Anyone saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base?

Hell yes, stationed in Germany, at the time,
F.R.G. 88-91, German soldier approaches us. I did not know the rank of this soldier, (had flourishes) "When in doubt-whip it out) I saluted, he returned. I came to understand Germans don't nessessarily take it hard, knowing we don't know their fank structure well- sorry on my behalf. What keyed me was that this man was very tall. I just follwed the ole adage. " Go w/what you know"

When I was stationed at NWC China Lake in 1981, I was the first female Chief ever assigned there. Salutes came often. I'd return the salute, then casually mention that it was ok, I worked for a living too. Usual reaction was "Where'd you come from?" "Hawaii - they let us be Chiefs over there". We'd have a laugh, talk story for a while, then meet at the club for happy hour.

Just the opposite. While traveling to report for school at Quantico, I stopped to visit a longtime friend and his family. When the taxi I was in pulled up to the gate at Bolling AFB, the guard on the gate rendered a snappy salute to this Marine Private. He assumed that if there were no stripes on my sleeve that I must be an officer.

When I first attended USN Basic at Great Lakes, IL, the rule of thumb was, "If it moves, salute it, if it doesn't, paint it."

Later, attending Army Basic at Fort Sill, I found this wisdom to be sound.

Later still, OIF 1, everyone's in DBUs, that "cinnamon" colored Specialist insignia often looked like oak leaves if the light wasn't right.

Oh, well! Better to make an SPC laugh than to piss off a MAJ.

Great question and comments. I grew up on AF bases (dad retired with 32 years as O6) and had no trouble understanding Officer ranks in all services and USAF enlisted ranks. I retired after 28+ years in Navy, found Navy enlisted ranks logical but always get confused with Army and Marine enlisted. However no matter the service a senior grizzled non com is ALWAYS obvious no matter the service

As a Specialist in The Army I've gotten saluted by Marines more times than I can count, especially at night when the black insignia looks a lot like a LTCOL lol. I've also gotten lock tight parade rest out of more E1-E3 Marines than I can remember after getting asked what my grade was lmao, and yes like a True Specialist I milked the parade rest thing quite a bit and don't feel bad in the least lol. Most if not all of my NCO's cracked a bit of a smile and laugh (after the fact) too haha

As a major, I initiated the salute to a Third Class Petty Officer. We both just laughed and went on our way.

Yes! I had fun trying to figure out European ranks when I was in NATO. As you say, we would laugh about it... and such mix-ups would even start conversations. And lead to friendships!

The old rule applied when in doubt salute. That said, I was finishing up my Army career in West Berlin (Berlin Brigade) in 85 when in fatigues a fresh young 2nd Lt. who seemed lost at the time saluted me and said'' morning sir could you direct me to Brigade HQ ? ..or something in that order. Once he realized I was only a senior NCO he without missing a beat asked the question again. I gladly saluted him and gave him directions. Guess I should have been an officer...

I do not know how in the fuck you can confuse a chiefs anchor with any officer insignia. They are the same across all branches bars, rail road tracks, oak leaves, eagles, and stars.