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

If you are able to free up your hand, you render proper courtesy, and I can carry a binder and mug with one arm, but saluting is no longer an issue for me. If you had, say, an 80 pound bag of cement or it was multiple binders... you'd have a better argument. Or... avoid officers accompanied by NCOs.

Stop setting yourself up for failure, the rules are unchanged. The salute is a greeting between professionals. Get a back pack to carry stuff and leave he right hand free for greeting.

If you are not fond of being chewed out by the CSM for not saluting an officer then stop carrying stuff in your right hand. Forget what the regs say. If you go spouting AR 600-25 to the CSM he's going to figure you for a barracks lawyer and watch you like a hawk for the smallest infraction. Then he's going to come down on you like a ton of bricks, all in accordance with to your precious regs, and he will be completely squared away when he does. Do yourself a huge favor and just avoid the problem by planning ahead. Keep your salutin' hand empty.

You should at least say "By your leave, sir (or rank)

Just remember you’re doing your part to keep the CSM out of pool halls!

You mean a smile and head nod aren't enough anymore?...sheesh!

You all are look at this all wrong I go out of my way to salute officers when their hands are full and avoid them like the plague when I’m carrying stuff.

I have been in this same situation many times over my military career. What I always tried to do is make the attempt. They cannot fault you for that. Tuck that binder under your coffee holding arm and pop the salute, its not really that difficult. Now if you were carrying a box, thats different and the AR applies. Common sense goes a long ways.

You are a sergeant? You should know nothing in the right hand or be able to empty it in time to salute.

Mug in left hand. Tuck the binder under your left arm and hold it to your side with your elbow. Salute with right hand. Just because you have two items and two hands doesn't mean you can't unencumber one of them for long enough to render a salute. If this is a frequent occurrence, carry a backpack. Arguing regs with a CSM isn't usually a career enhancing move, so the best course of action is to find a work around.