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

When I was in basic training, I was going home on leave and as I was walking to my transport, I was stopped by a drill sergeant who advised me to carry items in my left hand so that I could render a salute if an officer happened by.

Sometimes these are minor dams in the river of life. Deal with it and move on. Not a big deal either way in my not so humble opinion. :-)

If it is at all Possible you should move everything from your right hand and give the Salute with the
Greeting of the Day, if it is imposable because you are on a work Detail, the person in charge of the work Detail gives the Hand Salute with the Greeting of the Day. if it is completely Impossible to Give a Hand Salute due to your hands being Full you can stop come to attention and give the greeting of the Day, or Continue Walking and Give the Greeting of the Day, or stop set your Items down and give the Hand Salute with the Greeting o the day. none of these are the wrong answer.

If you are unable to render or return a salute, the greeting of the day is sufficient. Your CSM is wrong.

I used to pull aside young lieutenants, hands full, trying to return my salute and brief them on the AR 600-25.

Saluting is a sign of respect, not stupidity.

Both of my hands were full when a one star walked by and there was no issue with me not saluting him.

AR 600-25 states? IF you know this reg and can quote it, there must be a reason. If you follow the intent and not the letter, MAYBE you will not get as many reprimands as you have. Promotions often do not go to Sea Lawyers (IDK the army term), but I know you get the idea.

Reply with the greeting of the day and then send the CSM the excerpt of the regulation. This is an easy fix.

If it looked to the SGM like you could shift items between hands and still salute, that might be what his beef was about. If both hands were so full you could not shift items. I have no idea what was going through his mind. However, there are people that dodge salutes to Officers just as there are people that dodge standing at attention at retreat outdoors. That might have been what was on the SGM mind at the time? Don't know and just throwing this out there.

Stick with AR 600-25. The CSM needs to read it. So should the captain as he should have known that. I'm sure it was covered when he was an ROTC/Academy cadet or Officer Candidate. It was for me.

The right tactic is to never be walking out of doors with items in both hands. Limit what you carry to the left hand only, so that you are always capable of rendering a proper hand salute to any and all officers. Maybe you will have to make more than one trip. Even if you are protected by the provisions of the regulation, you well might be viewed by your superiors as being a wise ass trying to avoid saluting. Is that worth the convenience of carrying a mug of coffee?