Editing Mess (section)

=== 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.