February 2015

Connections
Uniting Military MWR/Service Professionals Worldwide for 40 Years!
V O L U M E
F E B R U A R Y
Get Connected!
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Air Station
Miramar Opens
New Chipotle
6 8
2 0 1 5
2
Mulder Receives 3
Rubenstein
Award
4
IMCEA and
Celebrity
Partner for
Technology Tour
Renewing
Associate
Members
5
FYI
6
Celebrity
Toolbox Tour
Application
7-8
W
ow, February already! Time
flies when we are all busy,
heads down with life, family, fun, a
little work and planning the balance
of the year and wondering how
long we can make those
resolutions last!
IMCEA too has been busy planning
and continuing to concentrate on
growth, outreach and supporting
our military community at large.
Oddly enough, it hit me this month,
the title of our own IMCEA
Newsletter, CONNECTIONS really the heart and charter of our
organization. All branches of the
military are constantly
challenged with providing worldclass service to all of our
customers; active duty forces,
civilians, dependents, retirees and
local nationals who all have
access to use military MWR
programs and activities. Not a
week goes by that I’m not
explaining to a supporting vendor
who and what MWR “is” and what
services we provide through all of
our activities including: Food &
Beverage, Lodging, Fitness,
Morale, Welfare and Recreation,
Child Care, Outdoor Recreation,
Ticket and Tours and all of the
supporting infrastructure. Things
like force support, logistics,
acquisition, programs, marketing,
information technology,
transportation, financial and human
resources with over a hundred
thousand MWR professionals
providing all of the above services
to millions of repeat customers.
The single most important benefit
of IMCEA is the ability to reach out
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX, 78683-7946
1
development opportunities and
networking towards success in
bettering any organization. We
look forward to partnering with
those Services who see the need
to annually gather on a joint
platform to discuss central issues
and hopefully also supply an
opportunity where our vendor
partners can provide innovative
operational solutions. Look for
more news about our fall plans!
As a reminder to any and all
IMCEA member professionals, our
IMCEA scholarship program will be
open for 2015 applications very
soon. To any and all vendor
partners, if you are looking for an
opportunity to use supporting
marketing and promotional funds to
the right solution. Both parties
show your support for our MWR
win and our community is a
better place to meet customers’ military community at large, we
welcome any new supporting
needs! IMCEA is a broad
reaching organization and MWR sponsors!
Check out all of the details at:
contains areas most vendors
https://imcea.org/awards/
simply don’t understand.
scholarship-info/.
Service leaders are part of the
IMCEA leadership team and we
Jim Krueger, IMCEA Presidentconstantly discuss better ways
Elect
to meet our needs through
James.Krueger.3@us.af.mil
growing our vendor resource
network. I challenge any
industry partner, new or old, to
contact me directly and let me
Join the IMCEA
share our vision with you!
We are committed to
Virtual Tradeshow determining a way forward to
now open!
better meet the needs of our
community through connections,
Register here to start
acting as a conduit between
connecting with
those trying to improve
current industry
operations, looking for training,
certification and professional
trends and training!
to our industry, provide them a
challenge/problem, and if
Possible, use them to provide
(940) 463-5145
PAGE
2
Air Station Miramar Opens New Chipotle
By Michael Jones
IMCEA Corporate
Sponsors:
Gold
Silver
to recruit a New
IMCEA Member!
Join the network!
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR,
Calif. – Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
became the first military installation to
feature Chipotle Mexican Grill when it opened
its doors on Thursday, Oct. 16.
The Denver-based chain will provide the
8,000-plus service members, their families,
employees and guests aboard the installation
with another
healthy
restaurant
option. On June
16, Miramar
welcomed
Panda Express,
Wendy’s and a
second Subway
location to its
new food court.
There was
plenty of room
for one more
food concept, however, as the demand for
Chipotle was overwhelming. Patrons made it
clear in several base-wide surveys that the
fast-casual staple was something they would
embrace.
“There’s a good reason that Chipotle is one of
the fastest-growing chains in the United
States,” said MCCS Miramar Indirect Food
Services Program Manager TC Dowden.
“This is a welcome addition to what’s been
offered at MCAS Miramar.”
With a small menu, the restaurant offers fresh
ingredients prepared daily to go along with
prompt service. The menu is simple—
burritos, bowls, salads and tacos are
permanent fixtures with the potential variety
coming in the choice of meats, condiments
and salsas.
The simplistic formula is working. The
lines are frequently out the door
between the seven-day operating
hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., an early
indicator that the prevalent chain is
already a hit among Miramar’s
population.
In addition to providing delicious food,
the company is
serving those
who serve in
another
capacity.
According to
company
officials,
Chipotle is part
of the 100,000
Jobs Mission, a
national coalition
of 150
companies
committed to hiring military veterans.
For its part, the Mexican-style
restaurant has reached out to military
transition programs across the country
to match open positions with qualified
candidates.
With its latest venture joining forces
with Miramar, Chipotle is making
plenty of friends among the military
and Marine Corps communities.
CONNECTIONS
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145
VOLUME
68
PAGE
3
Chef Randy Mulder Receives 2014 Irving Rubenstein Memorial
Award for the US Army
C
ongratulations to Randy Mulder on receiving the IMCEA 2014 Irving Rubenstein Memorial Award for the US Army!
Randy was presented the award by Colonel Hodges, JBLM Commander, this past November during a viewing
party for “Guys Grocery Games,” a reality competition show in which he was a contestant. The article about the viewing
party is reproduced here from the original article from the JBLM Northwest Guardian.
Bistro’s chef wins $18,000, donates half to the Wounded Warrior Project
By Christina Carmen Crea
Northwest Guardian
Published: 01:45PM November 13th, 2014
Four chefs blazed through a grocery store to whip up
meals for the judges on the Food Network’s “Guy’s
Grocery Games” show — and Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s
The Bistro at Russell Landing’s Chef Randy Mulder came
out on top.
Mulder walked away with $18,000 as the winner of the
show, and donated half of his earnings to the Wounded
Warrior Project.
The announcement was
made during the viewing
party where about 70
family, friends and
supporters came to see the
episode at the Eagles Pride
Golf Course, Nov. 9.
Mulder said he was happy
to see so many supporters
come out.
“It’s fantastic and amazing
to see the turnout and
support,” Mulder said.
Mulder chatted with
attendees, signed autographs and had samples of one of
his winning dishes, called Sweet Pumpkin Bisque, he
created on the show for people to sample.
Mulder said he wanted to donate half of his prize money to
the Wounded Warrior Project because he knows the
impact of being in the military.
“My brother was part of the military, so I wanted to give
back because I know the effects it has on people,” Mulder
said. He said it was a rewarding experience and he was
glad to represent himself and others.
“Not only did I do it for me, but I also did it for all of the
Soldiers that I feed every day,” Mulder said.
Mulders girlfriend, Erica Devries, said it was an exciting
experience because she’s never known anyone that’s
been on a reality show.
“I kept asking him ‘was it really like that?’” Devries said.
"I’m really excited and happy for him. He also really cares
about the Wounded Warrior Project, especially with his
brother being in the military. His brother called him earlier
today and was very proud of him. He did a good job.”
Filming on a reality TV show was intense for Mulder.
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX, 78683-7946
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“You cannot put all of your ducks in a row; I’ve learned you
really have to take things as they come and roll with it,”
Mulder said. Mulder didn’t know he won until the final
second. “And even when they said that, it didn’t really click
yet,” Mulder said.
As for the half of the earnings he’s keeping, he’s still
unsure of how he will spend it.
“I will probably treat myself to a
couple things, maybe a nice
vacation,” Mulder said.
The show is hosted by chef and
restaurant owner Guy Fieri, who has
another show called "Diners, DriveIns and Dives" that has featured a
number of restaurants in the Seattle
and Tacoma area.
Mulder has been employed at The
Bistro for a little more than a year,
and auditioned for the chance to be
on the show in December 2013.
When he found out he was picked
for the show, he flew to California in
February to film the episode.
Mulder graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu College of
Culinary Arts. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2013.
The show can be watched on The Food Network’s
Youtube channel for Guy’s Grocery Games, Thanksgiving
Grocery Trot episode at youtube.com/show/
Guysgrocerygames for $1.99.
christina.crea@nwguardian.com @CreaNWguardian
Thank you to our exclusive Award Sponsor, BABCO
International!
(940) 463-5145
IMCEA
Partners with Celebrity as Producer of the 2014-2015 MWR
Technology Toolbox Educational Workshop Series
The International Military Community Executives Association (IMCEA), administrator for the
Certified Military Community Executive (CMCE) designation, has partnered with Celebrity
Systems Corporation for 2014-2015.
In previous years, the workshop series has been produced in conjunction with the Armed
Forces Food & Beverage Training Workshops and similar trade events, serving military MWR
communities. With increasing budget restraints for travel, and the IMCEA's decision to focus
on virtual workshops programming, Celebrity has decided to take the workshops on the road.
The tour will travel to different installations, presenting technology workshops for MWR
managers and key personnel looking for real-world opportunities to generate increased
revenues using the hottest new digital technologies.
Workshops will profile case histories of the most successful MWR installations, including
Warrior Zones and Liberty Centers, focusing on the latest digital technologies from gaming to
LED lighting, apps and social media to touch screen control systems, theater systems to selfcontained multi-player gaming stations.
"We are delighted to once again partner with Celebrity for these great workshops," said
Melissa Wells, IMCEA Chief of Marketing and Communications. "Our past collaborations
have been highly successful, and we think this new concept for delivering educational
programming directly to installations will go a long way toward keeping MWR professionals
updated on all the latest technologies coming to market," she continued.
According to Celebrity's Mark Velligan, attendees will also get the opportunity to "touch and
feel" a selection of the newest products by way of a Mobile Technology Lab that tandem with
the workshops. The demonstrations are made possible by the tour's technology sponsors,
including ScreenPlay Entertainment, Bosch Communications Systems, MYE Club TV
Systems and EV Electrovoice, with others coming aboard as the tour launches in June.
For more information about this tour or to apply, see pages 9 – 10.
To confirm that your installation is scheduled, contact Mark Velligan at 949-742-0454 or by
email at info@mwrtoolbox.com, or visit mwrtoolbox.com
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145
Thank You to our Renewing Associate Members!
Commander Navy
Installations Command
(CNIC) N9 Newsletter is now
available. Check out this
wealth of information here.
The Joint Services Prime
Vendor Program offers
up to date information
along with Food and
beverage tips, trends and
insights on their Food for
Thought blog. Check it
out here for more
information!
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX, 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145

IMCEA is no longer issuing ID cards to new and
renewing members. Please submit all
membership requests or questions to John
Walker at john@imcea.org.
IMCEA and the National Restaurant
Association have partnered to provide
IMCEA members with ServSafe
Th
®
Food
®
Safety and ServSafe Alcohol online training
and certification at a special discounted price.
e REVISED Certified
Military Community Executive
(CMCE) Study Guide is now online!
IMCEA now makes getting your CMCE
certification even easier! Complete the
application and send it in for approval.
Then use the FREE, online study guide to
prepare for your exam! You will have the
honor of wearing the CMCE initials after
your name before you know it – and the
pride in taking an important step toward
career advancement! Take a look at the
updated study guide at https://imcea.org/
certification/cmcestudyguide/.
The ServSafe food safety and ServSafe
Alcohol online courses allow you to take
training on your own schedule and spend less
time away from the operation, at a lower
overall training cost. Click here for more info.
Is your Certified Military Community
Executive (CMCE) Certification up for
Renewal?
O
ne amazing benefit of your
membership with IMCEA is the
ability to become CMCE Certified. The
only military Morale, Welfare, and
Recreation (MWR) certification program
that is nationally registered by the National
Certification Commission. As with any
certification, you have to re-certify every
three years. Recertification is easy! All you
have to do is fill out the form on our
website https://imcea.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/04/cmcerecognition1.pdf
and send it in to us. The cost for
re-certification is $50.
We are in the process of sending out
reminders to those members who need to
re-certify.
You do not want to let this prestigious
certification lapse! For questions about
CMCE certification, or your CMCE status,
please contact John Walker at
john@imcea.org.
Program Updates
Military Community and Family Policy Weekly
eNewsletter: http://www.militaryonesource.mil/
mcfp/weekly
Joint Family Support Assistance Program (JFSAP)
Newsletter: http://www.militaryonesource.mil/
jfsap/enewsletter
American Logistics Association Weekly Executive
briefing: http://multibriefs.com/briefs/alaorg/
index.php
Where Are They Now?
Looking for a past member? Trying to catch up with
an old friend? Want to let everyone know what’s new
with you? Post your questions, comments and
contact information here!
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX, 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145
IMCEA, P.O. Box 7946, Round Rock, TX 78683-7946
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(940) 463-5145