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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (December 4, 2008) - While
those deployed may not be able to spend the holidays with their
families, their military family will embrace them with their own
holiday cheer.
Deployed troops are greeted with extravagant feasts, along with
the accompanying festivities during the holidays, with spreads that
would make the most sizable holiday family dinner pale in
comparison.
"It's a big process," said Lenny Petruccelli, Agility Defense
and Government Services Vice President. "In August we started
sending alerts to the dining facility managers to start ordering
for the holidays."
Agility is contracted to supply food to the bases in Kuwait and
Iraq year round. Dining facilities go all out to make the troops'
holidays as enjoyable as possible, therefore Agility made
preparations in advance to accommodate their needs.
"Agility is an integral part in supplying food to the troops,"
said Chief Warrant Officer Raymond A. Patrick, 1st Sustainment
Command (Theater), Command Food Advisor. "They store all the food
for Kuwait and Iraq, plus they truck the supplies to the
bases."
Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, the Defense Logistics Agency
division that contracts Agility's services, supplied dining
facilities overseas with millions of dollars worth of food,
including more than 370,000 pounds of turkey and nearly 180,000
individual pies during Thanksgiving alone.
"I wore a uniform for 27 years so I know the dining facility is
your space to unwind a few minutes," said Petruccelli, a retired
Air Force colonel. "The holiday meals are so important because it
is something from home that we can actually bring to the
Soldier."
Petruccelli said Agility made every effort to provide the best
food for troops deployed during the holidays, like whole turkeys
instead of a processed substitute.
"They had everything anyone would want, except fried turkey,"
said Spc. Kelly M. Vanburen, a signal support specialist for 1st
Sustainment Command (Theater), about the Thanksgiving meal. "They
really went all out."
Brig. Gen. Harold G. Bunch, Deputy Commanding General, 1st TSC,
had an opportunity to visit a few bases during Thanksgiving, and he
was very pleased.
"They had sparkling ciders, eggnog, carving stations and table
decorations," said Bunch. "Those involved really went above and
beyond to make the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines here feel
special. I know the Soldiers enjoyed the extras."
The extra touches were noticed and appreciated by both the
troops and the commands, but those extra touches took time to
coordinate.
"We try to deliver holiday food and decorations a couple weeks
before in case there are any extra needs," Petruccelli. "They can
have a great Christmas meal, which is important to us. We do this
to make the [servicemembers] lives as enjoyable as possible."
To do that Agility coordinated the extra supplies into their
already heavy truck schedule, which moves 100 to 120 trucks into
Iraq daily, some of which take as long as 12 days to reach their
destination.
"You actually end up anticipating the holidays even though
you're deployed," Vanburen said. "They make a big event out of it,
and you can see how much work was put into it all."
Petruccelli feels that the effort they put in to making the
troops' holidays better is worth it.
"The food is only a small part of making the holidays special
for Soldiers, along with the religious services and people coming
to show their support with the USO," Petruccelli said. "But the
part we play we want to make sure is done as good as possible,
because the troops deserve it."
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