Petaluma Chief Perkins (instructor) and Ron

It’s 4:30 in the morning and I’m running in the dark, through the woods with a group of 19-20 year old active duty Coast Guardsmen, thinking, “how is this going to teach me to cook?”  What an introduction to the Coast Guard’s Food Service “A” School, but it was the start of a great adventure.

For the last several years, I have been augmenting as a cook at Coast Guard stations and on cutters in the 5th District.  Because I love to cook and have experience cooking for our own bed and breakfast, I volunteered for the cook’s duty as a way to help relieve the active duty personnel.

I had attended the first LAMS (Leadership and Management) course at the Training Center (TRACEN) in Petaluma, CA so I knew about its culinary school.  It became my goal to attend the school to better prepare myself to cook for the Coast Guard.

With the support and encouragement of our local leadership, I submitted my Short Term Training Request to our Director of Auxiliary.  Our District Training Officer (OTO) took on the challenge of convincing the Food Service “A” School that a middle-aged Auxiliarist could meet the requirements and should attend the school.  After several months of negotiations, I was approved to attend; I just had to shave my 40-year-old beard.  I did that happily.

Petaluma class picture

On January 27, 2006, I reported to TRACEN Petaluma to begin the 12-week “A” school.  There was 3 weeks of classroom work covering all of the fundamentals of cooking and food safety.  One of the tasks was learning to convert recipes quantities (100 to 50 and stuff like that) something that will be very handy.  

We then shifted to the “Upper Galley” with more hands-on training.  One of the highlights of this session was being a member of the team that prepared a meal for Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O’Hara.  Bake Shop training was fun, baking everything from biscuits to crème brulee.  I received a great compliment when some of my baked goods went down to the main mess. 

Finally, our class spent two weeks in the main mess cooking 3 meals each day for 700 personnel.  I cooked everything from omelets to soups to main entrees. For my last meal there, I cooked 193 pounds of pot roast.  Luckily I didn’t drop the trays.

I got along with the young Coast Guardsmen, earning the nickname of “Pops”.  They taught me to bowl and shoot pool.  Unexpectedly, I found myself as mentor and advisor to the rest of the students.  The instructors were appreciative of this role.  One thing about the school that no one mentioned before I got there was all the marching, which always seemed uphill.

Graduation day came on April 21.  Our entire class of 18 graduated which was an accomplishment.  The Command Representative gave me a special acknowledgement in his comments.  I was very proud and honored when they called my name and presented me with a certificate showing that I was officially a Coast Guard Food Service Specialist.  Wearing the Coast Guard chef’s jacket was and is a real privilege.

Attending the Food Service School is a highlight of my Auxiliary career.  I look forward to using my new skills to help the morale at stations and cutters by providing good meals for all hands.

-SK