Posted on Feb 23, 2018
Does rank play a part in how you view individuals after you have left the service?
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Whether it be on social media or in person at the local Veteran Service Organization (VSO), does the rank that you left the service with and the ranks that other veterans left the service with play into how you view, associate with, or speak to other veterans? The highest rank that I ever had was Sergeant and I still find that I address those that I know were officers as "sir" or "ma'am". (I also address all generations of older veterans as "sir" or "ma'am".) I still hold a certain level of respect for all those who attained a rank higher than I did, but I do speak to them as if we could have been old friends. I consider us all on almost a completely even field after leaving the service. Does anyone believe any different?
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Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 112
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Respect shown to all Veterans.I do brighten up if they were a member of the Chiefs mess.
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I am part of a group of retired officers and NCOs that have breakfast regularly and occasionally lunch. We rank from full colonel to master sergeant and address each other by name. It works for us.
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LTC Ronald Stephens
Additionally, my son is active duty Air Force and a TSGT Crew Chief. He is Jeff, and I am Dad. Always will be.
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Nope....rank and what you did in the service of your country is temporary at best and best kept as a found memory. I base my friendships on the character of the person. What are they doing and how they are acting today matters more than what was in the past. Respect, loyalty, and friendship has to be earned each day and it accumulates over time.
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Not really, unless they are an office holder of some organization. Otherwise, we all signed on the line, view us all equally.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
SGT Joseph Gunderson - I know some higher ranking individuals well; so, as such, I address them by their first names.
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Depends... Someone who did 5 years and got out an E5? Normal. Someone who did 20 years and is an E5? I'm going to be curious at the very least...
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No.
My JROTC kids still call me by my rank; I'm in uniform every day, but I have told the faculty and administrators that my name is Steve, not Colonel. Rank...that was then; the day I took my retirement flag, was the day my formal first name, "Mister" came back into my life and my normal name "Steve" returned.
I learned as a child, and then it was reiterated to me throughout my career: treat people with dignity and respect, be a good person. As an officer, I followed that mantra and it served me well. It still does.
My JROTC kids still call me by my rank; I'm in uniform every day, but I have told the faculty and administrators that my name is Steve, not Colonel. Rank...that was then; the day I took my retirement flag, was the day my formal first name, "Mister" came back into my life and my normal name "Steve" returned.
I learned as a child, and then it was reiterated to me throughout my career: treat people with dignity and respect, be a good person. As an officer, I followed that mantra and it served me well. It still does.
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When I go to the VA for care, everyone there is a person. Not a rank. They are people who may have been a colonel or a private. Some served during a war and some during peacetime. We are all veterans who proudly served.
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