NOVEMBER 29, 2025 – Private First Class Joyslin Valenzuela experienced her first Thanksgiving in the Army – and her first “Super Bowl” as a culinary specialist – at Joint Base Lewis-McChord this year.
“Game day” for Valenzuela and her fellow cooks was Nov. 25, when Lancer Bistro held its Thanksgiving meal on Lewis North. She went to work at 5:30 a.m., helping to make and decorate baked goods for about 800 hungry service members expected to head to the dining facility. Other Soldiers had already covered an overnight shift to ensure the food and decorations were ready.
Valenzuela, who specializes in cakes, expertly whipped up a giant pan of cornbread and popped it into the oven while describing her day. Just outside the door, the rest of the kitchen bustled with activity. Cooks moved in every direction, preparing for the holiday meal. They planned for months for this event, choosing a theme, menu items, decorations and roles for each teammate. They shared a common goal of giving service members, their families and civilians a great holiday meal – and perhaps a taste of home – to remember.
“Across the Army, it’s the 92G (culinary specialist) Super Bowl,” said Warrant Officer William Jordan, a food service technician at Lancer Bistro. “Thanksgiving is very American. No matter where you go across the Army, you can always expect it.”
Trained to bake by her grandmother in Mexico, Valenzuela said it means a lot to make food for service members who might not be able to go home for Thanksgiving.
“We can help them so they don’t feel alone,” she said.
Other cooks echoed her sentiment.
“Especially here in Washington, where it’s very gloomy sometimes, it definitely helps out to have a place to go where you can get that home-cooked food,” Jordan said.
Master Sergeant Felipe Vega, a culinary specialist and manager of the Raptor’s Nest dining facility on Lewis Main, said he and his team prepared for about 1,000 service members to attend their Thanksgiving meal, which was also held Nov. 25.
“It’s a very hectic day and a lot of work. But in the end … you look back at it and you’re like, ‘Wow, we did this,’” he said.
Vega said bringing people joy makes it worth it. He cooked Thanksgiving meals on a smaller scale for Soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and said sitting with them to eat took him back to Thanksgiving with his family when he was growing up.
Born in Jamaica, Staff Sergeant Romanei Williams, a culinary specialist and the non-commissioned officer in charge of JBLM’s Culinary Training Center, also knows what it’s like not to be able to go home for Thanksgiving: His first duty station was in Korea.
“We didn’t have much there” at Thanksgiving, he said, adding that seeing the joy on Soldiers’ faces because of the meal, even when they couldn’t leave the peninsula, “was a great experience.”
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” he said.
Leading up to this year’s Thanksgiving meals at JBLM, Williams helped teach classes on fondant and food carving, among other topics. He also read about the history of Thanksgiving in the Army.
“It’s a great family tradition that the Army took up,” he said. “We go a little bit above and beyond for our Thanksgiving to make sure that everything is good to go and just to show our appreciation to our troops.”
Sergeant First Class Matt Bouchard, a culinary specialist, specializes in the above-and-beyond: He creates ice sculptures to display at Army meals and teaches other Soldiers how to make them. He said he only slept for two hours between November 24 and 25, due to working on sculptures (including his favorite, a snow leopard), making an edible cornucopia centerpiece and helping to smoke hogs.
Bouchard said it was worth it to see people’s reactions and smiles.
Major Ashley Robertson, of Madigan Army Medical Center, said her 5-year-old son, Jackson Robertson, was all smiles entering the Raptor’s Nest for the facility’s Thanksgiving meal.
“He loves seeing Soldiers,” she said, adding that Jackson wore her patrol cap into the dining facility with her and her husband, Major Justin Robertson, of 62nd Medical Brigade. The family enjoyed their experience.
“I think that the cooks have a very important role to play in fueling our Soldiers,” Ashley said. “They work long hours … behind the scenes, under the radar,” and “being able to recognize them is really important.”
Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Boldt, of 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, who helped serve the meal at Raptor’s Nest with other Army leaders, called the cooks “world-class.”
“Whether in the field environment or in the dining facilities, they make the most with whatever resources they have,” he said. “I think they have a very challenging job, both here and in the field, and we’re grateful for what they do to keep the trains going and morale high.”
593rd Corps Sustainment Command oversees the manning and operations of the food ecosystem at JBLM. To learn more, visit https://www.army.mil/593rdCSC.
To learn more about JBLM’s dining facilities, visit https://home.army.mil/lewis-mcchord/my-Joint-Base-Lewis-Mcchord/all-services/dining-facilities.
Story by Allison Hoy
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs Office