By Amber Martin
Garrison Public Affairs Office
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Spc. Billy Lozanovski, culinary specialist, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), prepares the dessert for the five-course meal served at the Food Service Enhancement Course graduation April 13, 2018, at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy. (Photo by Amber Martin)
FORT CARSON, Colo. — The Fort Carson food service program graduated 11 Soldiers from the Food Service Enhancement Course April 13, 2018, at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy.
The two-week course provides Soldiers with advanced culinary training and a ServSafe certification, making them a more valuable asset to the Fort Carson culinary program.
“In order to graduate, the students have to complete several tasks,” said Greg Joell, Fort Carson Food Program manager. “They start off with a sanitation certification course, take different types of food service tests, and learn the difference between the military and industry aspects of the kitchen brigade.”
The menu created by the graduates as their final graduation meal included a five-course meal, which each student served to their chain of command. The meal included Seafood Neuburg soup and a gourmet hamburger with bourbon sauce.
Spc. Tajee Spratley, culinary specialist, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, was the honor graduate of the course.
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Pvt. Denyl Bridges, culinary specialist, 32nd Transportation Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, prepares appetizers for the five-course meal served at the Food Service Enhancement Course graduation April 13, 2018, at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy. (Photo by Amber Martin)
“This course helps a lot because it extends Advanced Individual Training,” said Spratley. “What you may not learn there, you can learn in this course and … better the dining facility you work in. I want to be a chef one day and own my own restaurant.”
Joell and Sgt. 1st Class William “Hunter” Blankenship, culinary specialist and dining facility manager, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), have also been working on reviving the Bridge the Gap program for culinary specialists. The Bridge the Gap program is a U.S. Army program for Soldiers working in food service and was created in approximately 2003.
“I wanted to do something that no other food service program is doing across the Army,” said Blankenship. “The goal is to take those motivated Soldiers who are willing to do more, and give them the opportunity to gain industry experience and receive accreditations from the American Culinary Federation.”
Culinary specialists who are looking to transition from the Army and work in the food industry must have the same accreditations as civilian chefs in order to be successful. The Bridge the Gap program assists these Soldiers with gaining the experience and working toward having the correct credentials.
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Chef Brother Luck, right, owner of Four by Brother Luck and Brother Luck Street Eats in Colorado Springs, tastes the soup Soldiers prepared at the Food Service Enhancement Course graduation April 13 at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy. Graduates of the Food Service Enhancement Course are required to prepare a meal as part of their graduation. (Photo by Amber Martin)
Joell and Blankenship plan to use the program to create partnerships with the Fort Carson food service program and the local Colorado Springs communities’ food service industry. Chef Brother Luck, owner of Four by Brother Luck and Brother Luck Street Eats, is the first local chef to partner with Fort Carson food service for this program. Luck is also a local celebrity, who was a finalist on Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay and he appeared in Chopped and Bravo’s Last Chance Kitchen.
“My brother was a food service specialist in the military, so we always have this conversation about my cooking versus his cooking,” said Luck. “I want to be able to elevate the thought process of running a restaurant and understanding the hospitality industry. It offers a lot of opportunity for Soldiers who decide to finish up their career and get into it.”
Luck, Joell, and Blankenship want to see the Bridge the Gap program develop further in the local community.
The idea is to be able to expand and partner with local restaurants to give culinary specialists the opportunity to learn food service in the industry.
“We want to build something that we would like all food service Soldiers to participate in across
Fort Carson,” said Joell. “Partnering with local chefs and reaching out to different events, going out to cooking competitions, all of that is going to be a part of the Bridge the Gap program so we can ensure food service Soldiers are at the same level as their civilian counterparts.”
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Spc. Tajee Spratley, culinary specialist, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, prepares the main entrée for the five-course meal served at the Food Service Enhancement Course graduation April 13, 2018, at the Fort Carson Culinary Academy. (Photo by Amber Martin)