Gourmet cookies from Las Vegas parachute into Afghanistan Published Dec. 21, 2011 By Kelly Ann Thompson NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- -- U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft airdropped thousands of gourmet chef-prepared cookies Dec. 20, 2011, to remote locations inside Afghanistan. Students and faculty at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Las Vegas baked almost 7,000 holiday cookies for delivery to U.S. military members deployed overseas. This marks the fifth year in a row the school has baked for its annual "Cookies for the Troops" donation. Le Cordon Bleu has been an active supporter of the military and its executive chef, Mr. Heinz Lauer, has been an honorary commander for three years for the Nevada Test and Training Range headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Chefs Heinz Lauer, Brenda Villatoro and Caroline Keller led the Cookie Production Team and passed out thousands of gingerbread, chocolate chip, oatmeal and many other varieties of cookies packed in priority mailing boxes to members of the NTTR Dec. 8, 2011. The next day, the boxes were shipped overseas using contributions from civilian and military personnel of the NTTR to ensure delivery prior to Christmas. An email with photos sent from Lt. Col. Daniel Lemon, commander of the 455 Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron in Afghanistan, confirmed the cookies arrived safely at Bagram Air Base. Half of the boxes were immediately distributed to troops stationed at the air base. "We're the busiest airport in the Department of Defense and the cookies were a welcomed treat after a more than 12-hour shift," said Lemon. "The remaining cookies were loaded into special containers for airdrop out the back of military cargo aircraft to troops in forward deployed areas around Afghanistan not accessible by roads." Lemon expressed his thanks in the email to Le Cordon Bleu for their generous cookie donation and for photos and notes of encouragement by the students and staff at the school to the deployed troops. Lemon closed his email by saying, "any taste of home is a good thing during the holidays away from our families."
