CAMP HUMPREYS, South Korea – Michael Gunn, a former chef and lifelong foodie, led a mocktails instruction class at the Sentry Village United Service Organization (USO) Aug. 18, 2025. Gunn, who is also the center operations coordinator for the facility, has been teaching two cooking classes a month since May 2025.
Military spouse Roxette Tuyor, says the classes have helped her expand her options in the kitchen.
“I have three young children and they’re picky eaters, so it helps to find more meals that they’d like,” Tuyor said.
She has attended three of Gunn’s classes at the USO, where she has learned to make Fettuccine Alfredo and chili. She also attended a class in which Gunn taught military spouses how to cook a rotisserie chicken from scratch. He then taught them how to utilize the whole chicken in wraps, salads, and other dishes.
Tuyor says Gunn’s cooking classes have been a welcome addition to the Camp Humphreys community because they’ve provided her the opportunity to learn and connect with other spouses. In fact, demand for the classes has only grown since they began.
“The classes have been so popular, I couldn’t get into the most recent one,” Tuyor said.
Autumn McGuffey, the center operations manager at Sentry Village USO, says the community loves the cooking class program.
“Since we started it in May, we’ve began with 12 slots per class,” McGuffey said. “Recently, we bumped it up to 20. And when we post a link for registration online now, the class is full within 12 minutes.”
Although Gunn’s primary role at the USO is to manage volunteers and assist with creating events, McGuffey says, his culinary creativity is where he shines.
“He can modify recipes,” McGuffey said. “He can teach how to make them on a budget or he can make them elaborate. With his skills, he’s able to teach others here.”
McGuffey shared about a recent class.
“He taught a few mocktail recipes at a mocktail party-themed class,” McGuffey said. “He explained how to find the ingredients on the economy, take them back to the house, and party plan. He taught them how to make an hors d’oeuvre dish with a cream cheese paste and cucumbers.”
According to McGuffey, Gunn has been working with the USO since April 2024, when he started as a volunteer. He became an employee later that same year in August. Gunn, whose spouse is a military family life counselor on Camp Humphreys, is also a military child. His father served in the U.S. Air Force.
He says he felt called to work at the Sentry Village USO because of its particular focus on military families.
“At this particular center we’re a little more family-focused in comparison to Maude Hall, which is more business oriented,” Gunn said.
There are two USOs on Camp Humphreys. The Maude Hall USO is in the same building incoming Soldiers in-process into. It is also across the street from the reception barracks where new arrivals stay. According to Gunn, the Sentry Village USO is near family housing and tends to attract families with young children because of its location and large facility space.
“I can relate to military families because I’ve experienced the same things, such as moving away from friends you’ve made and having to learn to make new friends,” Gunn said. “When you get to a new place, you may feel a little lost at first. I just talk to them and try to ease the tension you can see in their face when people first PCS here because they’re in a foreign country.”
“It’s part of my DNA to help people, and it’s something I grew up seeing,” he said. “I remember as a child, when my dad had young airmen that couldn’t go home for the holidays, and he’d invite them over to our home to share a hot meal.”
Gunn believes food has the power to connect people.
“That’s what I love about food,” he said. “It’s the common denominator. Everyone’s gotta’ eat. Our main objective at the USO is to support the active-duty service members and their families. Even if we come from different cultures or we’re thousands of miles apart, food brings us together.”
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