're done,
I want you to put them both on the same sheet pan.
And then we're going to present it
over there by our numbers.
Narrator: Once again, the trainees' finished products
are graded on a number of criteria.
Harrison: For my custard pie, you guys did a real good job.
So, the filling looks good,
so now my eyes is going to the crust. OK?
So that's what's going to sell me.
The crust. Ooh, it's tight.
Who's this? Number six,
number two,
and number seven again.
You did a good job today.
Narrator: The baking module of training
also ends in a 50-question exam and bake-off.
But for now, trainees get to enjoy
the fruits of their labor.
The garrison operations module of training
is a culmination of everything
the trainees have learned so far.
Jerome Fisher: It's the first glimpse of what they will see
once they get to their actual unit after they graduate.
Narrator: Trainees spend five days cooking
in an actual garrison kitchen at Fort Lee,
preparing a variety of food.
Narrator: We observed one platoon of trainees
over the course of several mornings,
which starts at 0500 with what's called a cook's mount.
Fisher: It's accountability for everyone that's supposed
to be on the shift. We're checking for the hair.
We're checking to make sure that it's nice and neat.
We're checking for nail length.
We're checking to make sure that there's no abrasions
or make sure that they're not sick.
Narrator: Once the trainees pass their daily inspection,
they start preparing breakfast.
Instructor: Think about when y'all made cinnamon rolls
upstairs in small-quantity baking.
You're making it the same way.
Operations are a lot more thorough
than what I had expected it to be.
Everybody is assigned to their own station and position,
and whatever doesn't get done in the end,
we pick up the slack, and as a team,
and work together to ensure that
food gets handled out in an orderly manner.
Fisher: Slice the entire ham up, cut it off,
then you remove the ham, right,
and you put it into your third pan. OK?
For the first couple of days,
I look for them to be sort of confused.
They don't know where things are.
They don't know how to turn on certain equipments
and things of that nature.
You want to kind of make it in a straight line, right,
and then remember which ones you laid down first, right?
Come Thursday and Friday,
then that's when the instructors typically take a step back,
and then we kind of let them operate on their own
so we can see if they're grasping the information.
Mousa Dassama: Even though it was stressful,
it was really hands-on, and you got to learn
and experience a lot more things.
And you got to make more meals,
prepare dishes for other people to eat,
not just yourself and your platoon.
Instructor: Thank you very much!
Probably add a little bit of salt ...
Narrator: Trainees head outside for the fifth
and final module of training,
which is focused on field cooking operations.
Instructor: So you're going to alternate your meat
between here and here. You know what I mean?
Davis: The equipment that we teach here
at Field Operations Training Branch,
that's the equipment that we use in the operational force.
Narrator: But before they can start cooking
in the mobile kitchens ...
Davis: On lift, everybody raise it up.
Ready, set, go!
Trainee: One, two, three. On lift.
Narrator: They have to learn how to build them.
Davis: Let me get four up there.
Everybody else, down here on the ground.
So, the mobile kitchen trailer, we can use that
when we got up to 300 personnel to feed,
three times a day, and in basically any environment.
Take a mental note of where everything is, all right?
Because that's how we're going to pack it back up.
Narrator: In addition to the mobile kitchen trailer,
trainees are taught how to build and operate
the Army's containerized kitchen, or CK.
Davis: The containerized kitchen,
that is our largest field feeding platform.
We're going to use our containerized kitchen
more often in a situation
where we've built up some infrastructure.
We have the capacity to feed 800 personnel,
and with our capacity to feed more people,
we can bring more people in to support that area,
to defend that area, and to accomplish those missions.
Chris Truehill: The process of setting up the CK
is very challenging, because there's a lot of
big moving parts.
You gotta watch out for your battle buddies
because there's a lot of things that's unfolding
and spreading out on the CK, so you gotta communicate.
Narrator: Over the course of two weeks,
trainees have to pass a 50-question exam
and demonstrate proficiency with each piece of equipment.
Davis: We went from a box on wheels
to a whole freaking kitchen, right?
Instructor: Y'all made that with love, huh?
Y'all made that with love. That looks good.
Narrator: The final week of training is spent
cooking in the mobile kitchens.
And not just for themselves.
Davis: At any given time, we can have up to
300 or 400 personnel out here on the grounds.
They're going to break down their meals.
They're going to identify how many personnel
they're actually feeding, and then they're
going to actually prepare meals for everybody at FOTB,
not just their group.
Instructor: I specifically told nobody
to turn on the MBU without my eyes on it.
You got this s--- burning right here
and no food cooking. Stop!
Put them on there.
Again, nobody will turn on any MBUs
without me visually looking at you!
Truehill: Learning in a mobile kitchen,
it's been challenging, because it's different.
It's a lot of moving parts. It's a lot of
things that you have to take in consideration.
The aspect that I do enjoy the most in the mobile kitchen
is the closeness I get with my battle buddies.
I could just be like, OK, here's this.
Put this to the side for a minute.
Help them out. Cool.
Spin around, help the next person.
Go back to what I'm doing.
Like, we work as a team.
Instructor: One full scoop of oatmeal,
one full scoop of potato, and one of these.
Davis: In my experience, their response to utilizing
the equipment is by far and away positive.
They like learning, and they like seeing
the fruits of their labor.
Campos: When we go to the field, soldiers are tired.
They're running through missions, they're running
through lanes, and then when they see us,
it's almost like they're not tired no more.
Because they got food. They got nice, hot chow,
and that's just the most motivating thing.
Narrator: According to Fort Lee, about 95% of trainees
who start the course are able to graduate.
Once they do, they'll be assigned to their next unit,
either domestically or at one of the
hundreds of Army bases around the world.
Truehill: Training here has been an experience.
It's been fun. I learned a lot of new things,
cooked in a lot of different elements and environments,
and stuff like that, so it's been great.
Fox: This job is not lower than any other job
that's in the military.
It's just as hard as any other job out there.
When I think about food, it's morale.
When they come out of the field, doing, you know,
crazy things out there, they have a good meal,
a hot meal, and then it makes them just happy
and gives them more energy,
and they're able to accomplish their mission.
Is there meat in there?
Yeah, it's chicken.
Chicken burritos!