CS “A” School moves to Fort Lee

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Culinary Specialist (CS) “A” School is relocating to Fort Lee, Va., this year, with classes scheduled to begin January 2011.

The last Great Lakes CS “A” School class is scheduled to graduate Dec. 10, 2010.

The transition from its current location at Service School Command, Great Lakes, comes on the heels of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process that also led to CSS headquarters and the Navy Supply Corps School move to Newport, R.I.

As the mission of BRAC is to improve the joint utilization of assets, the move to Fort Lee brings together culinary training with Army, Marine Corps and the Air Force. The focus will continue to be providing well-trained culinary specialists to the Fleet with an emphasis on quality food service; however, the Sailors who will train at the new facility will get much more.

“With the school moving to a joint environment, CS students will be exposed to the Army and Marine Corps, which will prove beneficial for the future,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brian Armstrong, CS “A” School officer in charge. “As many of our assignments worldwide are in the joint realm, these Sailors will learn from an early stage of their career about other services. They will benefit from learning other rank structures as well as policies and procedures the other services follow.”

The updated training in a joint environment will further result in well-rounded Sailors ready to serve the Navy in galleys throughout the Fleet.

Although the new CS students will benefit from joint training, Armstrong further explained that continued attention will be paid to Navy-specific training in the opening and closing phases of the curriculum to allow the Sailors to recognize the uniqueness of the Navy and our maritime environment.

The first three days and the final five days of the 25-day course schedule will feature Navy food service organization, attire, equipment, and galley and wardroom service as well as sanitation and nutrition.

In addition to an adapted curriculum, new facilities are being built and one expansion project is currently underway to meet the needs of the school merger. According to Armstrong, a “new, dining facility for the Navy and Air Force was completed in June 2010 to accommodate the influx of the new students.”

The Joint Culinary Center for Excellence is also expanding to meet the needs of the increased student throughput.

“The facility will mirror the facility classrooms currently used by the Army and Marine Corps,” Armstrong added.

As a result of the BRAC consolidation, the Navy should expect to receive a more well-rounded CS with the culinary skills of Navy experts and the joint-mindedness gained through the shared training and facilities.

“The basics and fundamentals of cooking will remain,” Armstrong said. “(Now), the students will get the best of both worlds; whereas beforehand, it was Navy-unique training only, even though we serve with Marine Corps units and the Army and Air Force on the front lines.”

Joint training with the Air Force is nothing new for Navy culinary specialists. The Navy “A” school only moved to Great Lakes in 2006 amidst the BRAC considerations. Upon announcement of the latest BRAC decisions, the consolidation of all Department of Defense culinary training was mandated.

The overall cost of the culinary training consolidation sits at approximately $58 mil. This includes the schoolhouse addition, renovation of an administrative building, the new dining facility and the barracks.

To ensure a seamless transition from Great Lakes to Fort Lee, seven of 18 staff and faculty members will transfer with the school and a monthlong cushion is built in from the last class at Great Lakes to the kick off of the first class in Virginia.

The school’s senior enlisted leader CSCS (SW) Robert Kroeger was the first Navy instructor to arrive at Fort Lee. He arrived at the new location in August.

“The remaining instructor billets will be moved at a rate of two to four each month until all are on board, which should be in December 2010,” said CSCS(SW) Scott Spencer, CSS’s CS training manger. “This will give the instructors time to complete the Journeyman Instructor Course and the three-day indoctrination with the Joint Culinary School of Excellence staff.”