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Cooks from the Valley visit Andersen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Amanda Morris
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
Team Andersen welcomed a California-based military support group for an overnight visit Nov. 4, 2014, on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Cooks from the Valley is a group of Navy supporters that fly out to different ships and Navy bases to cook meals for the Sailors. The group were on their way to the U.S.S. George Washington but were rerouted to Andersen at the last minute due to storms.

Many agencies on base came together to ensure their short notice visit went smoothly. The 36th Logistics Readiness Squadron, installation deployment readiness cell, coordinates all of the logistical support and facilitates the deployments and reception missions that come through Andersen.

"We are solely a reaction team for the base," said Tech. Sgt. Elias Cervantes, 36th LRS, NCO in charge of deployments. "You come into work ready, every day is unpredictable, and you have to remain flexible."

Cooks from the Valley is a volunteer group of people who donate their time and money to grill steaks for Sailors stationed around the World. The group was founded in 2002 and is based in Bakersfield, California.

The base was notified, with less than 24 hour notice that the Cooks from the Valley were coming to Andersen. The IDRC coordinated a short notice meeting with the reception working group as well as Joint Region Marianas to find out exactly what support was needed. After learning as many details as possible the IDRC made their way back to their office and coordinated logistical support. Later, a second meeting was held to review the plans and iron out the details.

"While we were working on that, the team that had met earlier in the morning were coordinating their individual pieces," said 1st Lt. Scott Engman, 36th LRS, installation deployment officer. "The 36th Force Support Squadron coordinated lodging. Once that was accomplished we were able to coordinate the information into our reception schedule of events so our transportation guys knew exactly where they are taking our guests.

"Because it was so short notice and we had to work so quickly the cooks were very appreciative," Engman said. "They said they received great support and they were very thankful."

"The IDRC did a lot of hard work to make sure this went off with minimal hitches everyone had a big part to play it was a large group effort," said 2nd Lt. Meaghan Crandell, 36th LRS, installation receptions officer.