Cooking for USS Theodore Roosevelt's
5,500 sailors and Marines a tall order
Story and photos by Anthony
Burgos, Stars and Stripes
Petty Officer 3rd class
Proven Jones III stirs a pot of chicken tetrazini . |
ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, in the Arabian Sea — Feeding the 5,500 sailors and
Marines aboard an aircraft carrier is a tall order.
It means almost 18,000 meals every day: More than 4,000 hamburgers, thousands of eggs
and tons of pancakes hit the grill daily. Six dining facilities on the USS Theodore
Roosevelt keep things simmering for its crew, who can grab something to eat nearly any
time of the day.
It’s a tough job, many sailors said, but as long as there are hungry mouths to
feed, they’ll keep showing up to work.
"We are the only source for food, so everyone shops here," joked Petty
Officer 1st Class Thomas Wilson. "We are the supermarket on the sea. If we don’t
have it, they don’t get it."
Wilson, a sailor for the last 15 years, manages the stock for the ship’s 12
storerooms. On this cruise, a commercial supplier in Germany sends food to supply ships,
which deliver it to the Roosevelt.
Tons and tons of supplies.
Cooks use 156,000 eggs in about six weeks, Wilson said. In October, the
Roosevelt’s "mess cranks" served about 35,000 pounds of chicken.
Petty Officer 3rd Class
Obie Sorrel prepares a tray of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. |
"It’s a lot of physical work moving 20 pallets of stock every day,"
Wilson said.
It’s also a lot of work trying to bake for more than 5,000 sailors every day, said
Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Loncto, the most experienced baker on the boat.
Along with the 100 loaves of bread, 2,000 dinner rolls and 1,800 cookies made daily in
one of the ship’s kitchens, the bakers also make the tasty favorites like cinnamon
rolls, pastries and cakes for any occasion.
"Everybody loves me because I make the good stuff," said Loncto, who plans to
retire from the Navy after this tour to knead out a career as a civilian baker.
It is work that, Wilson says, other sailors appreciate.
"The crew loves us," he said. "That makes the job worth it."
While many cooks know their work is appreciated, another group of sailors knows the
importance of their job, even though it’s only noticed when the work is not done.
"We are the unsung heroes," said Petty Officer 1st Class John Freeman, who
manages the 32 people runing one of the enlisted mess decks. "No matter what we do,
we get no thanks."
His crew is responsible for everything from the area’s clean floors and tables to
restocking napkins and condiments.
They mop the floors at least 20 times during a shift, said Freeman, "and
that’s not including spills."
"We can seat about 700 people at a time. Depending on what entrée is served, we
might have to put out seven to eight cases of ketchup in just one evening," Freeman
said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Casiano Atienza Jr., right, and Seaman Greg Greenwood prepare pancakes for the crew. The
two sailors work a 12-hour shift in the Rough Rider Café, the nickname for one of the
ship's mess decks. |
"Just because we don’t get thanked doesn’t mean we can slack off.
Imagine what this place would look like if we didn’t clean up," he said.
"It would be nice if everyone could bring his or her mom aboard to clean up, but
that’s not going to happen. If it weren’t for us, none of those things would get
done."
Petty Officer 2nd Class Larry Cmar has worked in food services his entire 14-year stint
in the Navy, and now supervises one of the work crews.
"Nobody joins the Navy to work here," Cmar said. But almost everyone who
first arrives gets a chance to work down in the galleys.
Newly arrived sailors "volunteer" for two months on the mess decks, Cmar
said. It’s almost like a right of passage.
"I’d say more than 80 percent of the people who work here are temporarily
from other departments," said Cmar, who is the mess deck master at arms.
"It takes a lot to [qualify to] work here," Cmar added. Sailors must pass a
medical screening, take a class on sanitation techniques and work with a senior food
service worker before being left alone on the floor.
Of course, with the job comes certain occupational hazards. The most often seen: rough
red hands.
Sailors and Marines eat a
meal in the Rough Rider Café. |
"It’s not my hands that bother me, it’s how soft my fingernails
get," said Fireman Alvina Crane.
"I hate the heat and steam in the scullery," Crane said as she wiped sweat
from her brow. "After a while it gives you a headache, and you just want to get out
of there."
But even after sailors leave their duties on the mess deck, they all return — they
must come back if they want their "three squares a day."
And for the past 10 years, mess-deck vet Petty Officer 2nd Class William Tippens has
tried to give sailors more than just a meal.
"It’s really tough trying to please everyone," said Tippens, who now
works in the wardroom serving more than 500 officers. "I really try to put a little
bit of home into the meals."
"Everyone has their favorite meals that they miss. We can’t make them all
happy, so I make sure I focus on the quality of the meal.
"We are the first face they see before flying a mission and the first one they see
when they come back," he said. "We give them the energy to perform the mission,
so it’s important for us to be professional."
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