The Marine Corps’ Mess Night originated in the 1920’s in Shanghai, China with the Fourth Marine Regiment. A member of the regiment, Capt. Lemuel Shepherd, was invited to a Mess Night hosted by the Second Battalion, Scots Guard. Shepherd and his commanding officer were so impressed; they instituted their own Mess Night.
Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, II Marine Expeditionary Force’s Corporal’s Course hosted a Field Mess Night April 30 to carry on a Marine Corps tradition.
"The Marine Corps holds tradition close, because if they don't the past is forgotten," said Cpl. John Tobias, identification and detection specialist, identification and detection platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, CBIRF.
Teaching the corporals about mess night will help the Marine Corps’ traditions last forever, according to Pat Higgins, retired Master Sgt., guest of honor, CBIRF.
"These corporals need to learn about mess night, so they can carry it on when they become staff noncommissioned officers,” Higgins said. “The Marine Corps was founded on tradition, and Marines need to carry them on in the future."
Mess Night is a social, where Marines can get to know each other better. While it takes a lot of work to prepare for a mess night, everything comes together at the end, said Sgt. Benjamin Cooper, Corporal’s course instructor, CBIRF.
"We assign the corporals different positions like president of the mess and the vice-president of the mess," Cooper explained. "Each Marine assigned to a position has to plan different parts of the mess night. A lot of the corporals are on different committees, which are usually assigned to staff noncommissioned officers. So, having a junior non-commissioned officer do the work of a staff non-commissioned officer makes them think outside of the box."
For some Marines, Mess Night is about celebrating victory after a vicious day on the job, for others it’s about the food. However, according to Cooper, it’s a sign of more responsibility, since junior Marines do not typically attend Mess Night. Events like this allow them to have fun and relax.
"Once you're a corporal you're expected to do a lot more on your own initiative. There are corporals overseas right now who are leading squad patrols [in combat]. So, they need more training to be able to complete the mission more effectively," Cooper said.
Celebrating victories and getting to know those they fight alongside, mess night is a tradition these corporals will help carry on throughout their careers.