Kitchen Patrol (KP) is a combination of waiter and busboy duty which is assigned on a rotating basis to the scouts in camp at Horseshoe.
KP Duties[]
The scout on KP for a particular meal must arrive 15 minutes early to the meal to set up his designated table (30 minutes early for dinner). Their entry to the Dining Hall is signaled when the music starts to play from Headquarters. At this phase of KP the scout gets plates, bowls, silverware, napkins, cups, etc. for the table and also brings out more preparatory items like a water pitcher and other minor dishes. During the meal KP is responsible for getting the main course and desert from the kitchen at the appropriate time. He is also tasked with replenishing and reloading anything that the other scouts at his table have finished. After the meal, the scout on KP must remain. He clears the table and sorts the dishes and silverware so they may be easily cleaned by the kitchen staff. He then must clean his table and the surrounding area before being dismissed by the camp staff steward.
Helping KP[]
Although the scout on KP has full responsibility for his duty at that particular meal, it is not uncommon for those he serves to help with the work, especially during the meal, to give the KP a chance to eat. If a meal is particularly messy or someone feels they may have singlehandedly created too much of a mess (or the leadership decides it for them) they may also stay to help with clean up.
Despite the seemingly individualistic nature of the job, in Paoli 1 the Kitchen Patrol acts like any other patrol. Scouts on KP will all go up together as a group and once they are dismissed they will often come down together as well. Each KP rotation will have one senior member acting as a sort of patrol leader for the group, and if a scout is having extra trouble during the set-up or clean-up phase, the other Paoli 1 scouts on KP will instructor and/or assist him. This method is especially important for first year scouts who need to learn the job (and the way back to camp).
KP and Retreat[]
A scout on KP does not march in the Retreat ceremony. KP is however present during Retreat. All the scouts are assembled at the edge of the field and the Dining Hall steward reports in to the program director just like any Senior Patrol Leader. Scouts on dinner KP still need to wear their Class As both during Retreat and whil in the dining hall. The Retreat interruption is one of the main reasons the dinner KP needs to arrive thirty minutes early and not just fifteen like other meals.
Assigning KP[]
The Senior Patrol Leader will create a list before camp starts with the names of all the scouts of the Troop. They will then be broken down on a duty roster that assigns them to particular meals. Often the scouts are grouped together and sometimes they will always have the same meal (e.g. always breakfasts) but it varies from year to year. Because of the distance from Lisle to the dining hall, KP usually goes up as a group and returns as a group. Scouts should not have KP more than once every two days. Swapping KP duty is only allowed with a legitimate reason and the approval of the SPL. Selling of KP duty is never allowed.