Cooking with Wolf Pack Leadership

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marcus Morris
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The Airmen and Family Readiness Center has been hosting a cooking class for the Airmen at Kunsan Air Base for the last ten years. This program encourages Airmen to learn healthy cooking techniques that are not only quick, but affordable.

For those Airmen who do not like eating packages of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) during an exercise or the most cooking they have done is burn toast, this class shows them how to make something edible.

"This program is important," said Komang Goins, 8th Fighter Wing Sonlight Inn director. "Some Airmen have never cooked before, and this class gives them experience to cook in the dorms."

Classes are once a month and typically 15 to 25 Airmen attend each session. No matter an Airman's age or experience they're never too old to learn how to cook or learn a new recipe.

Col. John W. Pearse, 8th FW commander, Col. Douglas Nikolai, 8th FW vice commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Phillip Robinson, 8th FW command chief, showed support to the program while learning to make pizza from scratch.

"The Airman and Family Readiness cooking course is a great way to hone your cooking skills and learn how to make and appreciate dishes from around the world," said Robinson. "For a person who is not a great cook, I think I made a pretty delicious pizza pie today that I'm really proud of."

The vice wing commander encourages Airmen to set goals, break out of their comfort zone and try something different.
"This is just one opportunity of many on base in the Wolf Pack and when you get back to the states, you may impress your spouse or friends with some new talent," said Nikolai.

"After all the labor, you get to taste the work you put into the dish and that's probably the best part."

Airmen who want to share their cooking knowledge with others can volunteer to teach a cooking class or help pick up the groceries from the commissary for the next class. Airmen interested can contact Ms. Goins or the Airman and Family Readiness Center for more details.