San Diego, Calif. — Steve Hammel, Dining Services Program manager for the Southwest region of the U.S. Navy, has received the Meritorious Civilian Service Award. The award was presented by Rear Admiral William D. French, who said, "Mr. Hammel's exceptional contributions and unfailing commitment to excellence reflect great credit upon himself [and] Navy Region Southwest, and uphold the highest traditional fo the United States Naval Service and the United States Civil Service."
Hammel, who has worked for the Navy for seven years, is responsible for 50 retail units, including 13 military galley operations that serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to more than 30,000 military personnel per day. Overall, Hammel's operations report annual sales volume of $40 million and serve 2.5 million customers a year.
Most recently, Hammel was responsible for opening the first two full-service, on-base, MWR-operated Starbucks on a naval base, at San Diego Naval Base. He also led the development of new facilities at several other bases, including a restaurant and microbrewery, under the Pierside Café/Flightline Café "franchise" he created to standardize product and service quality while maximizing purchasing leverage and porfitability.
Hammel also recently revamped the regional catering program, which now features simplified costing tiered menu pricing, reduced service charges and no room rental fees.