Food preparation specialists in the U.S. military are charged with providing healthy and hearty meals for the fighting men and women of the armed forces. With such a full task on their plate, many soldier-chefs rarely get a chance to flex their creativity with the cuisine they produce, but at the Baghdad Iron Chef Competition at Victory Base complex in Iraq, that all changes.

Since June 2009, teams of soldiers and kitchen staff have competed in an hour-long trial of wills and skills to see who in the army can prepare the finest meals from a predetermined group of ingredients.

Teams are comprised of five soldiers and four employees of Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), the base's mess service provider, and given a box of meats, vegetables and spices that must somehow be incorporated into their final dish.

"For the Soldiers, it's about owning their skills and maintaining teamwork," says Staff Sergeant Deneva Payne. "Since KBR is contracted to run our dining facilities, it gives the Soldiers a chance to express their creativity."

The most recent competition could have benefited from the use of wire chafing stands, however as a power failure 15 minutes after the opening bell left many teams wondering how to keep food hot without electricity.