As the Air Force pursues a strategy called Agile Combat Employment (ACE), where small teams of airmen launch and recover aircraft from remote locations or austere airfields, one question persists. what do they eat?
While the military often relies on packaged, ready-to-eat meals for nutrients in the field, Air National Guard units around the world are preparing meals made in new field kitchens that can serve hundreds of soldiers in less time. Enjoying a fresh and hot meal. It can handle more types of food and run much more efficiently than its predecessor.
The boxy expandable single pallet expedition kitchen uses just one standard air cargo pallet. Once in place, the two sides fold up to form the kitchen floor, and the tent-like material forms the roof and walls. Two people can complete the process within 15 minutes, the 127th Wing said in his March 7 press release.
“You can cook almost anything with this. It's completely self-contained,” said Tech Sgt. Anthony Reneau, 127th Force Support Squadron (FSS) service craftsman.
Before E-SPEK, the Air Force used SPEK, which required the same amount of space on the same 463L pallet but took four hours and eight people to set up, said the chief. says the sergeant. 127th FSS Service Manager Dawn Porter told Aerospace Forces Magazine. The tent cover was more complicated, and the floor “was like a puzzle,” said William Haig, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and vice president of Babington Technology, which makes both the SPEK and E-SPEK. .
“It can take several hours to set up and get the system up and running, but it takes just as long to disassemble and repack it,” he said. In contrast, E-SPEK requires relatively less assembly.
“Just take your generator outside, bring in your power cable, and literally within minutes you're ready to heat up your appliances and start cooking,” he explained.
On March 7, the 127th FSS tested the E-SPEK and served fresh hamburgers and chocolate chip cookies for lunch at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan, within an hour of preparation. Last April, the Mississippi Air National Guard used it to make chicken, green beans, rolls and more during Southern Strike 2023, a large-scale ACE exercise.
“This gives our members the opportunity to relax at home, get freshly baked cookies, get scrambled eggs or get baked chicken on the go.” Mississippi Sgt. William George, a service specialist with the Air National Guard, said at the time. “You can make everything you normally have at home with this.”
Haig said SPEK was state-of-the-art when it was first adopted in 2003, but E-SPEK has many more features, including griddles, 30-gallon frying pans, convection ovens and heated serving lines. It is equipped with equipment. He features a three-component sink that allows food to be stored for a long time and rotates to save space.
“Now you can use appliances to prepare food as if you were in a kitchen at home or in a restaurant,” he said.
New appliances aren't just about increased convenience; they also reflect changes in Air Force strategy. When SPEK first arrived on the scene, Haig explained, the military needed a kitchen to feed its engineer troops while it built a larger forward operating base. Once the larger permanent kitchen equipment arrives, you can store the SPEK.
It's 2003, near the start of the Global War on Terror, and the military has established vast air bases across the Middle East. But for now, no big kitchens are coming to save the day, as the Air Force prepares small runways that can be quickly packed to avoid missile targets.
“Roast beef, roast turkey, roast chicken, meatloaf, fresh-from-the-pot beef stew — all of those things you couldn't do with the original SPEK,” Haag said, but you can do them with the E-SPEK.
E-SPEK could be useful outside of combat. Earlier this month, members of the Alaska Air National Guard used it in the field during a simulated natural disaster response training exercise.
“Disasters like this create a lot of confusion and you often don't know what's going to happen,” said Sgt. Culinary expert Cua Xiong said in a release at the time. “Our goal is to make life easier and provide food for those affected by disasters like this.”
The two E-SPEKs can be loaded into a standard 20-foot shipping container or transported by air, flatbed truck, or suspended from the bottom of a Chinook or Black Hawk helicopter. can. Sling loading is especially useful when roads are cut off due to flooding, for example due to natural disasters.
Maj. Dustin Eaves, a force support officer with the 186th Air Refueling Wing in Mississippi, said of the E-SPEK's sling loading, “This capability allows us to go to places that regular mobile kitchens can't go by land.'' I can go,” he said. “You can move it where you need it and drop it exactly where you need it.”
However, while E-SPEK itself is mobile, it requires food, water, and gas to make meals. The exact space needed for these ingredients will vary greatly depending on the type of meal, number of meals, and size of the unit being served. You may need a refrigerated shipping container, a dry store container, or a multi-temperature container that is half frozen and half dry store. Last July, the Guam Air National Guard tried to use E-SPEK to feed troops fresh meals, but a water truck malfunctioned and they were forced to rely on MREs for two days.
All kitchens require food and water, but E-SPEK requires about 75 to 80 percent less gas than a comparable generator-powered electric kitchen, Babington says on its website. . According to Haag, one Marine squadron was serving less than 5 gallons of cooked meals (cooked entrees heated in boiling water, not very fresh, but not MREs either) a day. 8 fuel.
Other meals may require more or less power. Mr. Porter, 127th FSS Service Manager, said for the initial start-up of the system he needs 25 gallons and then for a typical he 8 hour day he needs 10 gallons. . But in general, increased fuel efficiency means the Air Force no longer needs to haul large amounts of gas across the Pacific during wartime. Future versions of E-SPECK could be even more efficient: Hague said Babington has developed a way to power the kitchen using a wireless battery powered by a foldable solar panel. It is said to be under research.
To date, 21 E-SPEKS have been delivered to various Air National Guard units, and a 22nd is scheduled to be delivered to Puerto Rico later this month. The first one will be delivered to Hawaii in February 2023, and Haag expects the Guard to purchase about 98 units in total.
More E-SPEKs are likely on the way. In February, Babington announced that the kitchen was developed by AFWERX, a division of the Air Force Research Laboratory, as part of Expedient Basing, an effort to enable technology that can dramatically reduce base setup response time from weeks or months to just hours. It was announced that he had been selected for the “Challenge”. or several days,” he AFWERX says in the challenge description. Its wish list includes “food technology that provides high-quality, nutritious food that can be prepared quickly while minimizing the need for footprint and kitchen equipment.”
E-SPEK selected for AFWERX is now eligible for Commercial Solution Opening (CSO) procurement, allowing Department of Defense organizations to contract directly to Babington without the need for competitive bidding or solicitation over the next 12 months. The company explained that this means that it is possible to conclude a
