Posted on Jul 9, 2014
SFC Steven Borders
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Out of curiosity how many members have saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base or Assignment. With me working on JBAB (Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling) it has happened a couple times. I find it hard to recognize the Navy ranks sometimes at a distance. And found myself saluting a Chief. I have always followed the rule "when in doubt whip it out". Most just laugh and we carry on about our day. Would love to hear some stories.
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Lt Col John Grimes
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Saluting is the custom in the military to show respect - or to just say good morning. Military officers expect to be greeted with a salute - a sign of respect and a formal way of saying "good day". Enlisted guys can be salute but they don't expect it - if confused, just salute and give whomever you are saluting a verbal "hello" or "Good Day." Nice!!!
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SSgt Linda Staley-Blayton
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We were told in AF boot camp, “If it moves salute it, if it don’t piss on it”.
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SSG Environmental Specialist
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Hell I was 32 when I joined, at Ft. Leonardwood wearing Class A uniform, I got saluted by privates even though I was just a PFC myself. I guess when in doubt salute.
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CSM Charles Hayden
CSM Charles Hayden
4 y
ALWAYS ! SALUTES ARE INEXPENSIVE !
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LTC Program Manager
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If you've never saluted a Navy E4, have you even been in a joint environment?
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LTC David Brown
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I was found n Bosnia at Tulsa Airbase. Finance office was where NATO headquarters were located in “Salute Alley “ as it was called. Going there was a nightmare. American service members along with NATO officers and enlisted from other countries. I know I screwed up a few times but nobody called me on it!
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CPO Mineman
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When I was still in flight status and wore my flight suit on a daily basis, I would get saluted quite often. That flight suit is pretty tricky.
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LCDR Aerospace Engineering Duty, Maintenance (AMDO and AMO)
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>1 y
More so with Marines. Every other branch figured out how to get ranks onto flight suits, but with the Marines, you need to get name-tag close before you know who you're dealing with.
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SrA Hal Nelson
SrA Hal Nelson
>1 y
Isn't it easy to see by their hat?
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Cpl Matthew Wall
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I have saluted more Navy Chiefs then I know what to do with. They all look the same with shiny brass. We were always taught salute the brass, but they all wear it and I felt stupid every time I did it.
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SGT Chris Birkinbine
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Edited 11 y ago
I graduated AIT and within a couple months found my self deployed to Iraq, and saluting every damn Navy enlisted, or Navy corpsman I saw.

I just kept thinking to my self how young some of these colonels were... and how damn many of them there were.

My only excuse was I was an E-2, and after several puzzled looks and laughter, a Navy officer set me straight. All worth a good laugh now. Stupid Navy eagle...haha
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LCDR Aerospace Engineering Duty, Maintenance (AMDO and AMO)
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11 y
To be fair, our eagle predates the Army's.
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PO3 Liam Keptner
PO3 Liam Keptner
>1 y
We also don't call them eagles - we wear our crows proudly.
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SGT Alicia Brenneis
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I was just talking about this the other day. Bagrum was a salute zone and we were always getting yelled at because we would visit for re-supply and forget to salute. When we were there I could not tell you how many Navy PVTs I saluted after dark! The first thing you see is the bird. I would get so mad once I got close enough to realize who I saluted. I would be like... "really! Your just goanna let us salute you and not say anything?" Eventually we gave up on trying and just excepted getting yelled at.
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CPO Hospital Corpsman
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11 y
Navy Pvts?
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SGT Alicia Brenneis
SGT Alicia Brenneis
11 y
PVT is the army abbreviation for private/ lower enlisted. I'm not sure if Navy rank works that way, I just know they were not officers.
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SCPO Emergency Management Director
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11 y
SGT Alicia Brenneis E4=PO3 (Petty Officer 3rd Class), E5=PO2 (Petty Officer 2nd Class), E6=PO1 (Petty Officer 1st Class)
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PO1 Matthew Wicke
PO1 Matthew Wicke
11 y
I've never saluted the wrong rank on a Joint Base, but once in a while I'd accidentally salute a Chief...at night.
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CWO3 Division Officer
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When I was a CPO at the US Merchant Marine Academy my crew and I were saluted constantly be the Midshipman. Now that I am a CWO on a Navy base they all look at me like I am the first CWO they ever saw. The odd thing is there are quite a few CWOs on this base both USCG & USN.
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