Storeroom keeps 380 AEW supplied with food, water

Published April 9, 2014
By Master Sgt. April Lapetoda
380th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Planning a family of four's weekly grocery list on a budget can be a bit of a challenge and, perhaps, a bit of a headache.

Now, imagine planning out the meals, necessary ingredients - from spices to meat items - a month in advance for several thousand people for four meals per day.

The Oasis Dining Facility staff does just that.

"It is important to plan ahead because we want to make sure that our prime vendor has the food items required for our meals," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Mario Delahoz, 380th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron Oasis Dining Facility Storeroom NCO in charge. "We are in a deployed location and the choices are few for substitutions."

The menus are planned a month in advance by the dining facility manager, he said. Once planned, those menus are sent to the storeroom NCOIC at least two weeks in advance. The storeroom NCOIC then makes sure all of the food items are on hand, which includes having meat items ready to be properly defrosted 72 hours in advance.

By planning a month out and the amount of food required to be on-hand in order to feed the base populations, the storeroom's inventory is quite large.

With 510 food items available for consumption at any given time in our facility, maintaining freshness, quality and avoiding waste is very important, said Delahoz.

The key to keeping food items fresh is to rotate the items properly, said Air Force Senior Airman Larry-Travis Lanum, 380 EFSS storeroom assistant. Older items should be moved to the front of storage areas when new items come in and new items placed behind older items.

From making sure there's enough food and water for the entire base to maintaining food quality and freshness, the Airmen who work in the storeroom take pride in their work.

"We are here for the customer and whether we are serving Airmen, Soldiers, Marines or any other coalition forces, I am glad to be able to provide everyone with a good choice of food items," said Delahoz. "We may not be able to get everything the customer requests--but if we can, we get it."