Anyone saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base?

When I was on a JSDF base in Japan as a SSG, the ranks were confusing, so we wound up saluting each other daily

As an FMF Corpsman that was Marine Corps regs, I would wear my PO rank on the epaulettes of the tanker jacket and other sailors would salute me all the time.

I've had a Major salute me as a PFC while wearing a slick gortex. Then he started patting my chest saying " I swore that there was a Lt. Col rank there.....????" We laughed about it and I walked away. Then while on the Kuwaiti naval base the Kuwaitis would always think that our NCOs and lower enlistees were officers. I even had a group of Kuwaitis going to attention while I walked by as a Specialist. Since I don't speak a lick of Arabic I just told them to carry on in English and they seemed to understand. Basically most understand that you were respectful and figured no harm done.

As an enlisted man it was easy; salute anything moving. If it was stationary, paint it.

Different for me, but I was prior service when I joined the Army. At Ft. Dix, myself and another prior service and fellow Nam Vet, were LITERALLY sent home and told to call the DS each Sunday evening and he'd tell us when we had to be there for the mandatory stuff -- weapons qualification, PT Test, Grenade & Bayonet, etc. We were only there four times after being sent home, including for graduation.
We both wore Class A's (Dress Greens at the time) and MARINES used to salute us both at the Bus Station there, and at the one in Philly. They confused our enlisted "gold" US and MOS symbols, PLUS we both had combat ribbons. It was a bit embarrassing as well as funny, but we both decided to return their salutes as we should have. Didn't want to embarrass them by saying we were only E-4's. LOL

I don't think there is a Marine alive today who hasn't on accident saluted a corpsman at least once because they wear that shiny petty officer shit on their collar. Lol. Like a raccoon seeing something shiny, better get a laugh from a corpsman then an ass chewing from a Major or something. Or a battalion gunner like I did once. Only time I didn't follow the salute the shiny thing rule and it blew up in my face. Aren't there like only 26 battalion gunners in the USMC!?

Never had that problem and I didn't find it hard learning the rank insignia for all Officers, Warrant Officers and enlisted of all branches of the US Armed Forces. That includes, Army, Navy, Marines and also the Coast Guard. I have taught classes even in Military Customs and courtesy and had learned much of that information I later taught before even entering the service as a Cadet at a Military Academy. The changes over time were not hard to adapt to although even today I still remember every detail on a rank insignia chart from all branches that was posted on a wall at that Military Academy.

Hey I went to basic at 30, so when I was at Ft. Lost in the woods for AIT and it was cold, they would see this older guy walking down the side walk in his dress greens and trench coat with glasses and salute before they could see my rank all the time.

I was stationed at a joint base for 6 months where I had Navy and Marine instructors. I never saluted an enlisted Soldier when I was there. The hardest part was trying to distinguish the senior Marine ranks. It felt like unless you were two feet away and staring intently, you'd get it wrong.

As a SPC in a joint environment, not only have the navy ranks become the bane of my existence, I have also been on the receiving end of a variety of salutes and courtesies that I had no business recieving. I have been saluted by an airman leading a flight, (caused me to turn around to see who was behind me and left a very confused SPC in their wake), been called a 1Sgt (!) by a group of airmen (no idea about this one), had to tell a bunch of new marines that they do not stand at parade rest for people of my rank no matter what the circumstance, and most recently after giving a CPO a "Morning, Chief" got a response of a salute and a "Oh, good morning sir" which once again led to a quick salute and much confusion from me. In these situations, I was caught off guard and the people mostly moved out before I could say anything. What should I do in these situations?

Never had a problem. All branch officer collar devices are the same. I look for the brass, etc, and salute that way.

As far as the Navy everyone, easy way to tell. Here is the breakdown:
In our NWU's- enlisted have silver name tags, chiefs and officers have gold.

In our SU's- enlisted is khaki top/black bottoms. Chiefs and officers will be all khaki.

In dress uniform- officers will have the collar boards everyone has mentioned.

Yes, chief is normally the hardest from a distance, but look for the chief anchor.

Never had any dealings with Navy officers when I was in, but foreign service officers, that was a different story. While at Ft Sill, we had German, British, French (& a lot of other nations) officers attending Arty related schools. Lucky for us, they gave them Army equivilent rank to attach to their uniform!

When I came back from Nam, I was stationed at Ft. Hood Texas. Being a new guy there, I had to go to a bunch of stupid classes. While walking back from one of these unnecessary classes, I passed a female Navy person. This bitch started to dress me down for not saluteing an officer. I apologised and said that I didn,t recognise Navy Rank . I just didn't know Navy rank. This Bitch kept complaining so I told her to go fuck herself. I had just returned from combat in Nam a few weeks earler and was in no mood for her bullshit. I was in good shape and knew that I could out run her and didn,t have my name on my uniform so she had no way of identifying me. I had issues from Nam and wasn't about to put up with her bullshit, officer or not. It was fun and I really enjoyed it.

The Salute is a sign of Respect. Therefore, it is not possible to salute the wrong rank. As an E-5, an E-7 who was of my odd MOS -97EFR, moved to Bragg to my team working on Haiti for the last 4 months of his military career. He would salute me every time he encountered me outside. I would salute in return. I asked him about why he always saluted me, he explained about the Act of respect Respect. I noted how he did not salute the other enlisted soldiers on our team. He knew exactly what I did and how many tasks I completed each day compared to the other members of the team. It made me proud to be acknowledged in such a simple gesture. So, if you know that the Salute is a Sign of Respect we normally use for those of higher rank, it can be used for one of any rank. Have a great day. Consider this a salute to you my fellow brothers and sisters in Arms!

This was a good assignment,because I learned about all of of the services which included the National Guard and Reserves.

This only happened one time when I was first assigned to MEPS

You think a Joint Base is bad? Try a multi-national one. Oy!

I had one place that I just saluted everyone, to be safe. Got a few confused looks, but most just returned my salute. And I got saluted more than a couple times myself.

I have a short story about being saluted that is kind of funny. Upon returning from Vietnam in 1967 I was assigned to the USAG Yakima Firing Center in Yakima Washington. I had been in the army since 1963 at that time. Unfortunately, I ran into a "little" trouble while I was stationed there and was busted from E4 to E2. After removing my rank, I was left with nothing on the sleeves of my dress uniform, with the exception of my combat patch, and of course, I had my two overseas bars and at the time one service hash mark, as well. I also had several ribbons and am a CIB recipient. Now with a lot of new service members during the Vietnam Era and many of them not sure of anything, when someone approached me walking down the street they would see no stripes, the ribbon rack, the CIB, etc and assumed, he's got all that stuff and no visible rank, it must be an officer and they would snap a sharp salute with a "good morning Sir"! Like a good soldier, I always returned their salutes. My time of being saluted was short-lived as I was promoted back to E3 as soon as I was eligible.

I have done it more times than I care to admit. But better safe than sorry. And if you are wrong, something to smile or laugh about. Never had anyone get mad I made a mistake.

The Marines don’t have their own doctors or medics so we use the Navy for that, too. It’s like coming out o the hospital and seeing shiny on the collar of someone walking up to the building. And only realizing too late it is a chief… on the other hand, the corpsmen are affectionately know as “Devil Docs”, as they are out in the field taking care of us Marines with their asses on the line, too.