Photo By Cpl. Matheus Hernandez | Col. Robert Clements, commanding officer, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division,...... read more read more
Subscribe
OKINAWA, Japan - In honor of African-American History month, the Okinawa chapter of the National Naval Officers Association hosted a mess night for service members and guests of III Marine Expeditionary Force here Feb. 26 at the Tengan Castle.
NNOA is an organization that deals with recruitment, retention, and career planning for minority officers creating diversity in the Marine Corps and all organizations of the military services.
The Marine Corps Drill and Ceremonies Manual explains a mess night as a tool used to foster camaraderie, traditional discipline and love of the Marine Corps.
Another purpose of a mess night is to show reverence to troops who have gone before and give service members an opportunity to socialize with one another in their best dress uniform, said Maj. Kisha Flagg, camp commander, Camp Gonsalves.
“Mess night is one of those great traditions in the Marine Corps I don’t think we do enough of,” said Brig. Gen. Craig Crenshaw, commanding general, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III MEF. “This really builds camaraderie within the unit and we’re very fortunate every time we have a chance to do this.”
Crenshaw was selected by members of the association to serve as the guest of honor for the mess night.
“I felt very fortunate to be the guest of honor especially for an organization such as National Naval Officers Association,” said Crenshaw. “To be here at all, really, is pretty motivating.”
“I think this is a great opportunity to celebrate African-American History month in this fashion,” he said.
In addition to allowing members of the NNOA to celebrate African-American History month and practice the traditions of the Marine Corps, the mess night also provided the organization a chance to raise scholarship funds to award to qualified high school students, according to Sgt. Maj. Richard Thresher, sergeant major of Headquarters Battalion, 3rd Marine Division.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to come together to show a little camaraderie and see things that they haven’t seen before, such as the mess night,” he said. “The NNOA is a widely known organization and we have a very strong chapter here on Okinawa.”
Members of NNOA have provided several fundraisers in the past for their scholarship program and plan to make the mess night an annual event, said Maj. Eric Kelly, the president of the Okinawa chapter of NNOA.
“Last year, [NNOA] gave away $3,000 in scholarships to deserving high school students to further their education,” said Kelly. “This year we look to do even [more].”
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2011 02:58 |
| Story ID: | 66456 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 194 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NNOA celebrates African-American history, by Cpl Matheus Hernandez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT