[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by MoFo

Just what the hail is a regimental mess?

That's pretty much what the original meaning was dating back to the Brits during the Napoleonic Wars.

http://www.napoleon-series.org/milit...on/c_mess.html

I think it has evolved a bit to mean a gathering of the Regiment officers and senior enlisted at a dinner. The central idea is the same but in a full blown dress formal, sometimes with the ladies..

http://regimentalrogue.com/srsub/mess_dinners.htm

I think it is sometimes called Dining In..