Mess Nights are known for some crazy misbehavior. The only one I ever participated in was 1st BN, 4th Marines' pre - Vietnam- Cambodia evac float one in 1975. I was warned you could not get up to use "the head" etc. actually it was pretty good. A piper "piped in" the roast beef, speeches were made, toasts made. It was fairly tame until the end and we had games such as drinking a beer from a soupbowl in the prone position with your hands in the parade rest position. Later Carrier Quals... Mess tables wet down with beer, two guys joined their belts as "arrester cables."

Have a friend who went to a British mess night in Hong Kong, said they broke down .303s for powder, stuffed it in an old cannon, and fired the silverware. The damage put our few broken mess tables from carrier Quals to shame.