EVENTS & FAMILY NEWS
Leatherneck Line
Edited by Mary D. Karcher
Marine Cooking Skills Showcased
The results are in and this year’s Marine
Corps team brought home the gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals in the 33rd
U.S. Army Culinary Arts Competition held
in Fort Lee, Va., March 1-14.
In addition, Gunnery Sergeant William
Allison, enlisted Marine aide to the Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat
Development Command Quantico, Va.,
beat out the military’s best to claim the title
of Armed Forces Senior Chef of the Year.
Compared to their showing last year, and
in true Marine spirit, the cooking “devil
dogs” improved upon a strong performance
and emerged as contenders in a competition usually dominated by the Army. Considering these leathernecks were brought
together by e-mail and telephone calls only
months before the competition, their impressive performance speaks volumes.
“This competition is difficult for us because we don’t have a true culinary team for
the Marine Corps,” said GySgt Dennis
O’Leary, team manager and Marine aide
recruiter. “As opposed to some of the other
teams, we come together for the competi-
tion and once it’s over, we go our separate
ways.”
Even with the coordinating challenges,
the Marines were able to compete with success in almost every category, including ice
carving and field kitchen events. O’Leary,
a member of the ice carving team, said the
Marines’ reproduction of two impressive
eagle, globe and anchor carvings turned
out great, considering they didn’t know
what they were carving until the morning
of the competition. The carvings earned
them a bronze and a silver medal.
In the field competition, they also earned
a bronze medal. “We thought we would do
well in the field competition because that’s
what we do; we feed Marines in the field,”
said O’Leary. “The hardest part was learning to use the Army’s field kitchen units
because they are different from ours.”
The Marines also earned medals in a variety of cold and hot dish competitions.
However, the biggest surprise for this year’s
group of culinary warriors was Allison’s
improvement.
Last year Allison took home a bronze
medal in the senior chef category and was
determined to improve upon that performance. Allison said competing in 13 prior
competitions probably helped him the most.
“I did what I’ve been doing all year for
competitions. I looked at my surroundings
and developed a menu based off of what I
knew I would be able to prepare given the
time and space available,” said Allison, a
Tennessee native and certified Marine chef.
Allison said he was proud of the accomplishments of his fellow Marines and already has started thinking about how the
team can compete in even more categories
next year.
Matthew Montgomery
Public Affairs Specialist, Fort Lee, Va.
MIKE STRASSER
Leathernecks garnered a multitude of awards in the U.S. Army Culinary Arts Competition held in Fort Lee,
Va. Pictured from left are GySgt Andrew Atkinson, GySgt Daniel O’Connell (holding his award for Best in
Class Contemporary Live Cooking Event), Sgt Mark Devera, SSgt Jesse Rogers, SSgt Sonia Luzbert, GySgt
Dennis O’Leary, GySgt Thomas Millican and GySgt William Allison (holding his award for Armed Forces Chef
of the Year). Not pictured, SSgt Charles Hughes.
Marine Parents United To Hold Conference
Marine Parents United (MPU) invites
spouses, parents, children and friends to the
Fifth Annual National Marine Corps Family Conference at the Westfields Marriott
in Chantilly, Va., July 25-27. The event will
include workshops, exhibits, military displays and speakers. With the theme “United
in Freedom,” the conference will focus on
providing education and support to families of those who are serving overseas.
Speakers include author Frank Schaeffer
and clinical psychologist Bridget Cantrell.
Schaeffer has written several books including “Faith of Our Sons—A Father’s
Wartime Diary.” Cantrell’s workshop, titled
“Turning Your Heart Toward Home,” coauthored by Vietnam veteran Chuck Dean,
focuses on military personnel who have
experienced combat exposure or trauma,
family deployment stress, and readjustment
issues after coming home.
For those arriving in the D.C. area early,
tours will be offered July 23 and 24, including visits to Arlington National Cemetery
and the National Museum of the Marine
Corps near Quantico, Va. The popular “
Marine Experience” will continue this year
with an introduction to the Martial Arts
Program, night vision and ISMAT. To learn
what that is, join the tour to Marine Corps
Base, Quantico.
Saturday’s schedule includes the following workshops: “The Dos and Don’ts
for Supporting Your Marine, Soldier and
Yourself”; “PTSD: Recognition, Treatment and Survival Guilt”; “Dealing With
