Source: United States Navy
The Carl Scheufele Excellence Award is awarded to carriers with the best chief petty officer (CPO) mess food service operation in the fleet, and the Doris Miller Excellence Award is awarded to the best wardroom food service operation.
Ronald Reagan’s food service is one of the few aircraft carriers to win all three annual awards in the same timeframe.
“I am extremely proud,” said Cmdr. Gene Lattus, Ronald Reagan Supply Officer. “The CPO Mess and wardroom divisions are the best of the best! They work very hard and I’m glad they are recognized for it. These two divisions greatly contributed to RRN’s recent selection as the 2022 CAPT Edward Ney award, a prestigious award given to the best overall food service operation.”
“These awards highlight all the hard work the culinary specialists and food service attendants do for the ship,” said Senior Chief Sukarno Ikbala, leading culinary specialist aboard Reagan. “I’m very proud of my team. It’s a very big accomplishment for any ship to win all three.”
The CPO Mess and Wardroom culinary specialists, along with Sailors temporarily assigned as food service attendants, worked throughout 2022 to maintain the highest level of care.
“It’s a huge honor,” said Culinary Specialist 1st Class Christopher Lowe, the lead petty officer of Reagan’s CPO Mess food service operations during the 2022 deployment. “I’m very thankful for my team. They put in a lot of effort for me, and that’s the only reason we got this award. I’m proud of everything they did and I’m glad they got recognized for the work they were doing.”
Ronald Reagan’s food service division is one of the most diverse onboard and—along with the culinary specialists—consists of Sailors from multiple departments and with specialties far from food-related.
“I’m ecstatic that we won such a distinguished award,” said Chief Master-at-Arms Arely Valadez, mess caterer. “I’m very impressed with our team. The team came from all walks of life. I’m a Master-at-Arms and half of the team was an aviation rating, and we managed to come together as a team to get the job accomplished to make sure the chiefs had a warm, comfortable, and clean place to eat and sleep. That is huge in regards to combat efficiency and readiness. I’m very proud of my team.”
Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region.