In what may be an inauspicious bit of timing, given accusations of a frat-house like mentality in some government organizations, a young Public Affairs Airman documents a long-standing Air Force tradition:  the combat dining-in:

This year, I was in the right place at the right time and was able to attend the 2012 Schriever Dining In… 

From there it moved on to toasts and the filling of the Grog Bowl. I was not prepared for this at all. Everything from dirty socks to pineapple juice to boots filled with “dirt,” was added to this “used” toilet bowl.
 
Every unit was able to contribute to this tasty concoction. You couldn’t just walk up and add the ingredient though, you had to add it with a rhyme.

The military is full of traditions, some more “solemn” than others.  (In truth, there are solemn portions of even the most raucous dining-in.)  Even the relatively young Air Force has a fair share of traditions, some it may hold more strongly simply because of the shortness of its history.  Fighter pilot traditions are a world all their own.

As the Airman found out, though, it is kind of nice to have some idea what you’re getting in to…