Army Pvt. Thelma Moore recently had her first-ever bite of turkey.

A native of the West African country of Sierra Leone, Moore has never celebrated Thanksgiving. This year, she received a crash course in holiday meal preparation.

Moore is one of 10 Army cooks — officially designated as “92 Golf” — who volunteered to carry on a decades-long Thanksgiving tradition. For the 38th year, Fort Carson culinary specialists prepared thousands of meals to be distributed to in-need individuals and families in Fountain, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs and Yuma.

“It’s amazing,” Moore said of the Thanksgiving tradition. “I like the idea of large groups of people coming together to celebrate and give thanks.”

The Army cooks began their kitchen operation Nov. 18, thawing and seasoning roughly 250 turkeys.

“It’s a bit of a process,” said supervisor Sgt. Elijah Greve. “We want to make sure that the food going out to the community is the best that we can make it.”

On Monday, with the turkeys seasoned and ready for the ovens, the small crew of Army cooks went to work, embarking on a three-day marathon that included baking the turkeys and breaking them down into serving portions.

On Wednesday, the kitchen at Butts Air Field was abuzz with activity, but after three days of round-the-clock food preparation, there wasn’t much chatter beyond the occasional joke. Each cook was intimately familiar with his or her role, and performed their tasks efficiently, with little need for supervision.

Some of the cooks, like Greve, had participated in the holiday cook-a-thon before. Others, like Moore, were new to the operation.

“Some of these soldiers just joined the Army this year, and others have been stationed at Fort Carson for a while,” Greve said. “But they are all definitely getting a feel for how to work with large quantities of food.”

In addition to the turkeys, the holiday meal preparation included eight cases of green beans, seven cases of mashed potatoes and six cases of stuffing — enough to make approximately 2,500 Thanksgiving meals for needy families.

The Salvation Army and other local community organizations collected the food donations, including the seasonings and foil pans. But they lack the facilities, and the cooks, for such a large undertaking. That’s where the Fort Carson team comes in.

“Every person in this kitchen has volunteered for this duty,” Greve said. “We’re here because we want to provide people in need with a good, filling meal for Thanksgiving. Everyone should have that.”

The meals will be packaged and returned to the donating organizations for distribution on Thanksgiving morning, officials said.

“This has been a great experience,” Moore said. “I like the idea of giving back to the community.”

When asked what she thought of her first bite of turkey, Moore smiled.

“It tastes like chicken,” she said.