OKLAHOMA CITY - Sometimes a Soldier’s weapon isn’t just a rifle, sometimes it’s a spatula, and that’s one of the unique weapons of choice for Oklahoma Army National Guard cook and culinary specialists competing in the inaugural OKARNG Culinary Competition held at Camp Gruber Training Center, April 26-27. 

The competition put a team of cooks from across the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team against members of 90th Troop Command’s 903rd Quartermaster Field Feeding Platoon in a battle to be named the best culinary team in the Oklahoma Army National Guard. 

When the final scores were tallied, the 903rd came out victorious. 



“The culinary excellence challenge is intended to promote morale" said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kevin Cline, food service technician for the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and one of the judges for the competition. "Not only does it help them with their morale, but it also helps with their skill level by the spirit of competition." 

Guardsmen participating in the challenge completed a series of tests across multiple culinary disciplines. The two teams were evaluated on nine key areas including food safety, preparation, severability, and troop acceptability. 

The event provided culinary specialist with the opportunity to showcase their skills in field feeding, highlight their part in military operations.  

To test those skills, the culinary specialists cooked not only for competition judges but also for Guardsmen competing in the OKARNG Best Warrior Competiton, feeding the Best Warrior competitors from mobile kitchen trailers similar to providing meals for Soldiers in the field. 

“You got seven warfighting functions and one of those is sustainment,” said Sgt. Maj. Brent Pearce, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the challenge. “As with any warfighting function, any of those can change the course of combat or the ability to win a battle.” 



Similar to the best warrior competition this event helps Soldiers push themselves above and beyond to better their craft. 

"It was an excellent event, we hope to continue this competition in the future,” Pearce said. “Our goal for the state of Oklahoma is to compete at a regional level and then a national level.” 

The future looks bright for the culinary excellence in the Oklahoma National Guard. This competition showed that you can never underestimate the difference a Soldier can make. Whether on the battlefield or in the kitchen, it takes everyone to accomplish the mission.