Editing Mess (section)

== United States ==

=== U.S. Army ===
In the [[United States Army]], officers historically have had to purchase their own food using funds allocated to each officer. In the far-flung forts of the [[American Old West]], officers would organize their food service in two ways:
* "Closed Mess" was when the few officers of a small fort would pool all of their food funds to provide all meals to members only, thus being "closed" to outsiders except as guests.
* In a larger post, the larger pool of officers could allow the officers to purchase meals on an individual meal basis (after payment of a small monthly dues amount). Such arrangements were called "Open Messes".

The mess now is called a ''dining facility'' or ''DFAC''. The Officers' Club ("O Club") is an outgrowth comparable to the Officers' Open Mess, but also providing areas to allow officers to entertain guests. A similar version for enlisted personnel is the "E Club". ''Mess'' also describes the formal affair of having a "dining in", held for military members and closed to the public, or a "dining out", a social event for military personnel and their families.

For much of the 20th century the Army's mess food selection was spartan, but after the end of the draft they changed to a [[food court]] model with more variety including fast food, while also making fast food franchises available on bases. In 2011, the Army rolled out a program known as "Soldier Athlete" which promotes healthier foods including low-fat milk, whole grains, and veggie [[Wrap (food)|wraps]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2011/02/chocolate_milk_at_every_meal.html|title=Chocolate Milk at Every Meal|first=Kristen|last=Hinman|date=28 February 2011|access-date=19 January 2017|journal=Slate|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202001147/http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2011/02/chocolate_milk_at_every_meal.html|archive-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

=== U.S. Navy ===
{{See also|Mess management specialist}}
[[File:Sailor eating sandwich, U.S.S. Radford, circa 1980 · DN-ST-82-11535.jpg|right|thumb|A [[Seaman (rank)#United States|sailor]] aboard the destroyer [[USS Arthur W. Radford (DD-968)|USS RADFORD (DD 968)]] enjoys a sandwich at a picnic lunch prepared for the crew during naval exercise [[UNITAS|Unitas XXI]] circa 1980. Near his foot a can of [[Nehi]] Berks County Root Beer is visible.]]
At most [[United States Navy]] shore installations, [[galley (kitchen)|galleys]] (previously called Enlisted Dining Facilities in the 1970s and early 1980s) provide messing for sailors (and, if assigned, enlisted marines) ashore and as an option for sailors (and, if assigned, enlisted marines) aboard ships while in port at those installations. Commissioned officers may use these facilities as well.

In addition to galleys ashore, various social clubs with dining facilities may also exist. These are enlisted clubs for sailors in the grade of Petty Officer First Class (E-6) and below; chief petty officer clubs for [[chief petty officer|CPOs]] (E-7), [[senior chief petty officer]]s (E-8) and [[master chief petty officer|MCPOs]] (E-9); and officers' clubs for commissioned officers, although many have been closed, merged into combination enlisted/CPO clubs, or converted into "all hands" enlisted and officer facilities. Such changes began to be imposed following the congressionally-mandated end of Department of Defense budgetary subsidies for all such clubs in the 1990s and the subsequent need for these clubs to be financially self-sufficient.<ref name=Copeland/> Further impacting the club system ashore for the Navy is the fact that most naval units deploy for extended periods (e.g., six to ten months) on a regular basis with, especially for shipboard personnel, requiring for senior enlisted personnel and commissioned officers to maintain concurrent membership in a ship's CPO Mess or officers' [[wardroom]], respectively.

At sea aboard naval vessels, messing is still separate, with E-6 and below utilizing the ship's mess decks, E-7 through E-9 utilizing the ship's CPO mess, and commissioned officers being part of the [[wardroom]]. Certain large vessels (e.g., aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships) may also include a first class mess for E-6, typically a separate dining area adjacent to the mess decks. This is considered a chance for future CPOs to learn how to be a part of a mess before they enter the CPO mess, often called by the sobriquet of "goat locker." Enlisted personnel normally receive all meals at what appears to be no cost, but in fact subsidize their meals through forfeiture of their Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), also called "commuted rations," although chief petty officers may also have a mess "buy in" or monthly mess bill equivalent to the BAS. For those ships with embarked Marine Corps personnel, staff noncommissioned officers in the grades of E-7, E-8 and E-9 will also be part of the CPO Mess. Commissioned officers retain their BAS, a flat-rate allowance much smaller than the graduated by rank amount paid out to enlisted personnel; however, they must pay for all of their meals while afloat out of pocket. This usually entails a mess "buy in" as a member of the officers' mess and will typically have either a monthly mess bill or will purchase meals via some sort of debit card.

=== U.S. Air Force ===
<!-- This section is linked from [[Twelve O'Clock High]] -->
[[File:Fort Bragg NCO Club in 1954.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Bragg (North Carolina)|Fort Bragg]] NCO Club in 1954]]
Social clubs on [[United States Air Force]] installations were at one time called Open Messes, even though most were known in vernacular as Officers Clubs or NCO clubs. Those for officers were able to utilize their initials as colorful acronyms, among the more well-known of which in the 1960s and 1970s were [[Zaragoza Air Base|Zaragosa]] and [[Zweibrücken Air Base|Zweibrücken]] (ZOOM), [[Danang Air Base|Danang]] (DOOM), [[Ramstein Air Base|Ramstein]] (ROOM), and [[Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base|Korat]] Air Bases or [[Kirtland Air Force Base]] (KABOOM), [[Randolph AFB]] (Auger Inn) and [[Nellis AFB]] (Robin's Nest), with the nicknames usually ascribed to those facilities' casual bars versus the entire club. {{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

At one time, each squadron had its club, and some flying squadrons continue to maintain a bar in the squadron facilities for officer and enlisted aircrew to this day, but most disappeared after World War II and the various Airmen's Clubs, Senior NCO Clubs and Officers' Clubs became facilities of a base rather than a unit. Most are now officially referred to as officer or enlisted clubs; the term "mess" or "officers' open mess" having largely disappeared from the Air Force lexicon. Though a few bases (usually major training bases) have separate Airmen's Clubs for junior enlisted and NCO Clubs for noncommissioned officers, this is no longer normally the case. Physically separate Officers' Clubs still exist at some installations; however, smaller Air Force installations may have one consolidated club with separate lounges. Membership is voluntary, though highly encouraged for senior NCOs and officers. Most NCO and Officers Clubs contain a sit-down restaurant in addition to social lounges, meeting/dining rooms, and bars.

Mess halls in the USAF, where unmarried junior enlisted residing in the [[barracks|dormitories]] are expected to eat, are officially referred to as "dining facilities," but are colloquially called "chow halls," although dining facility workers traditionally take offense at the term.

=== U.S. Marine Corps ===
In the [[United States Marine Corps]], enlisted dining facilities ashore are commonly referred to as 'galleys' or 'chow halls.' When embarked aboard naval vessels, enlisted Marines and NCOs in the rank of staff sergeant (E-6) and below use the same [[mess deck]]s as sailors in the grade of petty officer first class (E-6) and below, while staff NCOs in the rank of gunnery sergeant (E-7) and above take meals in the chief petty officers (CPO) mess. Separate enlisted, NCO and officers clubs continue to exist at Marine Corps shore installations, following the Navy model of enlisted, CPO and officers clubs.

Marine Clubs have also been in decline. According to an article by ''USA Today'':
:"Alcohol deglamorization in the late '80s started the decline," says Carol Garland, head of the Marine Corps' Food and Hospitality, Personal and Family Readiness Division. "(Congressionally) appropriated funds to support the operation of clubs, including managers, were greatly reduced. Without appropriated funds, clubs had to be self-supporting businesses."<ref name=Copeland/>

=== U.S. Coast Guard ===
The [[United States Coast Guard]] follows the U.S. Navy model in terms of messing facilities afloat and ashore in terms of the demarcation of [[galley (kitchen)|galleys]] for petty officer first class (E-6) and below, chief petty officer messes for chief petty officers (E-7) through master chief petty officers (E-9), and [[wardroom]]s for commissioned officers. The only exception is that, given its small size, there are very few Coast Guard clubs aboard Coast Guard shore installations and those that do exist are typically "all hands" facilities.