349th MAS Supports Patriot Defender

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jon Mueller
  • 349th Memorial Affairs Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Senior Master Sergeant Daryl Flanders of the 507th Security Forces Squadron, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., tried his hand at serving dinner to his comrades from the 507th and the 301st SFS, Carswell AFB, Texas,  as he assists 349th Memorial Affairs Squadron services troop, Airman Basic Danielle Santiago.

Nine members of the 349th Memorial Affairs Squadron provided hot breakfast and dinner meals for reserve security forces attending Patriot Defender training in Mineral Wells, Texas, at Fort Wolters Military Reservation Dec. 4-19. Patriot Defender is a 15 day Air Force combat ground skills training course for active duty and reserve security forces.

For the past decade we have been diligently fulfilling our primary wartime mission at the Dover Port Mortuary. Recent mission changes have caused us to significantly increase our focus on our food, lodging and fitness missions. At Fort Wolters we put our dormant skills to the test. The mission is designed for ten services members to land and expeditiously establish a fully functioning dining facility insuring they have the necessary rations, storage, guidelines and trained personnel to support their fellow security forces airman by providing hot meals during their rigorous training.

Tech. Sgt. David Hernandez, our team leader, readily took advantage of our time there by providing excellent training in the following areas: personnel and food safety, sanitation, inventory management, cooking techniques and knife skills.

As a cross-trainee who's primary responsibilities are in the logistics arena, this experience was definitely stepping out my comfort zone because skillful contributions from every team member was absolutely vital for our success.

Tech. Sgt. Gary Charles, former security forces member, said, "It is nice learning how much work is put in behind the scenes to support them."

Senior Airman Derek Salvador, who is one of our more seasoned Airman in the kitchen, stated that he liked learning something new every day. Some common themes in the feedback I received from my team members concerning the mission were their enjoyment in learning new cooking skills, the camaraderie and the appreciation they received.

We kicked off the event the first night with the main menu items of steak, hot chicken wings, baked potatoes and peas and closed with Sangria holiday ham, lemon baked tilapia, mashed potatoes, gravy, greens and brownies.