In the U.S. military, it is often more formally known as
mess duty, and is restricted to enlisted personnel. A service member is sometimes "put on KP" for some minor
infraction committed while on duty, in
uniform, or on a
military installation, something that would not require an Article 15 or
non-judicial punishment hearing. In the British Forces the equivalent punishment is known as
Jankers. However, KP is usually assigned out of necessity, not for punishment. In this latter case, all junior enlisted personnel assigned to a mess would be put on a roster and regularly receive assignments to KP duty on a rotating basis. KP duties, however, can include any tedious chores in the military mess at an installation or in the field, such as food preparation, although not cooking, or the more obvious dish washing and pot scrubbing, sweeping and mopping floors, wiping tables, serving food on the chow line, or anything else the kitchen staff sees fit to assign to its KP crew. KP duty can be particularly onerous because it is on top of all regular duties, as institutional kitchens often open before and close after regular duty hours, and generate large volumes of unpleasant food wastes. Mess halls for the modern U.S. military are often contracted out to civilian firms, making KP duty less common today than it once was.
United States Navy In the
U.S. Navy all sailors are assigned to 90 days of Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD) upon reporting to their respective commands. For most sailors this will mean being sent to a shore-based or shipboard galley, which includes, but is not limited to, washing dishes in the
scullery, food prep, mess deck cleaning, and/or line server. The only exception is if the individual is in a "critical rating" and cannot be spared. Personnel assigned these duties are known as Food Service Attendants or FSAs (formerly called mess cooks). Upon completion of 90 days' TAD, a Page 13 entry is made into the individual's service record to prevent reassignment to the galley or mess deck. ==References==