Posted on Jul 9, 2014
Anyone saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base?
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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.
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 302
Yes, but as a captain (O-3) I saluted the E-2 on purpose.
I was at a training base and made a stop at the post office. I was walking toward the post office door and I watched as the airman was coming out of the building, heads down, engrossed in a letter he was reading. I instantly knew he was going to miss the salute. Not a big deal to me, because he was so into the letter he was reading while walking.
While it wasn't a big deal to me, it was a big deal to all the other enlisted folks who were there at the post office, too. As I saw the situation unfolding, I scanned the area and saw many people who also saw this unfolding. I'd never seen so many wide-eyed folks wondering what the captain was going to do when this airman screwed up and didn't salute the officer. I didn't want to be a jerk about it, but I needed to do the right thing.
At that moment, I figured out the "right thing". As the airman moved within saluting range, I snapped to attention with my back to the post office wall, popped my sharpest salute, and in a command voice projected, "Good afternoon, SIR!" (After all, if he was not saluting me, he must outrank me.)
He looked up, looking a bit confused, and returned my salute. He kept on walking but still a bit unaware of what happened.
At that point I scanned the crowd and saw many smiles and a few thumbs up from the primarily enlisted audience.
While others will disagree with what I did that day, I've thought back to it many times during my career. I think about empathy. I think about kindness. Yeah, these are not two words often associated with the military. But, I was in the Air Force.
Could I have stopped the airman and corrected him? Yes.
Would it have made any difference to him? Probably not, other than the embarrassment.
Did I win goodwill with the rest of the audience that day? Absolutely.
Would I do it again the same way? Yes.
I was at a training base and made a stop at the post office. I was walking toward the post office door and I watched as the airman was coming out of the building, heads down, engrossed in a letter he was reading. I instantly knew he was going to miss the salute. Not a big deal to me, because he was so into the letter he was reading while walking.
While it wasn't a big deal to me, it was a big deal to all the other enlisted folks who were there at the post office, too. As I saw the situation unfolding, I scanned the area and saw many people who also saw this unfolding. I'd never seen so many wide-eyed folks wondering what the captain was going to do when this airman screwed up and didn't salute the officer. I didn't want to be a jerk about it, but I needed to do the right thing.
At that moment, I figured out the "right thing". As the airman moved within saluting range, I snapped to attention with my back to the post office wall, popped my sharpest salute, and in a command voice projected, "Good afternoon, SIR!" (After all, if he was not saluting me, he must outrank me.)
He looked up, looking a bit confused, and returned my salute. He kept on walking but still a bit unaware of what happened.
At that point I scanned the crowd and saw many smiles and a few thumbs up from the primarily enlisted audience.
While others will disagree with what I did that day, I've thought back to it many times during my career. I think about empathy. I think about kindness. Yeah, these are not two words often associated with the military. But, I was in the Air Force.
Could I have stopped the airman and corrected him? Yes.
Would it have made any difference to him? Probably not, other than the embarrassment.
Did I win goodwill with the rest of the audience that day? Absolutely.
Would I do it again the same way? Yes.
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Suspended Profile
Guilty as charged Marine Cpl 1984 Pearl Harbor. Dang Master Chief with all that shinning stuff on his collar.
I saluted the correct rank, but they chose to not return it. I think they were not used to getting salutes from US Army soldiers
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When I was an E-4, my Sham-Shield caught a lot of salutes from LT's and Catains, who thought it was a black oakleaf.'
Damned Petty Officers, always caught me. I would see that bird, way before I saw the stripes.
The worst time was after returning from Japan, where all the soldiers salute everybody.
Damned Petty Officers, always caught me. I would see that bird, way before I saw the stripes.
The worst time was after returning from Japan, where all the soldiers salute everybody.
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Not a salute, but as a young fresh-faced 21-year-old Cadet at the Coast Guard Academy, I had a port call in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The collar devices for First Class Cadets are a blue shield (which somewhat matches the blue of the Operational Dress Uniform), upon which there is a fouled anchor with a star at the top of it. Walking out of the Exchange, two petty officers walk out, look at me oddly, then say "Have a good morning, Senior Chief". I laughed it off; but given that most Senior Chiefs have been in the service longer than I had been alive at that point, I hoped it would be pretty obvious from my baby face that I wasn't an E-8; even if their insignia is also a (much larger) fouled anchor with a star.
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As a private just out of basic training, I once saluted an NCO in class Bs thinking his unit crest was officer rank. To his credit, he laughed it off.
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Joint bases are easy. Try NATO when the French bring a ship in. Looks like a ballet troupe.
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