MANAMA, 16 March 2005 — Twelfth-century military leader and English mercenary Sir John Hawkwood’s words “Few victories are won on an empty belly” comes to mind when entering the kitchen of the USS Truman aircraft carrier — which has recently returned to the Gulf waters to take part in Operation Iraq Freedom (OIF).
The 24-hour kitchen serves more than 18,000 meals daily to more than 5,500 sailors, aviators, and Marines stationed on board the nuclear-powered carrier, through four delis better known among sailors as ‘mess halls’.
Feeding the sailors does not come cheap for the US Navy as it spends an average of $45,000 to $50,000 a day to feed the crew of the carrier, which stocks food onboard estimated to worth $2.5 to $3 million.
Sailors can choose from a range of dishes, which include seafood, steaks, chicken or simply hotdogs and cheeseburgers. Servings come also with deserts like freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies, to more exotic especially prepared cakes.
There are separate ‘mess halls’ for officers, but word among sailors is that one can get better food if they know someone working in the kitchen.
The officers ‘mess halls’ are more luxurious, with waiters on hand to serve and wait on the officers.
According to CS1 Michael Smith, who works in Truman’s kitchen and has spent four years in the navy, the cooks on board the carrier can prepare any dish and if they don’t have the recipe they simply log online to get it, and viola the dish is ready.
Smith, from Richmond, Virginia, says sailors working in the kitchen as line cooks can have their service years changed into civil credit enabling them to work in the hospitality industry when they complete their tour of duty.
The USS Truman’s food services division won the coveted Capt. Edward F. Ney Award — annually awarded to the highest performing food service operation throughout the fleet — last month (Feb. 24) for the fourth time.
Between the late October inspection date for the award and receiving it on Feb. 24, the USS Truman had four port calls, celebrated three major holidays, engaged in supporting the Iraqi elections actively, and at the same time served more than 286,000 eggs and 87,000 lbs. of chicken to its members.
The USS Truman is at the heart of the US administration war on terror and one of the US military tools in the region to help in shaping the ‘new Iraq’.
In the run-up to the Jan. 30 Iraqi elections the carrier air wing — which is known as Carrier Air Wing Three and composed of more than 70 fighter jets including F/A-18 Hornets and F-14 Tom Cats among others — increased its sorties up to 30 a day to help coalition troops on the ground and to provided added security to vital installations across Iraq, according to the carrier’s Air Wing Three Cmdr. Capt. Patrick F. Rainey.
Capt. Rainey — who is an experienced pilot with 5,800 tactical flying hours logged — added that in addition to providing support for ground forces in the OIF operation, the air wing was also providing air coverage to protect oil and gas pipelines, power grids, sewage treatment plants and other vital installations, in Iraq against insurgents attacks.
“We also patrol the region to help provide support maritime infrastructure security for oil platforms and shipping and to deter smuggling and terrorist movement,” he said.
Capt. James P. Gigliotti, the Truman’s commanding officer, said that they did not encounter any problems with the Iranians (during their runs near the Iranian coastal waters), describing the naval situation between the two forces as ‘professional’. Capt Gigliotti, added that the USS Truman role in the war effort was part of a bigger role the US Navy is playing in the region to help encounter smuggling and maintain maritime security in cooperation with other US armed forces branches and coalition forces from Britain, France, Italy, Australia, and other countries along with countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Concerning terrorist movement and smuggling Capt. Gigliotti said that they were concerned about any activity that would support the insurgency or the terrorist movements around the world, but would not disclose the kind of these efforts.
“We are trying to gain a picture of terrorist movement in this area of people, material, money, and drugs,” he said.
During the US-led invasion of Iraq, the Truman which was deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, launched 1,280 air sorties, struck 588 targets, and dropped more than 700 tons of explosives on northern Iraq in support of operation OIF.
As for the USS Truman kitchen’s role during the time of the invasion, according to figures issued, it served 210, 741 lbs of chicken, 70, 490 lbs of steak, 51, 302 lbs of hamburger patties, 49, 842 lbs of shrimp, 38, 868 lbs of hot dogs, and 5, 670 gallon of ice cream.