Do I need to render a salute to an officer when my hands are occupied?

Mug isn’t important here, hold the binder and mug in your left hand.

transfer everything into your left hand and render a salute, if it's not possible give the courtesy of a good morning/afternoon/evening/day to the officer and continue on your way, you do not have to drop everything and salute, but you do, if possible, transfer items to your left hand and render the salute

The regulation does state that you are not required to salute when your hands are occupied. But the spirt of the rule centers around situations like carrying boxes or equipment, or even coming out of the px with several bags.

When you are not giving a salure because you are carrying a mug, the perception is that you care more about the mug then the courtesy.

If you find yourself in this situation often, try tucking the binder under your left arm, or carry a backpack.

What you do is act like you're making a big effort to make your hand available, apologize while doing this. Any good Officer worth his weight will tell you not to worry about it and let you go about your doing, thus making the grumpy old CSM happy too.

Rule of thumb: Keep Your Right Hand Empty. Binder tucked under left arm and coffee in left hand.

Tuck the binder under your arm, switch the coffee to your left hand, and salute. If that isn't possible the CSM is incorrect. Greeting of the day is sufficient according to regs. But we all know some people enjoy their firm belief in "can add to but not take away" where they enforce BS.

Whatever CSM that was, is ate up. If you are walking and there are items carried in both hands you are not required to stop and put them down or even shift them to salute. If you have something in your right hand but nothing in your left then you are required to shift it to your left and salute. Other than that? Carry on.

A mug? Get your head up, you put yourself in a stupid position. if it was your second time you should have learned. Can't handle a binder and a mug in one hand? I have and render the salute.

As a SGM myself the first thing I would ask you would have been why were you carrying a mug in your hand if you were outside moving from point A to B. The next comment would be to put the binder under your left arm and the mug in your left hand and salute the deserving officer with your now free hand. Then you and I would meet several evenings each week until ifelt comfortable you understood the purpose of rendering respect to the position the Captain holds. Its not some sort of game.

Pretty simple... Adapt, Overcome or Improvise... In this case Improvise. Transfer the junk to your left hand and respect the mans Rank!