Photo By Alexandra Shea | Kim Bosco, training instructor, Army Family Team Building Program, Army Community...... read more read more
By Alexandra Shea
Mountaineer staff
As the holiday season nears, Soldiers start planning for an evening of elegant gowns, bow ties and finding the right pattern of fun fabric to have “party shirts” tailored. This is the season of military balls.
For Soldiers who have been in the military for a few years, this is an evening of splendor, military tradition and seeing their significant other dressed to impress. But for new Soldiers who have never attended a formal military function, this could be daunting.
How does a Soldier who doesn’t know survive a military ball? The short answer is to attend a ball etiquette class provided by Army Community Service (ACS), Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. This is what staff at the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity-Fort Carson did recently in anticipation of its upcoming formal. Titled “A Guide to Military Formals,” it is also commonly referred to as the “how not to embarrass yourself” class.
“We want to bring the knowledge of Army traditions to people who haven’t had an opportunity to experience them yet,” said Kim Bosco, training instructor, Army Family Team Building Program, ACS. “We want them to feel more comfortable. If they understand what the program is, the timeline and expectations of behavior, they are going to enjoy themselves more.”
The class contained information that centered on the two golden rules. The first rule covered being comfortable and knowing what a military ball is and how it is operated. Steeped in military tradition, a military ball begins with a social hour to provide an opportunity to talk with people a Soldier doesn’t usually see at work and to introduce his spouse or date to co-workers. This time is usually kept to exactly an hour and is followed by the receiving line, which consists of members of the command team, their spouses and the guest speaker. Drinks should never be carried through this line.
“The second golden rule is to maintain the professionalism of the event, and don’t be the person everyone is going to talk about next week,” said Bosco.
This rule covered a series of topics to include expectations of behavior, acceptable dress and alcohol.
While a military ball is conducted after duty hours, members of a Soldier’s command team are still present, so behaving in accordance with the seven Army Values is expected. While alcohol is available during these formals, it should be consumed in moderation.
“People tend to drink a little faster than they normally would when in an environment they aren’t used to,” said Bosco. “You don’t want to be ‘the one’ and it’s usually always someone who had too much to drink.”
She continued about helping battle buddies to keep in check and stressed using no DUI services or car services such as Uber or Lyft.
Images of military ball dress failures, now made famous by social media outlets, helped explain how prom dresses were inappropriate for a formal military ball. While attendees of the class cringed and laughed, the message was clear that the military is a more conservative organization and dresses that are extremely revealing and short are inappropriate.
Bosco wrapped up the class by explaining the sequence of events that usually take place during a ball. A program is set at each table setting and contains a list of the events for the evening, responses to toasts and information about the guest speaker. She explained how the program would help newer Soldiers during the ball to know what to say, when and to help them be comfortable during the evening.
“You don’t want to get all dolled up to get back home and say that was miserable,” said Bosco.
Unit members can call ACS at 526-4590 to request staff members or volunteers to teach the ball etiquette class.
| Date Taken: | 11.06.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.22.2017 13:14 |
| Story ID: | 260063 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 114 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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