Jack of the dust

Navy Mess

Jack of the dust is an obsolete enlisted rating of the United States Navy and was used in the Navy Supply Corps. The modern U.S. Navy equivalent is Culinary specialist.

The term has its origin in the Royal Navy of the early 1800s when ship's stewards or purser's assistants[1] were known as "Jack-in-the-dust", referring to the dusty atmosphere in the bread storeroom (called the "bread-room") created by issuing quantities of flour and dried biscuit.[2][3]

Other names used for Jack of the dust were "Breadroom Jack", "Dusty Boy", "Dips", and "Jack Dusty".[4]

The US naval rating was discontinued in the late 19th century, but the term survived as a formal title until World War II. As of 2002 "Jack of the dust" was still in use on some ships as an informal title for a culinary specialist in charge of the canned goods storeroom.[5]

References

1. Dean King; John B. Hattendorf (20 March 2012). A Sea of Words: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O'Brian. Open Road Media. pp. 307–. ISBN 978-1-4532-3830-1.
2. Janet MacDonald (August 2006). Feeding Nelson's Navy: The True Story of Food at Sea in the Georgian Era. Chatham. pp. 100–. ISBN 978-1-86176-288-7.
3. Charles H. Bodder (pseud.) (1919). Under Fire with Farragut: The Signal Boy's Story. Signal boy publications. pp. 12–.
4. Frank Lanier (9 June 2014). Jack Tar and the Baboon Watch: A Guide to Curious Nautical Knowledge for Landlubbers and Sea Lawyers Alike. McGraw Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-182401-9.
5. Vaughn, Fireman (SW/AW) Vernishia (8 April 2002). "A Day of Eating on Wasp Starts With the Jack Of the Dust". navy.mil. U.S. Navy. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.