Fort Hood Dining Hall earns top award

For the 50-plus soldiers who prepare and serve food for more than 500 diners on an average day at the West Fort Hood Consolidated Dining Facility, earning the post’s top honors for large-category dining facility was a team effort.

“We worked hard for it,” said Pfc. Kaylab Moran, a culinary specialist with 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. “We all had a hand in it — even the people back in the kitchen — we all played a part.”

The dining facility, one of seven across Fort Hood, received the Philip A. Connelly award for best DFAC on Fort Hood during a ceremony hosted by III Corps Aug. 11. The win is the first of four levels, ultimately ending at the Headquarters, Department of the Army level for best DFAC Army-wide. The facility now competes against other installations in the central region, including Forts Bliss, Carson, Riley and Sill.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Kevin Konken, command food service technician in the 504th BfSB and officer-in-charge of the West Fort Hood dining facility, said the award also signals to patrons that it strives for excellence.

“I think it’s important for the diners to see that we’re competing and we’re passing inspections and we’re going above and beyond,” Konken said. “It gives them some confidence that they’re going to get quality.”

Spirited competition among the facility’s culinary specialists, all of whom hold the 92G Military Occupational Specialty, drives the soldiers to constantly prepare their best meal every time, said Spc. Kendall Edwards, a culinary specialist at the facility.

“You don’t want to put out a bad product, because your friends will clown on you a lot, so that motivates you, drives you to put out something good,” Edwards said. “That in turn, motivates them to put out something good.”