JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Members from the National Restaurant Association and the Air Force Services Activity evaluated Freedom Hall Dining Facility Feb. 20-21, as part of the 59th Annual Hennessy Trophy Award Competition.
"This is our second year in a row being nominated for the Hennessy Award," said Honre Batie, Freedom Hall DFAC food service officer.
Joint Base Andrews was the fifth stop on a world-wide tour, competing with six other bases in Region 1, with five more competing in Region 2.
The three evaluators, two civilian and one military, assessed five categories including kitchen operations; serving and dining operations; training, personnel, and readiness; sanitation, repair and maintenance; and management.
"This is a prestigious award given to the best food service program in the Air Force," said Senior Master Sgt. Melody Goitom, Air Force Food & Beverage superintendent at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.
As an evaluator, Goitom is also looking for customer service, management and senior leadership involvement in the food service operation.
"The leadership is always supportive and we have hard workers here to assist with day to day operations, making sure everything is done according to guidelines," said Batie.
Col. Bradley Hoagland, 11th Wing/JBA commander was there to support. With a variety of meals to choose from he selected to have the lobster and filet mignon meal.
"This is the best lobster I've ever had in any DFAC in 25 years," said Col. Hoagland.
On Feb. 20, NRA evaluated the first-quarter birthday meal, which offered lobster tail, fried shrimp, filet mignon, baked tortellini and more. The next day, they offered Asian bourbon chicken, beef and vegetables, over noodles, crispy baked chicken and smoked pit ham.
The staff responsible for the plethora of food options consists of 55 contractors who maintain the dining hall.
"The staff is amazing and they're always friendly when you come here," said Master Sgt. Andrea Campbell, 11th Security Forces Squadron first sergeant.
According to Batie, customer feedback is consistently positive.
"By far, we have the best DFAC. Our facility serves over 700 meals daily and over 50,000 boxed meals a year so, hopefully, we've impressed them," said Capt. Kelly Hiser, 11th Force Support Squadron Sustainment Services flight commander.
The Hennessy award was named after John Lawrence Hennessy, a special food consultant, who served in a variety of government positions during World War II, promoting food quality and improving management efficiencies. His contributions earned the respect of President Dwight Eisenhower.
In, 1943, Eisenhower appointed him as the chairman of the War Food Committee to develop food service systems capable of sustaining millions of military personnel involved the war effort.
One of Hennessy's recommendations to the food service field was to encourage the military services to adopt a program of food service competition, inspire better management, and command support of food service.
"There will be an awards ceremony held for the winners in Chicago," says Batie. "I predict that we'll win this year."
The winners will be announced in May. For the announcement, please visit the JBA's Facebook page.