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

AR 600-25 is gospel. Back in the day a simple “By your leave, sir” would suffice. You obviously encountered a hard assed Sergeant Major trying to make his stripes.

Unless I am mistaken, there seems to be a lax of common sense on the part of the EM with the binder & a cup of coffee. Knowing that being in uniform & location dictates the possibility of walking past an officer is more than likely, it is incumbent upon the Enlisted to insure the right hand is free. In the instance where both hands are required to carry something, then the salute in not necessary. In this case, why wasn't the binder carried under the left arm & the coffee cup in the left hand? Another thing - why was the EM holding a coffee cup while walking? And this was a second reprimand for the same type of situation? Sorry Sgt M., you are not the "victim" in this scenario & definitely in the wrong. Do not quote any Articles from the CMJ unless you fully understand them.

I don't know the regulations but I believe you did what was reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.

Based on some of the comments, my chain of command must have been really chill about it. I was caught carrying CRT monitors, computer towers, and all sorts of other bulky equipment. I would greet the officer by rank and apologize for not being able to salute. The reply was always along the lines of "carry on" or "don't worry about it."

So for having a binder and a coffee mug you could have put that down and render a salute. Its a binder and a mug. Now if it was something heavy or you and your battle buddy were moving something that you need both hands on and heavy then yes at that point it would be ok not render a salute. Keep in mind that you still need to give greeting of the day. Basically (again I have been in this situtation plenty of times) when you have something in your hands that is heavy or fragile or really not practical on putting down, greeting of the day and apologies go a long way. Any one out there please correct me if I'm wrong. Having a binder or 2 coffee mugs in your hand yea you can put that on the ground for a few secs and render the salute. Most of the time (in my years in) if you show that your making the effort to go out your way to render that most officers will say "Carry on (your rank)" then you would say "Thank you Sir or Ma'am." Again this may not work for every officer and I'm not making myself out to be that perfect Soldier but I did try like hell to give every officer the respect that they deserve. Once your unit knows that it goes a very long way for little things like rendering a salute with in your hand not a big deal. But make sure that respect factor is there

I once passed a 2nd Lt coming out of the BX, he stopped me cause I hadn’t saluted him. He asked why, I indicated he was out of uniform. He blurted he wasn’t, I pointed to his head and asked where was his cover (hat). As I kept walking away…

The right response is depends. It LARGELY depends upon what you are caring. Also, your awareness of higher ranking members. If you cannot salute; sometimes, an apology with a respectful aknowledgment / response goes a long way.

I got hemmed up by the commanding O-6 on a deployment for not saluting him as I passed him. Both his hands were occupied and he could not have returned my salute - which he MUST do if saluted. so I gave the greeting of the day and this Jack wagon stopped me and insisted that I salute him and then he turned and walked away without returning my salute. His little weasel of a CSM contacted my CSM and tried to stir the pot on me but I cited the reg. and my CSM totally had my back and told the weasel to plus up his Colonel on military customs and courtesies!!

The proper answer is to give the officer the greeting of the day. You do not have to empty your hand just because someone has an ego (this time the CSM). You did technically the right thing; however, remember that if you can transfer one item from one hand to the other, and it won't cause you any grief, just do it.

Was that a 50 pound binder and a gallon mug????