Greeting of the day, what is it?

I have been slightly chewed out for looking at the rank, saluting, then saying "Shiny Sir!". Evidently that was wrong.

It is established by the local command in Army formations. On Fort Carson, the greeting of the day is 'Strength and Respect' , not to be confused with the 4ID motto 'Steadfast and Loyal'. Strength and Respect emerged from observations by the Senior Commander that the preponderance of soldier issues were from a lack of strength (physical, mental) or a lack of respect ( for themselves, for the command, for the law). It reminds Soldiers to think of Strength and Respect.

It does vary, post to post and unit to unit. When I served with the 11th Armored Cavalry the Greeting to the Senior was Allons! The response was 'Let's Go' based on the motto being Allons! Which is French for Lets Go. When I was in Korea it was Victory Support. When I was in 7th ID it was Bayonets! Which goes back to the early days of Korea, Chinese Intel kept telling their troops Americans lacked the testicular fortitude to fix bayonets and engage in close combat. 7th ID fixed bayonets and proved them very wrong. While commanding the only Army TMDE unit , Precision is the Mission. When I was in 4BCT (506th) 101st Airborne it was Currahee! And the reply was Stands Alone (the English Translation of the Cherokee Currahee), named after the mountain in GA the 506th ran up and down to train for WWII. The Generic 101st greeting is 'Air Assault' reflecting it being the only Air Assault Division. There are many...1ID Duty First! Soldiers in the JSA 'In front of them all!' As the only US troops north of the Imjin River in South Korea.

There is an immense list of official Mottos on the institute of Heraldry website. Some go to Company level. It is part of the induction of new personnel to get them up on unit standards and SOP to include greeting of the day. http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Motto.aspx

Here is that the Civil Air Patrol says about the question in their CAP Customs & Courtesies (adapted from OTSMAN 36-2202, 29 July 2008):

1.5. The “greeting of the day” ("GOTD") is the Air Force way of saying both “hi” and “bye,” determined by the time of day: “Good morning” from 0000 until 1159, “Good afternoon” from 1200 until 1659 and “Good evening” from 1700 until 2359. It may seem weird at first to end a conversation with one of these three greetings, but it is correct. “Good night” and “Good day” are never used.

Some of the tradoc units i was in made us say stuff like the company/battalion/brigade motto but ive always just said good morning (title)

All the way Sir/Ma'am! That was the greeting used when I was assigned to the 82nd. In my day we simply used the unit slogan. Was that way every where I had been stationed.

Greeter starts with the statement "All the way, Sergeant."
I reply with "Airborne."
Still my favorite saying.

Not politically correct any more but still a favorite: Mortars are hung sir! - as a mortar we hang the round until the command fire... good times.

Air Assault!!

There is the Greeting of the Day, which has already been described here. Then there is the Phrase of the Day, that some units and training situations add on to the greeting.

For example, during Warrant Officer Candidate School, the phrase if the day rotates through a list of focused concepts every couple of days, such as leadership values and attributes.

For example: "Good morning... Integrity!... sir/ma'am.

Some bases stipulate that an indivual's unit motto be inserted into the greeting (I know this is JBLM SOP). (Answered by the officer with the Corps motto).

With officers I am familiar with, I used to go with. "Good morning. Nuke the whales Sir" With "till the glow, sergeant" as the typical response.

Airborne* is always an acceptable greeting of the day.

* I am not Airborne