Army food service tests autonomous dining facility and automated cooking in Korea

The pilot is designed to evaluate how self-service ordering and automated cooking systems can make Army dining operations more consistent, efficient and resilient, said Chief Warrant Officer River Mitchell, food advisor for the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command. The effort is not intended to replace people, he said, but to expand the Army’s ability to feed soldiers “anytime, anywhere” while maintaining standards for quality and safety.

The autonomous kitchen uses robotic cooking modules programmed to prepare meals from fresh ingredients, using standard Army recipes. Soldiers and civilians order menu items on a touchscreen interface, and the system automatically portions, cooks and plates each order. During the self-serve ordering process, each meal’s nutritional information is updated based on the diner’s choices.

Menu options are designed to optimize performance and to align with Army nutrition guidelines. They include Korean favorites such as bibimbap, kimchi fried rice and budae jjigae (or “army base stew”). All ingredients are sourced through the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support supply chain and the Army food catalog to ensure the automated facility maintains the same nutrition and safety standards as traditional dining facilities.

Mitchell emphasized that human oversight remains central to the pilot program. For instance, Army culinary specialists manage food safety, ingredient preparation and quality control. They also provide nutritional education and prepare additional food options to supplement the automated line. Culinary specialists who prepare recipes and ingredients for the autonomous system have been trained by both the Army and local national chefs.

The pilot is intended to add capacity and consistency to food service operations without reducing the existing workforce. By offloading repetitive cooking tasks to the robotic system, culinary specialists will have more time to focus on readiness training and improving overall meal quality, Mitchell noted. He added that automation is one way the Army can modernize dining operations while preserving the “human touch” provided by trained culinary professionals.

Throughout the six-month trial, soldiers and contracted staff will jointly evaluate the autonomous kitchen’s performance, reliability and impact on dining operations. The data collected will help determine whether and how to expand autonomous dining capabilities to other locations.