Editing Mess (section)

=== U.S. Air Force ===
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[[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.