Yesterday I posted about signs you are training under a leader. Well they are everywhere and in the most humble of positions or duties. So today, I will share a story about KP. And a Cook who knew his business.
I grew up with ten siblings and my Mom and Dad in an old Steel Town on the now renamed: Rust Belt .
My family was of Irish Descent - three of my four Great Grandparents listed "Irish" as their first language. And the Fourth one was fluent in Irish and English. By the time I was born, I was just American with an Irish Background. And that background included Celtic Music, and Potatoes (I skipped the beer, most of my brothers did not. LOL)
When I was just a little tyke, I could peel a five gallon pot of potatoes for my Mom in the morning before I left for school in mere minutes. When I was in High School, I worked at McDonald's, and back then they made their fries from fresh potatoes. Potatoes that had to be peeled. I was so good, and so quick, they paid me double time to come in at 5:30 AM to peel the days potatoes. I made so much money, I gave up my paper route!
So what does this have to do with KP in the Military? Hang in there.
When I got to Basic (and again in AIT) KP was a routine duty, and also a disciplinary tool. I didn't know any better. So when I got my first KP - the cook had me peel potatoes. So I did. And I finished an hour before most folks did. And there were no bruises or bits of missed skin on any of them. The Cook called me to his Office.
"Where did you learn to peel potatoes like that?"
I told him. And I did KP a lot. Same in AIT. Turns out, Cooks talk. Or maybe they put a note in my 201 File, because I got KP a lot in both Basic and AIT.
So now I get to my first Permanent Duty Station in Germany. After a month of all the routine duties: CQ, Guard Duty, Motor Pool Cleanup, Latrine Duty...I get KP. Just like in Basic and AIT, the cook calls me in the first time I have KP. It turns out, not only did I peel potatoes faster and better than anyone he had on that duty before, but I cleaned all the big Five Gallon Stainless Steel Pots that were dirty. Another skill I picked up at home, my Mother did not like dirty dishes, pots, or pans. And she inspected like she went to DI school. If you didn't pass inspection, she booted you up to my Dad for some "talk." So we cleaned pots and pans until the Cast Iron Glowed, and the Copper bottoms could have passed for SuperNumerary.
I ended up doing KP for a week. The Company Commander didn't think that was fair, since you had to be there at 3:30 AM, and I wasn't a trouble maker. So the Cook met with the Company Commander and me. He wondered if I couldn't give a mini class on both peeling potatoes, and cleaning pots. That way other soldiers on KP would have a standard to meet. So we did just that.
But the Cook took it even farther. He made a little copper plated pot, about the size of an old corn or ivory pipe bowl that you used for tobacco. It was on a little stand made of wood. If you did a superior job on KP, well you got that little pot to put on display in your wall locker or room for a job well done.
He had one made for the Cook's themselves. And if they made a breakfast, dinner, or lunch, that was really tasty and good, they got to have the pot for the next day. Everyone wanted those little pots.
It got so bad (bad) that people were volunteering for KP to earn one. Cooks were turning out super meals. We even had a Kitchen Olympics, and competed to peel a five gallon pot of potatoes in the fastest time, and cleaning dirty pots the fastest. The Cooks had a blast seeing who could make the most burgers, in three minutes, and all the prep done too. That led to our Mess Hall having a Short Order Station that served only burgers and fries after dinner. More work for the cooks, better for the troops.
A Cook, turned an ordinary Duty into a fun and competitive race to get a tiny little copper plated pot. Then he turned my "expertise" into a training class so he got better helpers. Then he figured out how to channel that same experience into making the Cooks serving under him better. And that ended up with us having a short order station that was open On Friday and Saturday Nights.
I don't know if they gave that cook an Army Commendation Medal, but I would have! When it came to Garrison Duty, everyone wanted to eat at our Battalion Mess, because a Cook used his initiative to find a way to motivate troops. My Mom would have been proud of him...and me!