CAMP WILSON, Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- The old vernacular phrase, "too many chefs in the kitchen," must have been on his mind when he first examined the situation.
Third Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment's Battalion Mess Chief, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Yantosca, had just met with a site survey team returning from the area of Afghanistan America's Battalion will soon patrol. But whatever his first thoughts, he certainly knew another phrase would soon apply directly to his Marines: "Every Marine a rifleman."
Due to the Department of Defense's moves toward outsourcing jobs to civilian contractors in the United States Central Command's Area of Responsibility, Marines in occupational fields, such as food services, are frequently finding themselves cross-training into the infantry.
Yantosca said he knew his own mission would have to drastically change to maximize the benefits his battalion could get from his Marines.
As America's Battalion trained in California for its upcoming contingency deployment, its food service specialists left the routine of Anderson Mess Hall aboard MCB Hawaii far behind. This time, their training involved more bullets than beans and more fighting holes than frying pans.
Yantosca has sent three of his Marines to each of 3/3's line companies, one non-commissioned officer and two junior Marines to function as a fire team within a squad. If the Marines have no specific food service mission while in the field, they will function as riflemen.
"It's happened before. Food Services is a battlefield occupational specialty, and cooks have always been attached to fighting units," said Yantosca.
Rather than be rattled by the changes in their place of work and tools of the trade, the food service Marines of America's Battalion are excited about their new role. They've been training long and hard both with their new units and with each other.
"I was excited - I wanted to play this role as soon as we started training," said Lance Cpl. Manuel Tinajero, Jr., food service specialist, America's Battalion.
"I think it's a great thing," added Cpl.William Mitchell, food service specialist. "The Battalion has been training all of us just the same. After going through this training, I feel much more prepared. As a corporal with an "03" squad, I've got to learn things that much faster. There's no time to play around," added Mitchell.
Mitchell also quipped he thought the transition really wouldn't be too difficult for the food service Marines whom he said are already used to getting to work hours before daybreak and putting in the long, difficult hours of an infantryman.
Behind Camp Wilson's field mess, the Marines patrolled and practiced immediate action drills long after their regular kitchen duties had ended. Polishing their infantry tactics in squad and fire team formations is their primary mission now.
When asked, the food service specialist's aren't at all worried about their occupational specialty disappearing in an era of outsourcing to maximize defense spending.
"It doesn't threaten our MOS at all," explained Yantosca. "The Marine Corps will always need food service Marines to go out to the field and feed the troops."
Napoleon once said, "An army fights on its stomach," referring to a fighting force's need for good chow to stay fully in the fight. Food service specialists with America's Battalion may understand another side to that quote now that they are joining the line companies.
Perhaps only the Marine Corps, of any fighting force in the world, could ask troops to make these changes and be confident they were sending properly trained and competent Marines into battle.