The military ball is the equivalent of a Prom re: attire.
I know you are discussing AROTC, but for the AF it is called a Dining Out (Out=Outsiders invited).
Traditionally, the higher ranked cadets (C300/400 = jr/sr) will wear the uniform known as the Mess Dress. It is their equivalent to a tuxedo. It is not issued by the military. If they do not own a mess, they will wear their service uniform with a bow tie. Girls invited will wear anything from a cocktail dress to a gown, depending on where it is being held.
There is an etiquette to this function.
1. They may have a receiving line that you go through.
2. You NEVER sit until the cranium table is brought into the room ---presentation of colors (flags)
3. You toast...ALOT!
~~~To the President
~~~To the Branch
~~~To the CS
~~~To the CS of the Branch
~~~To the BN/Det
I am sure I have the order messed up, and missed toasts, for me it was like Charlie Brown's teacher....To the blah, blah, blah.
4. For the AF, they always have an MIA/POW table. They will have a speaker who explains why the table is set the way it is. Followed by a moment of silence.
5. Invocation
6. Dinner
7. Intermission. Rule of thumb is doors are closed you don't leave.
8. Guest Speaker
9. Awards
10. Some have dancing some don't.
For our DS's det. it is not
mandatory, however, don't fool yourself your absence will be noticed.
For very active cadres they tend to be like Prom, where you may have a pre-ball party, and an after ball party with a group of friends. They make it a night to remember.
Our DS is a 300, this is the 1st time he is bringing a date - they tend to only bring "THE girlfriend", and go stag if there is no gf. He has attended all of them since a 100. In the AF they have 2 of these functions a yr.
Fall is Dining In, only ROTC members attend. Spring is Dining Out aka Ball.
Hope that shed some light. I have to say this is the one aspect I miss as an AD spouse. It was the best time ever, minus the banquet food and a very boring speech by the guest speaker... EXCEPT for when the guest speaker was Bob Pardo...famous in the AF world for Pardo's Push.
On March 10, 1967, the sky was clear for a bombing run, but both F-4 Phantom IIs were hit by anti-aircraft guns. Aman's plane took the worst damage; his fuel tank had been hit, and he quickly lost most of his fuel. He did not have enough fuel to make it to a tanker aircraft over Laos.
To avoid having Aman and Houghton bail out over hostile territory, Pardo decided to try pushing the airplane. Pardo first tried to use Aman's drag chute compartment to push the plane. However, turbulence was too great and this failed.
Next, Pardo tried to use Aman's tailhook to push the plane, the Phantom having been originally designed as a naval aircraft equipped with a heavy duty tailhook for landings aboard aircraft carriers.
Aman lowered his tailhook and Pardo moved behind Aman until the tailhook was against Pardo's windscreen. Pardo told Aman to shut down both of his J79 jet engines, as Aman was nearly out of fuel and the engines interfered with Pardo's plan. The push worked, reducing the rate of descent considerably, but the tailhook slipped off the windscreen every 15 to 30 seconds, and Pardo would have to reposition his plane. Pardo also struggled with a fire in one of his own engines and eventually had to shut it down. For the last 10 minutes of flight, Pardo used the one remaining engine to slow the descent of both planes.
With Pardo's plane running out of fuel after pushing Aman's plane almost 88 miles, the planes reached Laos airspace at an altitude of 6000 feet. This left them about two minutes of flying time. The two pilots and their backseaters ejected, evaded capture, and were picked up by rescue helicopters.
Although Pardo was initially criticized for not saving his own aircraft, he and Wayne eventually received the Silver Star for the maneuver, albeit nearly two decades after the incident.
Robin Olds was also a great one too. He was a WP grad, and a Triple Ace in the AF. I will say that since I personally met him the night before the Dining Out at the O Club, he truly lived up to his legend of being a hard drinker. Also, as much as I respected his military career, he was very offensive to women...even at the Fighter Bar in the Club, he took issue that women were allowed in.
McPeak was the worst. Gave a speech at a 2 seater fighter base, and stated flat out, I would rather have a Pint of Ale in my back seat.
Gen. Short was a great speaker, he was the one that touched my heart with this statement:
Freedom is not free
Those protected by it
Never understand
The meaning of
Freedom.
Xposted with Clarkson, and it appears in his pics that it is the same as the AF...receiving line, attire, convocation, etc.
The only thing I have never seen is the red table...Clarkson, it appeared to be a somber moment, was that what we do for POWS?
I can't remember it exactly, but it explains why the items at the table exist...i.e the glass, the flower, the lemon. etc, or is it for the fallen soldiers that were members of your BN?
