After a month of heavy rain and flooding in Oklahoma, the Soldiers are training in a hot, humid environment and need calories to keep them energized.
That job goes to the cooks who prepare meals for around 400 soldiers.
Members of the mess section begin preparing meals long before the sun rises and don’t go back to bed until after the sun goes down.
"I'm in it for the Soldiers," said 45th BSTB cook Sgt. Chad Holley, of Moore, Oklahoma. "If you do your job right, it's a lot easier for them to do theirs."
Between early morning wake ups and long hours of standing in 120 degree heat the Oklahoma Army National Guard mess sections keep all the other units going.
The cooks begin their day around 3:00 a.m., preparing meals using Containerized Kitchens.
The mobile kitchens travel like a military shipping container on wheels pulled behind a 5-ton truck.
The fully-functional kitchen can feed approximately 600 soldiers onsite.
Meals take three to five hours to prepare. Even complaints are taken in stride.
"Complaints are good," said Spc. Patrick Brautigan, a cook in the 271st BSB. "It helps us get better at what we do. There's always room to improve."
"It's the end result for prep and food morale. It's for the soldiers. It makes them happy," said Salcido.
The 271st BSB's mess section is using raw rations and U.S. Army recipes this year, instead of UGR-As.