Army Reserve Field Hospital Team Brings Nutrition Expertise to Connelly Competition

FORT McCOY, Wis. — The smell of food cooking in a containerized kitchen at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, may sound like an ordinary Army field-feeding operation, but the Soldiers preparing those meals during the Philip A. Connelly competition Aug. 25-26 brought a different perspective to the mission.

They were 68M Nutrition Care Specialists representing the 311th Field Hospital team, bringing their training in nutrition and patient care into an Army competition designed to test field-feeding readiness.

“I believe it's important that the field hospital competes in these, alongside the 92Gs, because we don't get as much representation,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Deltann Pape, a 68M Nutrition Care Specialist assigned to the 256th Field Hospital. “A lot of people have misunderstandings of what our role is.”

The Philip A. Connelly Award is the U.S. Army's oldest logistics readiness award. Established in 1968, the annual competition evaluates field-feeding teams on food preparation, nutrition, sanitation, safety, tactical site operations, administration, convoy operations and equipment readiness.

For Pape and the other 68Ms on the 311th Field Hospital team, the competition demonstrated that their role extends beyond preparing meals for Soldiers.

“The difference between the 92G Culinary Specialist and a 68M Nutrition Care Specialist is we do attend 92G school, but also go to further training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to learn more about the actual nutrition components of the food,” Pape said.

That additional training prepares 68Ms to support patients with specific dietary needs while also supporting the nutritional needs of Soldiers in the field.

“In a field setting, we provide the patient trays to the hospital,” Pape said. “So if they have a patient who can only have a blended diet, we work with our dietitian to provide a meal for that person.”

The same nutritional focus carries into field operations.

“We are able to provide that to them and make sure that they are taken care of in any way possible, while also providing any tips and tricks while we're out in the field, making sure people are getting the proper nutrition that they need,” Pape said.

That connection between nutrition and readiness was evident throughout the competition.

During the first phase, the team conducted briefings, convoy operations and equipment inspections before establishing its containerized kitchen and food sanitation center. The second phase tested the team's ability to execute the feeding mission, from preparing and serving meals to maintaining accountability and documentation and providing patient trays.

Pape said the team also had to adapt quickly because its members came from different units, including those within the 256th, 325th, 921st and 311th field hospitals.

“The most challenging part of this competition has been the fact that we are all from different units,” Pape said. “One of the biggest parts of being in the military is being able to work with different counterparts and being able to still get the mission completed.”

“It was definitely a lot of learning and adapting and overcoming,” she said. “We just about every day had some bumps in the road, but we all worked together. We stayed calm and we found a solution to that.”

For Spc. Pedro Machado, a 68M Nutrition Care Specialist assigned to the 311th Field Hospital, the competition brought together Soldiers with different experiences and areas of expertise.

Machado said he chose the 68M career field because it aligned with his background in nutrition, including a master’s degree in exercise physiology and experience as a strength coach.

“I have that background and that passion to make others better, whether it be teaching them how to eat better or perhaps providing them a better quality of foods so that they can be the best that they can be,” Machado said.

Machado was responsible for preparing salads and vegetables during the competition. He said the experience also reinforced how quickly Soldiers from different units can combine their knowledge and experience.

“Even though we come from different units, we were trained by the same professionals,” Machado said. “And now we can just come together as a unit, as a whole, as a team.”

“In just a few days, we're able to bring our own experiences and our own expertise together and be able to do what the competition was asking for,” he said.

For Pfc. Samantha Gray, a 68M Nutrition Care Specialist assigned to the 421st Medical Detachment, 311th Field Hospital, the competition provided a first-year Soldier with an opportunity to put her training into practice.

Gray had only been working in her MOS since December 2025 and had been in the Army for about a year when she was selected to participate.

“I just relearned everything that I was taught,” Gray said. “But, first-hand experience of how to actually use it instead of reading it from a book.”

Gray was also selected as the person in charge, or PIC, of the containerized kitchen.

“I was the only one with a ServSafe manager's license,” Gray said. “That's how I got that role as PIC,” which qualified her to oversee the kitchen's operation.

Despite being the team's most junior Soldier, Gray said the experience gave her the opportunity to lead while learning from more experienced members of the team.

“They're just bouncing knowledge off of me and they're like, ‘So this is how you're going to do it,’” Gray said. “I was like, ok. and that's just how it was. It was a big learning experience for me.”

The competition also demonstrated how nutrition supports more than physical requirements.

Pape said the team considered morale when selecting and preparing the menu, even while working with the limitations of unitized group ration, heat-and-serve meals.

“The biggest part with the food is it really is that morale boost,” Pape said. “So it keeps energy high. It keeps people in the hospital motivated to continue working those long days, those long hours, while again still getting the nutritional value that they need to continue the mission.”

For Machado, the work behind the serving line is easy for customers to overlook.

“Some of them don't get to see what happens in the background,” Machado said. “It's a lot of hard work.”

However, the result is what matters.

“I’m most proud that we were able to put a product out in a short period of time that was a quality product and up to the standards that the Army sets forth,” Machado said.

For the 311th Field Hospital team, the Connelly competition was an opportunity to demonstrate that nutrition care remains part of the Army's operational mission whether supporting a patient with a specialized diet or helping sustain Soldiers through long days in the field.

Editor’s note: The Philip A. Connelly competition is an annual program conducted throughout the year, with participating units evaluated at separate events. Since the competition is not conducted as a head-to-head event, results are not immediately available following individual evaluations and will be announced after the competition cycle is complete.

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