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Afterburner Grill serves flightline workers

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kenny Holston
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, --  The smell of sizzling hamburger patties permeates an appetizing aroma throughout the facility as Airmen prepare for a wave of hungry customers. This can only mean one thing; it's lunchtime at the Afterburner Grill.

The Afterburner Grill is Shaw's second dining facility designed to provide flightline workers a more accessible place to get lunch and dinner while on the job, said Tech. Sgt. Dorothy Joseph, 20th Force Support Squadron flightline kitchen NCOIC.

The facility, located next to the deployment processing center on Sweeny Street, is a smaller version of Shaw's main dining facility, with an eight tabletop set up for Airmen who choose to dine in and an express line for checkout, allowing Airmen to quickly grab a meal to go and return to work.

"It's very much a short-order style setup," Joseph said. "This helps those Airmen who want to grab chow but have to return back to work quickly due to mission requirements."

Airmen grab a paper menu when they walk in and circle the food items they want before handing the list to the short-order cook. The cook then prepares a to-go box with the food choices circled on the paper

The After Burner Grill is open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4:30 to 7 p.m.. The facility is fully operated by military personnel assigned to the 20th FSS.

While Airmen who work on the flightline are most of the Afterburner Grill's customers, all Airmen and Soldiers on Shaw are able to enjoy lunch or dinner at the facility.

Approximately four Airmen and one noncommissioned officer man the chow hall, pulling 10 to 12-hour shifts each day.

"It's a privilege for our Airmen to get selected to work here as opposed to the main kitchen," Joseph explained. "It has a lot to do with the amount of responsibility the Airmen have out here. With only a small staff we serve 80 to 100 Airmen per meal and prepare 1,800 to 1,900 meals a month."

Though the Afterburner Grill menu is based on short-order items like burgers and grilled sandwiches, personnel preparing each meal strive to provide healthy choices for the Airmen who choose to eat there, explained Joseph.

"We understand how important nutrition is," she continued. "So we are sure to offer healthy choices for the Airmen like salad, wheat bread and fruit."

With most flightline operations requiring Airmen to work 10 to 12-hour shifts, it's sometimes hard for them to make it all the way over to the main dining facility, but the Afterburner Grill, or "flightline kitchen" lends hungry Airmen a place to get fuel to complete the mission each day.

"We're extremely fortunate to have a place where we can get hot chow and still be able to meet mission requirements," said Airman 1st Class Amy Armstrong, 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron aerospace ground equipment specialist. "We're often performing tasks that don't allow us to be away from our work stations very long so having a dining facility close to us is awesome."