US Army feeds culinary soldiers new job title

Army cooks have a new name — and it’s a real mouthful. Formerly known as culinary specialists, a soldier with the 92G occupation identifier will henceforth be known as a “tactical field feeding specialist,” the service announced this week. The Army unveiled the new title during a late-October ceremony at Fort Lee, Virginia, and the service said the change comes as it shifts to training for large-scale combat operations, meaning soldiers who prepare meals also need to understand battlefield logistics in a contested environment. Stars and Stripes first reported the shift. “When we change an MOS title in the Army, we do it not for superficial rebranding or administrative convenience; we do it because the character of war has changed,” Col. Stacy Moore-Callaway, Quartermaster commandant, said in a recent release. “We formally redesignate our culinary specialists, stepping forward under the title that truly captures the 92G’s operational weight, and that is to turn them into tactical field feeding specialists.” The Army formalized the position of cooks — then known as 94B Food Service Specialist — in the 1960s, and in 1995, the specialty was redesignated as 92G Culinary Specialist. Cooks use Army Field Feeding Systems and Mobile Kitchen Trailers, and cooks are responsible for managing ingredient ordering, inventory and food preparation. “Our tactical field feeding warfighters deliver endurance to the force,” Sgt. Maj. Paul Denson, Installation Operations Directorate, Army G-4, said during the ceremony. “I submit to you that a well-fed warfighter is a lethal, agile, and adapted soldier that will win in a prolonged close fight,” he said. “We’re not simply producing food; we’re sustaining warfighters; a tactical field feeding specialist has to understand food production, nutrition, and food safety.”