Star Military Chefs Get CIA Training

During a week-long Armed Forces Forum for Culinary Excellence recently put on by the CIA and the National Restaurant Association at the CIA's Greystone campus, 32 member of the military’s food service units learned everything from the art of poaching to the right and wrong ways to crack an egg, reports the Napa Valley Register.

Each branch of the military holds an annual competition to honor the most talented members of their food service units, then partners with the NRA and other industry groups to determine “the best of the best.” The NRA’s Military Foundation then sponsors CIA training for honorees, who are mostly from the Air Force and Marine Corps, with a few members of the Navy. The Navy, Army and Merchant Marines have a separate program to honor their food service personnel.

The program is designed to improve the quality of the food served in mess halls around the world while providing the cooks and chefs with advanced skills that will help them land good jobs in the foodservice industry when they leave the service.