Anyone saluted the wrong rank working on a Joint Base?

If you don't know the difference in officers rank of the various services you flunked boot camp. Lmao

How about being saluted while wearing a uniform for a scouting organization?
I was Commander for the Assembly of God scouting organization called Royal Rangers. My uniform was khakis, just like many military uniforms, and the rank insignia was "Captain" bars, except that they were blue instead of silver.

As I was riding my bicycle back to base one evening, I had to stop and show ID at the MP office since I didn't have a sticker. The Sgt at the desk saluted me and requested to see my ID.

My ID showed that I was PFC Allen, but my rank insignia, the double blue bars plus my ribbons and medals, was what caught his attention. He asked how I could be a PFC in the Marine Corps and a Captain in a foreign military. Remember, Royal Rangers.

While it wasn't much, it was a moment of humor for me.

I would fine myself like you saluting an fine a sorry on base in Afghanistan it happened all the time you would see NG's arm's just flying. an all you would say it get's better an smile an not rip they a new one.

The closest I can say I came to that is I stood at parade rest when I returned home from AIT and the airport had National Guardsmen scanning people for fevers (It was the beginning of Covid). I was a E1 fuzzy still and a Air National Guardsman came up to me. I thought his rank on his chest was E5 so I went to parade rest, that was until I was corrected by an Army Guard SFC that told me that the airman was an E4 and not an NCO. I still can barely read Air Force rank to this day.

I’m not exactly 20/20 but I also don’t wear glasses I work with a lot of officers as a medic and being in a HHC so often times I find myself doing it to SPC or other personnel at a distance as it hard to see until they get close in the sun or in the field a few times I’ve seen officer thinking they were nco and as I correct myself they just laff with me and we chat I’ve also had many times treating people like joes out of uniform until I look at the rank they Wright on the paperwork and quickly correct myself

Welcome to the elite club of "Sorry Chief".

Besides having saluted the wrong rank as a freshly minted E-1, I have been saluted inappropriately. They have a nice veterans memorial in town and hold a Veteran's Day service every year. One year, I was wearing a command ball cap in Mcdonald's and a couple of WW2 and Korean vets asked if I would attend, and to bring a piece of my uniform, if I still had it. So, I dragged out my dress blues, went with the ribbons, and showed up. Suffice it to say that I was the only person in attendance wearing a dress uniform -- and one of the very few who actually had a complete uniform versus simply a hat or jacket. Honestly, looking like Popeye as I did, people came up and asked if they could be photographed next to me. At some point, a gentleman wearing a cammie jacket with Major's oak leaves and National Guard emblem saluted me and I returned it, laughing that as an E-6, I was supposed to salute him. (Not that I intended to, he was out of uniform...) His reply was that he automatically saluted any time he saw that much gold on one uniform. I sort of forgot how shiny all those service stripes can be... It also made me wonder how much interservice command you saw on your way to Major in the Guard...

Heck yes. It was my first day outside of boot camp and I was sent to Great Lakes in North Chicago to attend Class "A" school. Crossing the footbridge on the way to the uniform shop, I came across some personnel in uniforms I could not identify with epaulets on their shoulders. My experience to that point was that you saluted everything with epaulets since enlisted did not have them. It turned out that these guys were enlisted from some Arabic country who were attending one of the schools at the base -- which probably explained the really strange looks they were giving me as they returned my salute.

I'm a Post Coastie. One evening, when we were still authorized Seafarer bellbottom jeans and chambray LS shirts (Like the Navy) I was doing an emergency service on the rear range light at Rosevelt Rhodes Naval base in Puerto Rico. The Navy are not close-quarter ship handlers and so I was over there from San Juan a lot to shoot angles on the buoys that had been dragged around and other stuff to hold the harbor in place until the USCGC SageBrush could get over there to reposition everything. I needed to cover a lot of territory to get to the tower -- I was carrying a small acid battery "hot-pack" and a tool bag with my right hand and a larger tool bag across my left shoulder. I was working to get the thing installed before sunset so the light would be watching for incoming traffic. I was in the middle of this big meadow when a woman Lt. Commander crossed my path. I passed her a very smart salute with my left hand. I got four paces beyond her before she shouted "Sailor, halt. About Face!" She read me the riot act. I had my CG name tag on the shirt but I looked like I was one of her's. The Coast Guard was authorized to salute with the Left when the right was otherwise engaged -- so we didn't have to drop our gear when we doing meaningful things. She ordered me to report to her office within the hour. She didn't ask me anything about what I was doing -- she was sure I was a moron and I needed some motivation. I packed the light. It was flashing in sequence and I headed back to San Juan. 1978 BM3 SAGE BRUSH ATON TEAM

Navy for certain, and a time or two seeing West Pointers doing summer break with the regulars.

Of course, I now see the other side as a uniformed civilian working on base. The number of times I got the salute I didn't render returned...