Serving as a Veteran Chef

November 11, 2025 | Careers

A veteran chef in every sense of the word, Jamal Bell learned to cook while still in kindergarten and is now savoring a long, successful culinary career. In between, he joined the Army, where he earned paratrooper wings and spent his enlistment as an Airborne cook.

“The desire for delicious, nourishing food is universal, whether you’re a soldier in Afghanistan or a hotel guest in the Florida Panhandle,” says Bell, who today is executive chef at SpringHill Suites Panama City Beach. “So my goal, wherever I’ve been, has always been the same: making people happy with good food.”

In addition to building his culinary chops, Bell’s active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom taught him “a whole lot about loyalty, discipline, integrity, and leadership.” Like many veterans, he credits the traits learned and earned in the military for later achievements in the civilian world.

This seasoned chef found his calling at an incredibly young age. “I loved to eat,” Bell explains. “My mom was a nurse, and she was busy, so she taught me how to safely use the stove when I was 5 years old. Then I loved to eat AND I loved to cook.”

Bell got a high school job cooking at Cami’s Seafood & Pasta in Miami, Florida, and soon set his sights on a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales — a dream achieved post-military using his VA benefits. He went on to operate a catering business and lead the kitchen at a high-end restaurant before transitioning into hotel F&B.

As long as he’s in a kitchen somewhere, he’s happy. “Food feeds my imagination,” Bell says. “It’s my art!”

Since joining SpringHill Suites Panama City Beach, he’s elevated creativity at Solstice Oceanfront Bar + Grill, the upscale onsite restaurant. On the catering side, he especially enjoys the many weddings the hotel hosts “because of all that love in the air.”

Collaboration is a vital ingredient in any successful kitchen, Bell says, “and I love seeing my team express themselves in food. We work hard to please our guests — and that just adds to the awesome views.”

If Bell is a favorite at SpringHill Suites, it’s not only for his cooking. It’s been 20 years since his final tour in Afghanistan — but once a soldier, always a hero. So when he recently saw a young boy drowning, his military training kicked right back in.

While other bystanders stood at water’s edge, frozen in shock, “I kicked off my shoes, jumped in the water, and, fortunately, got him out in time,” Bell recalls. And though he’s been lauded aplenty for his actions, “I don’t feel like a hero,” he says. “With my background in combat — and four kids of my own — I really just acted on instinct.”

Away from work, Bell focuses a lot on family time with his children, ages 12, 9, 4, and 1. He also enjoys fishing, marksmanship, and working in his fruit and vegetable garden.

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