Posted on Jun 3, 2014
Being addressed/addressing others by rank after retirement
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I fall into category 2, but was curious what others thought. From my RallyPoint experience I can see there is a lot of respect for rank among retirees and from active service members. Even locally when I run into my comrades, we all address each other by rank out of respect. Even though I tell people to call me by my first name, It still feels good to hear it.
Retirement
Professionalism
Rank
Protocol
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 181
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I think it depends on the relationship of the individuals. If I have a personal relationship with the other before and or after retirement it will be first names...just as it was off duty prior to retirement. If our relationship was strictly professional I would brobably address them as i did prior to retirement...by rank.
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But not in a purely civil environment. And only in and around other military or military retires.
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Funny thing is I've had people come into my office and try to pull rank on me because they out ranked me in the military. It's my job to teach people how to act in the civilian world and explain that rank no longer has any bearing on your future endeavors (in most cases). Also in most cases I refuse to call anyone by what rank they held in the service for that exact reason. I found that quite a few people have a tendency to cling to the past to the point that it's a detriment to their future. Now if the situation calls for it, I will do so. I actually live in the town where I was a recruiter an still have people call me AT1 or Petty Officer, even though they were never in the military and I knew them as high school students. I think they do it just because they don't remember my first name
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CW4 William Kessinger
I think your way out of line. You must have had a very unhappy enlistment. I will always refer to close friends by their rank as a note of respect. Particularly the senior (to me) ones. I may not do this all the time and maybe not in a purely civilian environment in front of others in a non-military group. I have a friend that I served under when he was my detachment commander (Major), he later made Col. (06) and I always refer to him as the Colonel.
By the was no one that tries to use his military rank to influence you is not a friend and is also totally wrong in a civil environment.
By the was no one that tries to use his military rank to influence you is not a friend and is also totally wrong in a civil environment.
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CW4 William Kessinger
Just one more point! Most of my retired friends are Warrant Officers and we are referred to as Mister when addressing me by name, regardless of the Warrant Rank. CW3 Smith is just simply Mr Smith.
I don't know where or when the current generation started calling CW2-CW5's "Chief" . A chief is a PO in the Navy or Coast Guard.
This all dates back to the first "Warrants" issued to ship's master by the "Continental Congress". They were the sailing masters of the vessel and were the true seafaring sailors of the vessel. They had sometimes "politically" appointed Captains of the vessel that may or may not have been sailors.
I don't know where or when the current generation started calling CW2-CW5's "Chief" . A chief is a PO in the Navy or Coast Guard.
This all dates back to the first "Warrants" issued to ship's master by the "Continental Congress". They were the sailing masters of the vessel and were the true seafaring sailors of the vessel. They had sometimes "politically" appointed Captains of the vessel that may or may not have been sailors.
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PO1 Chad Alcock
CW4 William Kessinger - The only time I called a Chief Warrant Officer "Chief" was when I was in the Army, and I met very, very few of them. In the Navy I can only recall one Chief Warrant Officer that I ever worked for and I just always called him Sir.
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PO1 Chad Alcock
CW4 William Kessinger - I didn't have an unhappy enlistment for the most part and if I was still in touch with the people I knew in the military, and if they outranked me, then maybe I would call them by their rank, (I still call my high-school football coach, "Coach" when I see him). The vast majority of veterans that I know around here, I never served with and most of them got out of the military well before me, in a lot of cases, before I was born. In the ways we interact, rank is irrelevant and a detriment to getting the job done. Part of the reason I don't call anyone by their rank is much for the same reason, it's no longer relevant in the civilian world and I need them to understand that. The skills you learned in the military are what matters, even if you aren't sure what those are, and that is what I help with. I'm here to teach them what to expect, and rank plays no role in that. It's the ones that try to pull rank on me now that I have the most issues, because they are my clients, and if they are doing that to me, what are they going to do when they get out in the workforce?
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I know some would say No to it, but I still do out of respect...especially if it's someone I've served or deployed with.
...and I'm still NOT used to someone calling me by my first name after all these years! LOL
...and I'm still NOT used to someone calling me by my first name after all these years! LOL
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Some habits are hard to break even after you retire. Me, treat me with the same respect you want me to treat you with and we’re good
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It should be preference of the individuals involved, UNLESS they are contractors.
A retiree cannot use, or be addressed by, thier rank if they are a contractor, and performing work as such. Even if they are still "in" and on terminal.
A retiree cannot use, or be addressed by, thier rank if they are a contractor, and performing work as such. Even if they are still "in" and on terminal.
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Once discharged, rank should be a memory unless a combat veteran. If a career guy who retires with 20 or more years of service, fine, your buddies might call you by your rank when you meet up with them, and others who learn of your rank might flatter you by the honor of your old form of address.
For the most part, I think we take off our insignia of rank when we are "out" and should treat each other as the fellow citizens (with an important common experience) that we were before we took the oath.
For the most part, I think we take off our insignia of rank when we are "out" and should treat each other as the fellow citizens (with an important common experience) that we were before we took the oath.
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Majority of people on here are senior soldiers. Iin my biased opinion, I believe most seniors should be addressed by their rank. It's simply endearment and respect for all that you have done for the U.S. Military. By that point not a lot of people will choose to continue to the point of where y'all are at.
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In general, no. I think this is pretty stupid to do after someone retires. But when I am addressing someone respectable like a retired E-8 I used to work with, COLs, Generals etc then yes. It is appropriate, to me at least.
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