Have you ever spot checked someone who outranked you? How did you do it? And how did they react?

My DS (unknown to us),,, didnt get along with the tac staff.. in formal inspection, several of us, realized his star badge was upside down... the Cadet next to me, had to be the ass kiss,, and advised the DS of the error... YUP,, he was reamed, cuz he was looking at the DS's badge and not focused,, STRAIGHT AHEAD... it was later revealed that a few cadets knew, , that there was no love lost between him and the staff.. even 40 years later, I invited him to a retiree lunch,, he politely declined,,, "I have no need to see your staff".

PO3 Michael Moran - It has to get up to get out.

I remember encountering my old DS in Kuwait. First... at breakfast, then the gym, then the USO, and finally at dinner... he came up behind me and said, "Dresen, do you actually do any work here" my response was, "well SFC, I did process your unit into theater and submitted the reports for your unit to begin receiving hostile fire pay and I start my shift in 45 minutes" he just said carry on and get some sleep during the day

You did the right thing, especially having a battle go with you.

While in the Desert my CSM chewed me out for not having my boots shined. I had the Army issued Desert boots on at the time.

My last assignment was Supply Sgt. for post headquarters. One day I was looking for my supply officer (butter bar) saw him and said "hey Lt" he started chewing on me until I interrupted and asked him if he knew my job and what I did for him, he said no, why does it matter, I told him just remember who maintains the property books and keeps your ass out of trouble. Surprisingly he never bothered me after that.

I had a habit of putting my hands in my pockets at Ft Polk in 82. My Platoon sgt had my pockets sewn shut for 90 days.

I was in the AF at a base in SoCal after a year in Nam. Back in the land of spit & polish. I too had the habit of walking around with my hands in my pockets & sometimes no cap. Got chewed out more than a few times. Also read the regs. which stated that the green cotton fatigues were legal attire for any job so I wore them all the time. Also wore my VN jungle boots & was called out for "unauthorized footwear". I was a non-combatant based in Sai Gon which was paradise compared to CONUS duty.

LTC Ronald Stephens - Wouldn't it be great if all officers were required to spend 6 months to a year as an E2? I only encountered a couple of mustangs during my time in the Navy but they were the kind of officers that I would follow anywhere.

PO3 Michael Moran - You might think so. Some of the best officers I ever served with came straight out of the college to OCS pipeline. Some of the worst were prior enlisted who refused to listen to anyone. Time as junior enlisted doesn't always guarantee a good outcome.

CW2 (Join to see) - The worst officer I served under came for college ROTC. The guy was smart if you consider a photographic memory smart and therein lied the problem. After he had read our SOP manual he refused to listen the the enlisted men that did the job day in and day out. The enlisted men had found better, more accurate ways of doing the job but he ordered everyone to go by the "book". Because of this we went from number one in the Pacific net to last in 2 months. Within a year he had been assigned to every department on base, most of which had been run by Chief Petty officers and in one case a First Class Petty officer. I think he could have been a good officer if he had just learned to listen. I hate to think what his fitreps looked like after that year. I can see where an officer that came up through the ranks might go on a power trip with his new found power.

When I was assigned to Korat Royal Thai AFB in 73 the Viet Nam War was winding down. Our planes were flying virtually no missions but we still had to man the shop 24 hours and 60 hours per man a week. On top of this they decided we needed an 0700 inspection. I was on mid shift 2300 to 0700. There was always a layer of dust inside the nose of a B66 and when a receiver problem was handed us I volunteered. Normally in Korat we called our shirt a coat and worked in our undershirts. On this night I kept my coat on and took my time troubleshooting and changing out a nose mounted ECM receiver. By shortly before 0700 I looked like I had been on a mud march. I signed off the aircraft log book at 0655 and ran to the end of the inspection line, grounded my tool bag by my right foot and stood to. Everyone was getting the usual get a hair cut, the usual number or Irish Pendants (What is the proper modern term for a lump of string clinging to you uniform?) and need for a shoe shine. Then they got to me: "Sarge what happened to you?" "Sir I worked all night." "Get outa my sight." The most fun it is possible to have with an officer at inspection.