Catering Flight 2021 Achievements

SAC Piya Phuttharaksa & SAC Joe Northover were deployed on Ex. CLOCKWORK in Bardufoss, Norway. They provided catering support for the Extreme Cold Weather Training led by the Marines. They worked alongside Army & Navy chefs feeding up to 180 pax for a month.

SAC Prem Lama challenged himself to run 160km over the 28 days of February, averaging 5.7km a day. He completed his challenge completing 202km and raised £211 for Bone Cancer Awareness.

Cpl Katie Coley deployed to Al Udeid, Qatar, for a 4-month tour as accommodation manager. During her time, she kept busy, completing various sporting challenges such as 5k Fun Run & 24hr spin-a-thon.

During her time deployed to the Falkland Islands, SAC Stephanie Pye organised and completed 12 Hours of Hell Charity Event. 12 gruelling workouts in 12 hours consisting of boxercise, spinning, sweat box etc. raising £400+ for Cancer Research.

Three of our SAC Chefs had their recipes selected and printed in the first Royal British Legion Cooking for Heroes Cookbook. This cookbook celebrates 100 years of the Royal British Legion, an organisation close to the Armed Forces. SACs Prem Lama, Connor Mackie & Phoebe Mitchell’s recipes were selected to represent their home regions. This is a huge achievement to be selected out of hundreds of entries.

Throughout the year and all the uncertainty of COVID 19, all of us were presented with a range of new challenges. SAC Vivienne Buinimasi stepped up to a new role, tasked into the newly set up Covid Cell. She was responsible for compiling data, presenting up to date statistics and ensuring high ranking officers were in the know of all potential outbreaks and cases. Her hard work was recognised, and she was awarded the Professional Excellence Award.

9 members of Catering Flight took part in a 100km Charity Bike Ride for RAFBF. The ride was challenging, on and off road in 30?C heat. The full team pushed through the pain, one fancied a dip in the picturesque Basingstoke Canal, but all returned home unharmed completing the challenge. They raised a whopping £826 for the RAFBF.

SACs Connor Mackie, Prem Lama and Phoebe Mitchell attended Bournemouth Air show to promote the Royal British Legion Cooking for Heroes Cookbook. They supported 3MCS and engaged with the public, showing their deployed catering skills, and speaking about their experiences whilst serving.

SAC Stephanie Pye and Cpl Ed Horsman participated in the annual Health & Wellbeing Week with different classes over 3 days. They showcased their skills and knowledge with live cooking demonstrations, had a professional nutritionist speak and gave a presentation on diets specific to job roles and taskings.

The Catering Section started a project to update and make better use of the space outside the Section HQ. They put a bid in for benches, flower bed planters and fence panels, utilising the skills and knowledge to produce a calming, quiet space. This will be a haven to relax, get some fresh air and enjoy the outdoors away from office compounds. The Sensory Garden was completed towards the end of 2021, and we look forward to enjoying it throughout the summer.

Four chefs detached to RAF Leeming to support Ex. COBRA WARRIOR. Cpl Tom Douch, SACs Jess Murfin, Phoebe Mitchell & Jay Rai set off for two weeks working alongside 3MCS and two chefs from to RAF Benson. They provided catering support for 184 JHC pax, keeping up with delayed mealtimes due to tactical training and night flying missions.

October saw SACs Stephanie Pye, Richard Croucher and LAC Tadala Kwelepta deploy on Ex BROKNCLOCK. This is the predeployment training for Ex.

£211 RAISED FOR BONE CANCER AWARENESS

SAC Prem Lama

£400+ RAISED FOR CANCER RESEARCH Cpl Katie Coley, 4-month tour to Al Udeid Bournemouth Airshow

Ex COBRA WARRIOR

£825 RAISED FOR THE RAF BENEVOLENT FUND

CLOCKWORK, a cold weather training exercise in the UK. They fed 10 pax from Force Protection Training Section for the duration of the exercise, producing menus each day and sourcing fresh produce. The trainees were on 24hr ORP.

Two of our own were selected to assist in high profile events at Chequers Residence. First was the Air Force Board 81st Commemoration Sunset Ceremony & Dinner. Front of House SAC Charlotte Manningham aided staff with the set-up, parking duties, wine service, clearance and tea and coffee service. Second the prolific Centenary Dinner, celebrating a century of Prime Ministers living at Chequers. Chef SAC Connor Mackie assisted in the execution of the dinner alongside the resident chefs of Chequers, using fresh produce from the Estate Gardens. Both mentioned how honoured they felt to be part of such commemorative events.

In November SAC’s Phoebe Mitchell and Danny Perkis detachment on Ex. FALCON AMARENTE in Septfonds, France. They worked alongside British Army chefs feeding up to 300 personnel at a time. During their three-week detachment, they were offered to participate in a Remembrance Parade with the British and French Armies. In December, SAC Connor Mackie deployed to Bardufoss, Norway on Ex. CLOCKWORK. He was participating on the Extreme Cold Weather Training, consisting of 5 nights outside constructing shelters, alpine Skiing, Avalanche drills, igloo building etc. The average daily temperature is -26?C, with less than 1 hour of daylight per day. The last training objective involves an ice plunge, carrying a bergen with a Jerry can and stepping into a hole in a frozen over lake, the trainees must be able to control their breathing in the sub temperatures and get themselves out without assistance. The 10-day training course is directed by the Marines and is both mentally and physically challenging, but overall, incredibly rewarding. Beautiful surroundings and an opportunity to see the Northern Lights.

SAC Phoebe Mitchell - Ex FALCON AMARENTE

SAC Danny Perkis - Ex FALCON AMARENTE

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