The Officers Club

[drewpey]

if you are in training I think its like $10 a month. More if you aren't a student.

[Toro]

In your case, just sign up and cancel ASAP after the reception. Also, just don't actually buy anything on the card, that way you won't forget to pay it off and then owe 20% interest or something insane like that.

Concur.

I got married while I was at Columbus and did the exact same thing. The 60 or so bucks I spent in the four months of being a club member easily offset the much greater expenses I would have incurred had I had my reception off base.

Don't let this devolve into a thread on how much the club sucks. If you want to talk about that, take it here.

[Fozzy Bear]

I signed up at Laughlin during UPT. Not only did the interest rate suck, but they charged the 12 dollars a month in dues to the card as well. Kind of a weird surprise. I was really all for becoming a member to support the O'Club, until I joined the AF and realized there's only like 4 worth going to. What really kills me is when they talk about losing money, but most of the money generated at the bar (which should go back INTO making the bar better) gets siphoned off to dumbass programs that have nothing to do with me. That may be narrow-minded, but I figured I was allowed to be, since we're paying for it. Will never be a member again.

[uhhello]

Read in the stars and stripes that it is no longer required to get the credit card in order to become a member.

[Fozzy Bear]

Yeah, they said that when I cancelled both, but was fed up with the whole thing.

[Guest tmickel]

The credit card has never been a requirement of joining the club. For a long time, the club membership card had a feature that allowed you to charge purchases to it and, just like any charge card, if you were a moron and didn't pay it off each month, they charged you interest. The MasterCard club card is a relatively new option that you can apply for when you're sigining up for your club membership. You have the choice of applying for the mastercard or just getting the AF Services label club card.

FWIW, Laughlin's club listened to all the belly aching and has a three-tier structure now -- basic club membership is only $4. I eat at the club 3 to 4 times a month and save that much just with the meal discounts... Not to mention the monthly $2 pancake buffet... Mmmmmm.... Pancakes....

Edited June 22, 2008 by tmickel

[Toro]

The credit card has never been a requirement of joining the club.

Yes it has. Possibly not anytime recently, but the credit card was mandatory when I was at Laughlin in 95, which raised a huge stink.

[Guest Greenswitch]

A few years ago I tried being a club member, and while you aren't required to KEEP the credit card, you do need to apply for it in order to get the club membership. You can then promptly cancel the credit card and reapply for just a membership card. Why they don't do that to begin with, I will never understand. The credit card aspect is a big deterrent for a lot of people. Not to mention it's a pretty shady company, and constantly charge me for late fees, finance fees, whatever they could until I got fed up with it and just canceled. Twice, because they "forgot" to cancel it the first time.

When they did their big "Oh, the clubs are losing money! Oh no!" campaign last fall, I didn't feel the least bit sorry for them. Tradition be damned, they were the ones that chose to hitch their wagon to a really crappy star. I don't see why my credit should be dragged through the mud in the name of tradition just because they have poor business practices.

[Guest tmickel]

You're confusing the credit card with the club card. The credit card feature of the club card is relatively new (within the last 5 to 10 years). In order to join the club, you have to apply for the signature club card (which looks like a credit card but has no logo and requires no credit check). You also have the option to apply for the MasterCard club card, which does require a credit check.

IIRC, there's a box on the application with really small print that tells you to check it off if you don't want to apply for the credit card. When I applied, I checked the box but they processed it as a credit card anyway -- I had to go in and have them cancel the account and reissue it as just the club card.

As for the "shady" company, not sure how many people would consider Chase to be shady (other than the fact that they are a credit card company, and thus, the devil incarnate).

Edited June 23, 2008 by tmickel

[Herk Driver]

You're confusing the credit card with the club card. The credit card feature of the club card is relatively new (within the last 5 to 10 years). In order to join the club, you have to apply for the signature club card (which looks like a credit card but has no logo and requires no credit check). You also have the option to apply for the MasterCard club card, which does require a credit check.

IIRC, there's a box on the application with really small print that tells you to check it off if you don't want to apply for the credit card. When I applied, I checked the box but they processed it as a credit card anyway -- I had to go in and have them cancel the account and reissue it as just the club card.

As for the "shady" company, not sure how many people would consider Chase to be shady (other than the fact that they are a credit card company, and thus, the devil incarnate).

Wrong. And before you rebut this, go back and read the post where you said that "the credit card has never been a requirement of joining the club". Toro responded with, "Yes it has. Possibly not anytime recently, but the credit card was mandatory when I was at Laughlin in 95, which raised a huge stink." Then you went on tell us how he was confusing the credit card with the club card.

I was at an AFMC base back in '93. AFMC was the test command for the "new" Club Cards. They were required then. That may not be the case now, but at that time they were. So, the credit card feature is NOT relatively new (within the last 5 to 10 years) as you claim. It has been going since the early '90's when I "used" to be a club member.

[SuperWSO]

I just got this via e-mail, and although the author is writing about the Marine Corps, everything he says applies to Big Blue as well. The best line has to be, "The Pensacola Aviation Museum Cubi-Point Café (replica of the Cubi Point, Philippines O’Club, with actual plaques relocated from there) is a fine example of how our clubs’ “focus of effort” should look, rather than like Applebees or Golden Corral."

to LC Butler.

Bring back happy hour: resuscitating a dying tradition

by Lt Col Glen Butler

LtCol Butler is currently serving as the Operations Officer, Marine Corps Base Hawaii. This article was his Chase Prize Essay Contest entry.

There is a lithograph of Marines from various eras wearing the uniforms of their time and gathered around a bar. It was painted by LtCol R.L. Cody and is appropriately titled “Happy Hour.” It used to represent the camaraderie most Marine officers shared with one another during regular visits to their local O’Club. Today, however, Cody’s work has come to represent a nostalgic look at a bygone era a bittersweet tribute to a fading tradition of our Corps. Whether Gen Krulak or ADM Halsey was right begs little question; the truth is simply that the O’Club is dying.

How did this happen? For some, the end of the O’Club’s happy hour is not a bad thing and is in line with the master plan that grew out of the infamous 1991 Tailhook scandal in Las Vegas. Shocked and embarrassed by the incident, the Navy and Marine Corps moved to lay the foundation for dramatic, comprehensive changes that would ultimately shape the Services’ cultural fabric of 2009. Many of the changes were positive and overdue; however, even with the best of intentions, some of the rudder steers made in the early- and mid-1990s have undoubtedly caused negative impact to today’s Marines, sailors, and families. The death of the O’ Club is one example.

After Tailhook the Navy instituted the Right Spirit Campaign, which included the alcohol abuse prevention and deglamorization campaign. Semper Fit was the Marine Corps equivalent and partner program. Both aimed nobly at infusing the Services with plans for healthy lifestyles, equal opportunity, sexual harassment free workplaces, and alternatives to alcohol-inspired charades. Secretary of the Navy John Dalton told an interviewer at the end of his term in 1998 that one of his proudest accomplishments was the deglamorization of alcohol campaign. Although this campaign had many benefits, it quickly became a “demonization” of alcohol campaign, sometimes resembling a dreaded witch hunt, and rapidly scared away junior officers from the club.

O’Clubs could also no longer sponsor “ladies’ nights,” offer drink specials, or even advertise happy hours. Military police positioned themselves at the clubs every weekend, and a climate of fear settled onto the club scene. In this setting, as membership and attendance dwindled, the clubs began to transition from active duty social hangouts into retiree and civilian dining facilities.

In 1997 Gen Krulak visited the captains at Amphibious Warfare School to discuss, among other things, the noted decline in company grade retention rates. A few officers raised concern over the recent closing of the Quantico O’Club, Harry Lee Hall, and the establishment of the new “trimod” multiservice club in its place. The Commandant respectfully told the captains that what was lacking was the officers’ esprit de corps from his company grade days. Arguably, the esprit of the captains in the mid-1990s was well intact; what was lacking was an appropriate venue to bond and foster that critical aspect of comradeship.

O’Clubs across the country followed Quantico’s lead, and with the creation of Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) at about the same time, the focus of the club system shifted from supporting the needs and desires of our corporals and captains into a bureaucratic business most concerned with “making a buck.” The last decade saw officer club membership across our Corps dwindle, trimods and their like replace traditional separate facilities, and a generic watering down of the club experience in general. Today, the officers’ club has become more of a dining facility focused on catering and buffets, a restaurant for lunch and brunch, than it is an establishment to support the social gatherings and morale-building and camaraderie-fostering events, (such as professional military education (PME) get togethers, and yes, happy hour), for our officers. This is no secret: the transformation that has occurred over the last 10-plus years is well known to all, and in an effort to jump-start the dying club system, the Commandant, Gen James T. Conway, ordered an end to all dues with the hope that it would spur more attendance and interest in the suffering tradition of club gatherings.

Although this was a welcome gesture and a well-intentioned attempt by our senior leader to save the club, many think it missed the mark. Dues is not the problem; the clubs’ focus is. People will always pay for a good product. No one expects or needs the lingerie shows or bottle smashing debauchery of the 1980s or wants an irresponsible return to condoned alcohol abuse. But there are creative ways we can improve the O’Club so Marines young and old will again want to go there, even if they have to pay dues.

Here are a few suggestions:

Rewrite the rules to allow the use of the terms “happy hour” and “ladies’ night,” and include drink (and other) discounts. The Corps is collectively smart enough to act like adults without being prudish and should be able to offer incentives for patronage that are not offensive to the average person. End the reign of political correctness and get over the climate of fear that has made us squirm just at the sound of certain simple phrases that are still commonplace outside our base gates.

This does not mean we abandon the gains we’ve made in the equal opportunity realm since Tailhook or tolerate unacceptable alcohol abuse, such as driving under the influence. But we need not act like Puritans as our clubs wither away, scratching our heads as if we have no idea why the 25-year-old company grade officers would rather hang out somewhere else.

Look no further than one of Gen James L. Jones’ first White Letters as Commandant in which he stated that although we should not glamorize alcohol consumption, we need not stigmatize it either. He charged commanders to provide suitable alternatives to alcohol, but also to provide creative measures, such as education and transportation, to support those who did drink in moderation advice we have yet to really heed.

Physically restructure the clubs so that the dining rooms and banquet halls are no longer the primary focus. Since squadron and battalion plaques have been replaced with oil paintings and dice cups with candles, it is no wonder our captains would rather look elsewhere for fun. The Pensacola Aviation Museum Cubi-Point Café (replica of the Cubi Point, Philippines O’Club, with actual plaques relocated from there) is a fine example of how our clubs’ “focus of effort” should look, rather than like Applebees or Golden Corral.

Rethink the way we fund, source, and manage the clubs. Recategorize the O’Clubs so they can receive the necessary funding to survive, and even thrive. And above all, remember that it’s not about turning a profit; it’s about fostering morale and esprit de corps.

Give priority to active duty units for social gatherings and PME events, and provide incentives for local units to use the club rather than obstacles that dissuade them. In 2006 an F 14 squadron lost its bid to hold a “Tomcat decommissioning ceremony” at the Oceana, VA, O’Club, because a civilian police group had offered a more lucrative offer to use the same facility. Similar conflicts occur on our Marine bases, where the focus often seems to be on weddings, civics groups, or trade shows at the clubs. Units attempting to hold PME events at the club are charged hundreds of dollars to use built-in overhead projectors, so they go elsewhere. O’Club catering costs have soared to higher levels than most out in town, so change of command and retirement ceremony receptions now often occur in other local establishments or on the flightline because officers don’t want to pay the exorbitant costs. And no doubt, with the Commandant’s decision to halt club dues, MCCS responded with increased prices to compensate for lost revenue. This will only aggravate the decline in attendance and further widen the chasm between those who continue to support the club and those who have given up on it.

Focus on the captains. The company grade officers are the lifeblood of the O’Club, and until they want to go back there, the club will continue to fizzle toward its grave. Post-11 September 2001 security concerns and the post-Tailhook awareness and climate notwithstanding, leaders must initiate creative solutions and liberal policies for welcoming civilian guests at the clubs (particularly during social events, such as Friday happy hours) and allow responsible alcohol use and bar patronage while still improving measures to discourage driving while under the influence and other unacceptable alcohol-related behavior.

Integrate new and innovative solutions beyond happy hour that will encourage club attendance for active duty social gatherings. These could include coffeebars/lounges, poolside burger huts, wood-fired ovens for “build your own pizza” nights, and similar solutions aimed at the under-60 crowd. O’Club pools should have signs that state “swim at your own risk” rather than “no lifeguard on duty pool closed.” Officers are big boys and girls and should be trusted as the adults they are.

Finally, all must remember the reason we have O’Clubs, as mentioned before. It’s for the camaraderie, the esprit de corps. Officers from Australia and several other allied nations maintain their own officers’ clubs, in similar fashion to our Navy’s “wardrooms,” as well as the common noncombat deployment bars many units used to set up. This is not the preferred solution, but a club maintained by the officers themselves, if supported, is better than further degradation of the current O’Club facility into a completely dead tradition.

Many captains today have deployed three or four times to Iraq or Afghanistan and yet have never had a beer with their fellow Marines while on deployment in Okinawa or Thailand or the Philippines or in the Mediterranean as did so many warriors from a generation ago. With no actual frame of reference for comparison, the Marines of today don’t understand what they are missing, so it’s no wonder they aren’t complaining too loudly about the death of the O’Club. Loss of tradition such as this contributes greatly to ongoing company grade officer retention woes and is a real cause for concern.

It’s up to the majors and above to show these young officers our Corps’ current and future leaders the overwhelmingly positive things from yesterday’s O’Club, with respect, responsibility, and maturity. It’s time to bring back happy hour.

> Editor's Note: Recently Camp Pendleton closed its Officer's Club.

[Fud]

I remember the first officer's club that I ever attended, and boy was it wild. This was in 2006 at Vandenberg AFB, CA. The squadron commander at the time utilized the facility, and it was a great place to wind down after a hard week of training. The commander himself was a drinker, and he would have drinks with all of his instructors and students. Some thought it unprofessional, but most welcomed the morale boost in a service (USAF) that we needed. Once this commander moved on, and subsequently promoted, the new commander did not show the same enthusiasm for the club. I think many of the reasons mentioned above are right on target, but I did not see the command element mentioned (maybe I missed it). The command climate in any unit is essential for good morale and welfare, but the USAF has hindered this with many of its programs.

ORM is a classic example, in how this program not only mitigates risk, but tries to make it disappear completely. Sure, you risk some crazy happenings when excessive alcohol abuse is tolerated, but soldiers will be soldiers. Look at what our service asks us to do to our enemies, and what stresses that can create. Why not have a safe haven where you can drink to brothers lost, and come together over a few beers and shoot the shit. I hope to see this culture come back, but it will not happen at my current base. Too many people are worried about 0-0-1-3, and other programs like it. People, including myself, have been told that they are alcoholics simply because they have to call their wives, or AADD to take them home. Again, I hope this great tradition comes back, but I'm not sure that it will.

[SuperWSO]

After thinking about this some more, I realized one difference between the services. Since I joined the AF, every squadron I have been assigned to (outside of the current space command gig) has maintained a bar within the squadron. This was where parties were held, Friday roll call, and any other excuse to get together with the bro's and drink a couple beers. The squadron police their own and make sure nobody gets in trouble.

[Fud]

After thinking about this some more, I realized one difference between the services. Since I joined the AF, every squadron I have been assigned to (outside of the current space command gig) has maintained a bar within the squadron. This was where parties were held, Friday roll call, and any other excuse to get together with the bro's and drink a couple beers. The squadron police their own and make sure nobody gets in trouble.

The idea of a squadron bar was proposed in my unit (non-flying), but it was shot down by our leadership before we even got a proposal together. I don't think many people would have gone anyway though.

[Skitzo]

First commander coming onto active duty said back in his day it wasn't uncommon for people to abuse the club to the point that urinals would be missing from the men's room. He then proceeded to tell us that he had no problem for such debauchery to occur at the Club on his watch provided that restitution would be made. Haven't seen a commander so willing to step up for drunken debauchery since.

[Hacker]

After thinking about this some more, I realized one difference between the services. Since I joined the AF, every squadron I have been assigned to (outside of the current space command gig) has maintained a bar within the squadron. This was where parties were held, Friday roll call, and any other excuse to get together with the bro's and drink a couple beers. The squadron police their own and make sure nobody gets in trouble.

In the USAF, the "O Club" has been dead for a LONG time, for precisely the reasons the author states. I was stationed at Nellis in the mid 90s, and even the mighty "Check Six" lounge had all ready been castrated by then. What's wild is that things are even worse now.

Squadron bars are the natural alternative that grew out of those post Tailhook attitudes and actions. There's no reason to go to the "big house" when the alcohol is free in your squadron bar, the guys you really want to hang out and drink with are in your squadron bar, you can gamble/swear/smoke in your squadron bar, etc. In my squadron bar, I don't ever have to deal with some retarded O-6 shoe clerk walking up to me and telling me to watch my language because his wife is here. My squadron bar has DDs (LPA and non-drinkers) who are more than happy to drive you home safely, and if there are none available then I can crash on a couch or in someone's office without getting arrested or hassled.

Until the base Clubs start offering a better alternative (as in, start allowing the debauchery again), they're going to wither on the vine as they have over the last decade and a half. Personally, I've got nothing for them currently.

[Beaver]

Only one thing will bring the 25 year old CGOs back to the O'Club...a shot at getting laid. Dudes will only hang out at a sausage-fest for so long. And they won't pay $15 a month for the privilege.

[Eeyore]

Good article on Clubs. Yes, ever present political correctness abounds not only in military but society as a whole. Until we change the view of civilian society, whom are our bosses we will never see Clubs return.

[Boxhead]

Good article on Clubs. Yes, ever present political correctness abounds not only in military but society as a whole. Until we change the view of civilian society, whom are our bosses we will never see Clubs return.

I would venture to say most folks don't give two poos about how drunk we get on base...or if we have strippers and blow on the tables...they just want to sleep well under the umbrella of the security we provide...it's that 5% vocal minority (on both far ends of the spectrum) that will never rest until the Consolidated Club that has no alcohol at all has a Homo Lounge with fabulous decor that will be where your EO 2015 classes will be held, taught by a 4 star general African American female who only dabbles in lesbianism on some weekends. Bad ass buffet though.

[HerkDerka]

Until the base Clubs start offering a better alternative (as in, start allowing the debauchery again), they're going to wither on the vine as they have over the last decade and a half. Personally, I've got nothing for them currently.

I couldn't agree more. Take the fun away and the crew dogs will take the fun somewhere else.

Personally, I don't think the club will ever be an institution again. Senior leadership made a bad choice by ramping up the fun police at the club since we learned afterward that we could do the same thing in our own squadron. Not to mention, we learned that we could do it without paying club dues. I don't really see anything that can be done to shift it back to the club, nor do I think it should happen.

HD

[08Dawg]

I dunno...at least at Randolph the club's a pretty good place to hang out on Friday nights. The crud is actually crud, i.e. we actually hit people, and most Fridays there are a good number of people there. Hell, I knocked a two-star flat on his ass about two months ago and he got up laughing. Gen. Lorenz, who lives here, encourages the use of the club, as opposed to sending the fun police mutawa hunting down any slightly enebriated officer. Once I leave here, I have a feeling I'll miss the Auger.

[Fud]

I couldn't agree more. Take the fun away and the crew dogs will take the fun somewhere else.

Personally, I don't think the club will ever be an institution again.

I was thinking about this earlier today, and had a couple of thoughts worth mentioning.

I have noticed that the military has started to promote religion more and more since my time on AD. This being said, I do have many examples, but one sticks out in my mind. While at ASBC, a group of us decided to go to the O-club during the middle of the week. We went to the bar in the basement, and all of us ordered a pitcher of beer a piece. One of our female flight members who we did not invite came down a while later, and she was giving us the "stink-eye" the whole time. The next morning, we were all brought in by our flight commander and counseled on alcohol abuse. We were told that we violated 0-0-1-3, to which I replied "Doesn't a pitcher count as one drink?". He actually found this to be funny, and realized how the entire situation was.

The next point I thought of was how little time we actually have off. Any CGO in a career field will tell you that they are undermanned, but working more than in years past. Sometimes, the last people I want to party with after a long week of work are the peers in my squadron. Mainly because all they do is talk about work, and then it becomes a giant bitch-fest. I don't mind that on occasion, but it really doesn't accomplish anything to think about pipe dreams all day.

Each generation of officers serving in the military has an ebb/flow process where a bunch of CGOs end up getting out at one time. My unit is experiencing this, due to low morale, undermanning, and low satisfaction with the work we do. I wholeheartedly agree with HerkDerka when he says that the O-club will never be an institution again amongst CGOs, and it is a sad thing to see it go.

Edited May 9, 2009 by beast05

[Ill Destructor]

I have notices that the military has started to promote religion more and more since my time on AD. This being said, I do have many examples, but one sticks out in my mind. While at ASBC...

And religion plays into this whole thing how? Not following your train of thought.

On another note, I have had but one memorable experience at an officers' club and that would be at the Maxwell O' Club. Random Thursday, showed up to find out that a group of LtCol Selects had dropped $10K on alcohol for the whole place. There were a shit ton of people there and the alcohol was free. I eventually resorted to Heineken and tiny bottles of champagne 'cause everything else had been consumed. Bad karaoke out the ass, 25 cent wings, free liquor (no Jager!) and plenty of "scenery." Drunk out of our minds, I stumbled home with a female classmate of mine. GREAT f-in' time.

And then I got to Columbus and to our "co-located" piece of crap...

So yes... alcohol, women, HERITAGE and no fear of retribution... Bring that to the officers' clubs and the services will see an immediate boost in membership. Until then, I'd rather take my chances downtown.

[Edet four spealing]

Edited May 9, 2009 by Ill Destructor

[Guest Lockjaw25]

The club at Laughlin was pitiful during my time spent there in T-6s. You could tell it had once been a great place, but when we got there, the beers shown as on tap most of the times didn't even exist. We were told there was always free food on Friday afternoons...until of course parties were being catered in another room and the bar was somehow "closed" for those events (WTF???), and no food was made. Then they closed it down for a while to "renovate" it...never went back to check it out, but probably to take out all of the flying related stuff in it, so as not to offend anyone.

We even brought up the club issues with the end of course critique, since they asked for issues with services...who knows if anything is being done. But seriously, they told us to be on our toes when sampling the fine establishments in Del Rio due to Texas ABC, but didn't give us a good alternative on base. I remember hearing the stories told about O Clubs by some of our Reserve Lt Col IPs, and wondered what the hell happened. Anyways, this guy is spot on.

[Horns05]

The article dismisses the dues like that is the least of their problems, but I thinks its part of the systematic issue. Why would I pay $20 bucks a month to get a "discount" on drinks and the "food" at the buffet. I agree horrible programs like 0-0-1-3 have not helped, but the dues combined with the unnecessary credit card don't help the situation.