Courtney Mess Hall was named the W.P.T. Hill Award’s best Military/Contractor Garrison Mess Hall in the Marine Corps, according to a Feb. 10 message.

The W.P.T. Hill Awards were established in 1985 to improve food service and acknowledge the best mess halls Marine Corps-wide.

It took a team effort for the Courtney mess hall to win, said Staff Sgt. Morris Mayfield III, with 3rd Marine Logistics Group and assistant manager of the Camp Courtney Mess Hall. Winning took the combined efforts of the 30 Marines and 30 local nationals on the mess hall staff, he added.

Last year was a good one for the mess hall, Mayfield, admitted.

The facility had also nabbed all four chef of the quarter as well as all four best mess hall of the quarter for Okinawa in 2009, he said.

Throughout the year, the mess hall was inspected and marked with flying colors “showing that we perform at a high level consistently” he said.

Just being nominated for the W.P.T. Hill Awards is an honor; one many food service Marines never experience, added Mayfield for whom this was his first competition in 13 years.

“It’s a major award. It’s kind of like the Marine Corps Super Bowl for food service,” he said.

The top one or two mess halls in each region are nominated to compete for the award.

Then a team from Headquarters Marine Corps, including an officer, a senior enlisted member and a National Restaurant Association representative, tour all the nominated mess halls, evaluating their Marine Corps training, food service training, finances, day-to-day operations, food preparation and a host of other areas, Mayfield explained.

When the team visited Courtney in December, they even quizzed patrons about the daily quality of food and service, he said.

Lance Cpl. Adrian Platero, a cook, said that though he was surprised when he learned the mess hall had won, he was not nervous when the inspection team visited.

He was “confident in the training” his leaders had provided, he said.

At the end of the tour, the team recognized Lance Cpl. Joseph Robertson and Pfc. Javier Garcia for their performance during the inspection.

Getting immediate positive feedback for his work was exciting and rewarding, said Robertson.

“You don’t get that very often,” he said.

Of the mess hall’s award, Robertson said, “I was really happy. We worked so hard. We did what we had to do, and we enjoyed getting what we deserved.”  

The Courtney Mess Hall will be recognized May 22 during the National Restaurant Association Awards Ceremony in Chicago.