Posted on Dec 1, 2013
It's Christmas Ball season. Do you hate it when your CSM makes people where their uniforms instead of civilian attire?
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I actually like the balls. My wife looks forward to it. I do think however that leadership can kill the motivation to go by trying to militarize it too much. That's what we have dining-ins/outs for. Our soldiers (especially females) don't get too many opportunities to dress up for formal occasions. Why not let them do it?
I have the mess dress and I like to wear it. What's wrong with letting some females go out and find a gorgeous gown instead of wearing their ASUs like we do for work?
Let a ball be a ball and not a uniform inspection.
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 14
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Believe me I'm all about wearing the uniform. That's why I invested in the Mess Dress. However, I do believe for something that is supposed to be a morale building social event, there should be an option.
I think you can still have PRIDE in the uniform without having to wear it everywhere you go. For an event where I can bring my spouse and she can wear this extravagent ball gown with her hair down and nice shoes, jewelry etc. but my peer has to wear her uniform, hair up, no jewlery, its not the same.
For us it really doesnt matter because we have a real equivalent. The mess dress or even the blues for that matter is basically a tuxedo with ribbons on it. We can't "do" our hair. That's about the extent of our showing off.
Im just saying for once, let a woman be a woman and do what women like to do.
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I disagree this falls under some of the Army’s oldest and most established traditions. All Soldiers should take part, adherence to these traditions are what connects us to our past. There are still official protocol and etiquette involved in any Military sponsored event. Military Balls are basically dining outs (dining outs are less formal and are done to accommodate our civilian guest) and the ultimate goal of such a formal event is to educate and entertain all those present.
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SSG Robert Burns
A ball is not a dining out it is a ball which is a formal dance. Dining ins/outs have MANY formalities and things that have to happen and positions, etc. A ball is completely different. Its just a formal dance with very minimal military traditions/ceremonies in it. We already have forums for the uniform.
Im just saying one time, if you are going to force people to go to a dance at least let the females get done up and wear something other than their work clothes for a change. That tradition goes back even further than the military. Hence the invention of the ball gown.
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LTC Jason Bartlett
A Dining Out is a military function or dinner that includes civilians, guests,
and/or families. It is still a tradition, but not as formal (think I said this already). It is frequently seen as Holiday Balls, Spring
Cotillion, or unit banquets to celebrate retirements/promotions/awards. I agree with the MSG/1SG "Equality isn't Equality if only applied sometimes". All Soldiers should take part, the only way to make it work otherwise is to give both male and females the option. As a commander we always found a way to offset the cost for the Soldier and wearing the uniform was never an issue (even for our females in the FSC).
and/or families. It is still a tradition, but not as formal (think I said this already). It is frequently seen as Holiday Balls, Spring
Cotillion, or unit banquets to celebrate retirements/promotions/awards. I agree with the MSG/1SG "Equality isn't Equality if only applied sometimes". All Soldiers should take part, the only way to make it work otherwise is to give both male and females the option. As a commander we always found a way to offset the cost for the Soldier and wearing the uniform was never an issue (even for our females in the FSC).
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See, in my unit Birthday Balls were always a bit of a risky situation. I didn't make it to any until my very last one. A lot of odd occurrences happened that kept me from attending. Every year I'd have a date lined up that would cancel on me. The time I made it closest to going, I had 5 dates cancel on me.
Anyway balls were a mixed bag in my unit. Some even ended up with us being banned from holding another event in that city like Laughlin did after a few incidents during the 1998 Birthday Ball which included the "Cpl God Incident" (I missed that one because I had my tickets, but since I was away from the Platoon working with the PMO office, nobody told me where the ball was being held). The next year I don't know when or where it was held since I was on a ship on work ups for a MEU. 2000 I almost made it to the ball. Most of the guys in my platoon were in the casino enjoying free drinks because we made friends with the waitresses so they would brink us free drinks while we sat at the nickel slots.
Anyway the 2000 ball was infamous for the events that happened around it and after. Like one of my good friends getting into trouble because he was so drunk he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt while dragging his Service Alpha (green pickle suit) jacket around the hallway near his room, and then there was a criminal investigation related to a Marine Wife and rumors of rape which turned out to be adultery.
So maybe we needed a little more Ball and military good order and discipline and less of a brawl which ended up happening when a drunk Marine fought a security guard.
Anyway balls were a mixed bag in my unit. Some even ended up with us being banned from holding another event in that city like Laughlin did after a few incidents during the 1998 Birthday Ball which included the "Cpl God Incident" (I missed that one because I had my tickets, but since I was away from the Platoon working with the PMO office, nobody told me where the ball was being held). The next year I don't know when or where it was held since I was on a ship on work ups for a MEU. 2000 I almost made it to the ball. Most of the guys in my platoon were in the casino enjoying free drinks because we made friends with the waitresses so they would brink us free drinks while we sat at the nickel slots.
Anyway the 2000 ball was infamous for the events that happened around it and after. Like one of my good friends getting into trouble because he was so drunk he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt while dragging his Service Alpha (green pickle suit) jacket around the hallway near his room, and then there was a criminal investigation related to a Marine Wife and rumors of rape which turned out to be adultery.
So maybe we needed a little more Ball and military good order and discipline and less of a brawl which ended up happening when a drunk Marine fought a security guard.
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In many ways it falls into the tradition of the ball. Do you consider it traditional for women to wear ball gowns instead of uniforms or is it traditional for the service member to wear a uniform and the guest to wear a tux or ball gown. We have had the best luck with letting the women in our organization wear what they want. the only problem I have with that is that some female service members wear slacks with their uniform instead of a skirt. I think if a woman service member is coming to a ball with dates they should wear a skirt.
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