Anyone saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base?

I rather salute and be wrong, than not salute and get a talking to. Saluting is a sign of respect, give it to a fellow brother/sister.

Yes i saluted a wrong rank. They just used m their hands in "a no" kind of way and were discreet as I was with others. I greatly appreciated that. It happened when I was in training basic or ait.

I have done it in my past also. I was at Edgewood Arsenal going through mechanic school and I saluted a foreign (Royal Thai Army) Soldier because he had 3 gold stars on each epaulet and I assumed he was an officer. Turned out he was a SSG. I felt a little silly but the Soldier thanked me for my respect and returned the salute and all was good. After all, regulations say you have to salute Officers , but you can salute anyone you care to. It is a military greeting and show of respect.

When I was in basic in the AF in 65' that question came up and it was suggested if they had a whole lot of fancy stuff on the shoulders you would not go wrong . Then later on after I was commissioned it took a while to remember they were saluting me lmao

It never failed my brother when in his Chief's uniform (all the gold - lol) was on base with me got saluted ALL the time! At my Change of Command, he and my CG were talking he mentioned to the CG, "I've got more gold than you". The CGs response was: "Oh yeah? Well, I have more STARS than YOU!" and they both laughed. When I was visiting my brother in Pearl Harbor, he and I were walking down the pier and I never saw so many sailors seem to have lost something when they got just with 'saluting' distance of me. I was an Army Captain at the time..... So many of them so my CPO brother didn't even try to make corrections...and in the end it didn't really matter and we both laughed. When we went to get a hair cut, I went to stand in line and a young sailor who had just sat down got up and offered me his chair....and a second young sailor got up and offered my brother his. I felt awkward about it, but according to my brother....not at ALL uncommon. As an officer in the Army 34 years, I never ever thought to cut or move to the head of a line - anywhere. But as we all know, each branch has its own customs and courtesies.

When in doubt, whip it out! A salute, that is. Better to have a Chief Petty Officer tell you that you don't need to salute him than a brand new 2LT reaming you because you didn't.

YESSSSS! I once saluted someone in the Air Force mistaking them for an actual servicemember!
God...how embarrasing that day was....

Heck I joined at age 30 as a PFC, at Ft. Leonardwood when I was in my Class A's I got saluted several times by privates.

One AF airman saluted me because of my unit crest. Green/gold star on my cap. I was just a lowly SP4

If it's Navy Brass of any country isn't the "Brass" your key as in the braid on the U. If not an Nco has the rank on the sleeve. Cammos on the other hand are a bit confusing unless you get close enough?

At fort Gordon not only happened all time, it had Officers and NCO from other NATO countries doing training there too. It was crazy. I would see some NATO soldiers with rank that shines turns out it would be just a lower enlisted. Than when the Velcro patches came in use the SPC e-4 rank looks like a subdued LT corneal rank when they coming walking up to.

I was a Navy Petty Officer while serving on 2 different ships and more bases than I dare to try to remember for Naval Training Centers. Luckily, my dad was army and I learned those early on as he was also a civilian at Wright Patterson AFB, so those were taken care of. The Navy and Coast Guard are in a world of their own, yet we adapted from our mother county England. Officers are not the problem for me, it is the enlisted ranks.

A salute is free...a chewing-out lasts a bit longer. :) When stationed near NATO HQ, as an Army Captain ( O3 ), I recvd a phone call from a gentleman who identified himself as Captain Smith, requesting help with a matter. I said "How ya doing, Buddy?" or something like that...and was met with cold silence. I quickly queried him "Are you an ARMY Captain or a NAVY Captain?" He replied "I am a US Naval Officer." I apologized, while thinking "Eff you, ya Swabbie." and proceeded to assist him. Effem if they take their rank so serious...

Now that Air Force gloves (pants pockets) are okay, it's only going to make it worse.

Two distinct times come to mind. As an Army Reservist I was assigned to a Reserve Center (1999) that was a quarter mile out the back gate of McConnell AFB. A couple of junior enlisted airmen saluted me enroute to their DFAC, mistaking my Specialist's "sham shield for LTC leaf, in part because there was black behind my rank on the BDU cap.
The second was when a brigade of MN ARNG infantrymen were preparing for a (2004) deployment to Iraq. The 3d Cavalry DUI, affixed on my beret, included a bugle standing on it's bell in gold. They saw it flash in the sun and thought I was a 2LT.

In the first instance, I turned around looking for who they were saluting. In the second, I sort of ducked and threw my hands up to shield myself from what was being "thrown" at me.
I've often wondered why this poses so much trouble for people. Although the Navy & Coast Guard use different nomenclature, all of the commissioned officers in our military branches use the same insignia for pay grades (O-4 is a gold leaf whether major or LT Commander.) Subdued sew-on is(or was) a little confusing with black and brown bars or leaves in the Army & blue or rust orange in the AF, but they're still bars & leaves.

On Howard AFB, Panama, those navy guys had so much bling on their hats, they would get me every time.

No, but as a private in AIT at the NTC in San Diego, the trainees there would salute us when we were in our Class As. Always thought that was weird, but then I remembered an old cartoon saying. . .If it don't walk, if it don't talk, salute it! A little backwards, but you get my drift! Guess the Navy worked that way! LOL

I got lucky when we left for Honduras and Granada we were aboard a ship so we didn't have to salute I was aboard for 6 days and I couldn't tell you one ding dang rank lmao then I west point we had to stay on an airforce base they didn't salute anyone only had to walk around and do much of nothing just only our own but to the CW5Sam R Baker some of us knew what your rank was lol

When I was still a national guard years ago and we were wearing the brace with our unit insignia on it, I was the first 1/111th infantry And unit crest was Benjamin Franklin at a distance it looked like a lieutenant bar and we get saluted all the time.