Page 28 - Flaming Cauldron – Issue 57

ACC ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Exemplary Private

Awarded Chefs’

Mackenzie Award

Reproduced by kind permission of The Royal Logistic Corps

Pte Umit Rai of 22 Signal Regiment is the latest winner
of the Mackenzie Award, named after Wally Mackenzie,
formerly of the Army Catering Corps.
The award is granted every six months to a British Army
Chef for outstanding achievements, either in or out of the
kitchen and Pte Rai’s citation shows a clear indication of his
commitment and dedication in both of these fields.
An extract from his citation states: “Pte Umit has had an
exceptional year. During what has been a challenging period,
he has managed to maintain his own high standards through
several different avenues. During the COVID-19 lockdown,
Pte Umit was part of a small team tasked with providing
catering support to numerous Mobile Testing Units based
within MOD Stafford; an ever-changing task requiring him
to take the lead, stepping up to act as a shift 2IC in the absence
of any JNCO’s. Pte Umit epitomises all that is good about the
Chef CEG.”
Pte Rai has embraced technology to provide a number of
healthy dishes which were then shared on Defence Connect
with a step-by-step guide. He also found the time to maintain
team ethos by running several virtual quizzes not only for
the Catering Department, but also their families, providing a
much-needed boost during a trying time.
During Exercise LOYAL LEDA, Pte Rai stepped-up
again to shift 2IC, a task that required him to run operations
in a field kitchen overseeing the production of meals for
over 500 personnel whilst the Production Supervisor was
supervising the production in a separate location. Not content
with this, Pte Umit was the first to volunteer to take on the
additional task of providing dispersed feeding to an additional
location due to a COVID outbreak isolating a number of
chefs. This resulted in longer hours, an increased workload and
demanding time pressures to meet the catering output.
In the running for the award, Pte Umit Rai was boarded
against a plethora of Chefs from across the Army and
despite being the most junior-ranking nomination, he scored
unanimously higher with his citation than anyone else who
was entered.
The Army Catering Training Trust will be presenting
Pte Rai with a set of brand-new knives and WO1 (Conductor)
Olly Rogers RLC will also be awarding him with a
Conductor’s Coin and certificate as a celebration of this
fantastic achievement.
WO1 Rogers said: “Pte Umit Rai personifies everything
that we expect from our people and he exemplifies the model
RLC soldier.”
Pte Rai has also received a COSARRC’s Coin in
recognition of his outstanding contribution and resolve during
extremely testing times.
Pte Umit Rai photographed recently in Gibraltar

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