TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- In order to support Air Force readiness, the Berg-Liles Dining Facility provides hot, nutritious, and quality food service to Tyndall Airmen year-round.
A team of roughly 20 Service Airmen and civilians including management, storeroom team, floor management and cooks operate the dining facility to feed the members of Team Tyndall.
“I currently oversee the shift I work and make sure that all areas of the meals are ready to go before we open,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon Norton, 325th Force Support Squadron food services craftsman. “This includes proper use of portion control, menu corrections and food safety for meal preparation.”
The storeroom team orders, inspects, and receives the food and beverages based off the menu cycle and what food items are available through venders. Facility managers take care of the dining facilities schedules and menus are created and adjusted between management and the storeroom team.
“Without my job Airmen wouldn’t get fed,” said Senior Airman Brandon Monacelli, 325th FSS food services journeyman. “We fuel the fight. Without fueling [the Airmen], the mission couldn’t be done and we wouldn’t be the world’s greatest Air Force.”
Demanded globally to provide members of the Air Force with quality food, Services Airmen also play a vital role in maintain a wide array of missions. They aid mission sustainment with a large scope of responsibility and serve as the foundation for personnel on Air Force installations.
“There is so much more to our career than food services,” said Monacelli. “We do fitness and sports management, mortuary affairs and can go anywhere in the world. Versatility is key in our career field.”
With a technical school of approximately 28 days, most services Airmen perform various duties from base to base, all of which are taught through on-the-job training.
“One of the most rewarding parts of the job is the ability to rotate in and out of different jobs as well as being able to see how the squadron itself affects the Air Force as a whole both stateside and [overseas],” said Norton.
Although services Airmen have many responsibilities, they pride themselves on customer satisfaction and supporting the fight from behind the scenes.
“For me, seeing customers smile and making sure quality food gets to them is the most rewarding part of my job,” said Monacelli. “I didn’t choose services, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”