KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Team Keesler has implemented a new way to supply food to quarantined and isolated members in “Comfort Cove”, the name given to the select lodging buildings where these members are being housed.
Instead of members receiving food from members from their units, a team is dedicated to receiving and delivering food to the members’ doors.
“Each individual squadron was taking care of their quarantined and isolated members via county option; there was no standardized process,” said Maj. Ryan Curran, 81st Force Support Squadron operations officer. “As numbers began to grow, this method quickly overwhelmed the individual squadrons and they were at the point where they could no longer support alone.”
This process not only takes the stress off the quarantined or isolated member but members from their units as well. Quarantined and isolated members are given a sheet that gives them different options for what food they would like to receive the next day for breakfast, lunch and dinner which has to be placed outside the member’s door by 3:30 p.m. each day.
“For units with growing numbers of Airmen in quarantine and isolation, this meant multiple points of contact and different processes from unit to unit,” Maj. Ortiz, 81st FSS commander. “By rolling out a mass feeding operation, permanent party and student Airmen in quarantine or isolation can trust in the reliability of a carefully designed process that will deliver nutritious food options on a predictable schedule.”
Team Keesler is trying to continuously improve and find different ways to better care for Airmen and their families.
“The 81st FSS is working hard across all areas of our mission to keep people safe,” said Ortiz. “As the squadron with a ‘Taking Care of People’ mission, we are working with public health and base leadership every day to make Keesler as safe as we can.”