Mess Nights At Hmla-367

What began as a friendly competition between the British Royal Marines and the 1927 4th Marine Regiment combat swim team would soon be the start of the United States Marine Corps’ most revered tradition. Marines today continue to feast with brothers-in-arms around a table, so that the Marines may celebrate victories, pay respects to the fallen, and toast to the success of the Corps; somewhere, in some unit, mess nights still occur, only not at Helicopter Marine Light Attack Squadron (HMLA-367). By practicing the Marine Corps’ rare formal tradition of mess nights, Marines at HMLA-367 will strengthen important concepts for unit function because mess nights increase morale, strengthen unit cohesion, and instill in Marines a sense of belonging.
Morale can also not be improved overnight. However, setting aside an evening to hold a mess night can bring about endless opportunities to boost morale within the unit or individually. Each interaction between senior and subordinate will allow for the chance of morale to be raised. Mess nights create a chance for face-to-face contact with “them”- the leaders that make the rules and govern standard operating procedures and local command procedures. Mess nights give the common Marine a chance to be heard. Mess nights also set the tone for a more relaxed atmosphere than the stressors of the workplace. Charles Gibowicz writes, “Mess nights are [a] time for ceremony, tradition, and good fellowship. It is a time to build morale, esprit de corps, [and] unit cohesion.” (Gibowicz 2007, 247). Therefore, by increasing morale within Scarface, mess nights also provide the opportunity to strengthen unit