Gowen Field, Idaho (October 4, 2020) Enlisted Services Airmen from the 124th Fighter Wing spent drill taking inventory and cleaning the unit’s Single Pallet Expeditionary Kitchen while also highlighting its unique mission for the state of Idaho and the greater Pacific Northwest with another functional mobile kitchen, the Disaster Response Mobile Kitchen Trailer in Boise, Idaho, October 4.
The SPEK’s primary function is to be deployed out of a C-130 Hercules in remote locations to serve as a fully functional, forward-operating kitchen for deployed Airmen.
“In Puerto Rico, when they had the hurricanes, the National Guard Bureau deployed various SPEKs to different states to help cook and supply food,” said Master Sgt. Scott Ross, who oversees management for base enlisted services. “This training ensures we’re both organized and ready for this to be in the field.”
Unlike the SPEK, the DRMKT is a towable, mobile kitchen unique to the Air National Guard, designed exclusively to support state and regional missions, as well as natural disasters. Most recently, the 124th’s DRMKT was deployed in 2017 to the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana to feed troops as they built houses for the reservation’s residents.
“The mobile kitchen is equipped to feed 2,000 people per meal or 6,000 people per day,” said Tech. Sgt. Audenne Valdez, dinning facility manager for enlisted services. “This equipment is unique to the Air National Guard because, unlike active duty Air Force, part of our mission is to support local natural disasters.”
DRMKTs all across the country, to include the 124th’s kitchen, are being cleaned prior to being sent to the manufacturer to be retrofitted and updated to better serve those impacted by natural disasters.
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