Military Making Officers’ Clubs ‘Inclusive,’ Open to All Ranks

Call me old-fashioned but I don't see this as a good thing. There must be a distance between the officers and their enlisted ranks. When the day comes for that officer to select someone to promote or to tackle the dangerous task, his decision must be dispassionate, based solely on merit and the abilities of subordinates. That's kind of difficult if comradery is replaced with familiarity.

We have "The Club" at Scott AFB. It replaced the Officer, NCO, and Enlisted clubs in the 1990s. It's a nice building. The food is average. There's an officer's side with a bar and an enlisted side with a bar. In the middle is the dining room, cafeteria line, and meeting rooms. Lobby on the enlisted side has a tribute to the "chiefs" (E-9s). Lobby on he officer side is pretty plain. Seems to work out well for organizational events, holiday parties, and member's wedding receptions and retirements. Lunch is served on the cafeteria line. I don't think dinner is served at all.

Separate clubs disappeared at Scott when the Non-appropriated Fund activities had to pay for themselves. About the same time the local communities grew enough that chain restaurants, like Applebee's, Chilies, and several steak houses, built in the local area. They severely impacted the Clubs' dinner service. The Air Force campaign to deglamorize alcohol also decreased the bar business at the clubs. The profits from the bars supported many clubs making money losing meal service possible. These pressures faced the Clubs with the choice to combine or close.

(Footnote: Scott has a fairly unique demographic. Major tenants on the Base include one Unified Command, two Air Force Major Commands, one Army Service Component Command, one joint agency, and an Air Guard Wing. Active duty flying is a very small operation--less than 12 aircraft. Numbers of officers and enlisted working on Base on any day are probably about equal due to the higher headquarters staffs. Also lots of Air Force and Army Civilians.)

MSG Pat Colby
This is why I stopped hanging out at base clubs, when they went "All Hands." I have to see you at work, I sure as hell don't want you seeing me have a drink (or plenty of drinks) and deciding "Petty Officer Miller has a drinking problem and I'm going to report him..."