A Systems Analysis of Food Service at Army Remote and Isolated Sites

Abstract : The food service operations in permanent Army small group sites at remote locations were rated very favorably overall by both customers and cooks. In addition, none of the major problems identified in the analysis were both Army systemwide and unique to small sites. Therefore, a completely new food service system for small, remote sites is not recommended. However, a number of subsystem, site, command, or location-specific problems are identified and must be resolved. Principal among the recommendations for resolving these problems is the implementation of a new food accounting system. The new procedure called 'consumption analysis', provides the managers with greater control on their budgets and, as the results demonstrate, could potentially increase menu variety to the troops. Further recommendations resulting from the analysis are made in this report in the area of administrative training for cooks, staffing levels, equipment and facility support and regulatory changes. Keywords: Dining facilities; Host nation support; Staffing; Rations; Inventory management; Operations management; Downrange feeding.