High turnover: an Air Force dining team trains new cooks with station maps and peer coaching
The Aramark Salute Hospitality team at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas feeds 700 to 800 customers a day while training airmen who may arrive with no culinary experience. Executive Chef Bradley Myers starts from each airman's strengths, begins with safety training and a customer service program, then replaces recipe binders with station maps and step-by-step mise en place lists. Experienced airmen coach newer ones. General Manager Carlos Chavez estimates the team has been "probably 95% different people every time we've competed," yet it won the 2026 John L. Hennessy Trophy as the top dining facility in Air Force Region 1 among 34 installations.
Why it matters for directors: Any operation with constant turnover can borrow this: simple station maps and peer coaching keep standards steady when most of the crew is new. Try replacing one recipe binder with a one-page station map and prep list this month.
Original source: FoodService Director ↗