How do new officers avoid giving their first salute to a random passing by serviceman?

The first salute is usually rendered at the commissioning ceremony by the senior enlisted instructor/cadre at whatever method you attended to commission (OCS/ROTC etc...) so yeah it might be an old custom but it is nowhere in any regulation so if you want to give a silver dollar to some random enlisted man who has no idea how long you have been an officer than you ahead but it’s incredibly disrespectful to duck and dodge a salute from anyone unless you’re a warrant officer... then it’s our duty to do so lol

I would think, that just after completion of training and being commissioned the first salute would fall to the NCOs that trained you as they are the first you see after commissioning.

When myself and other CID Agents in my class were preparing for our warrant officer pinning ceremony we went to every bank in the Ft. McClellan area and none had silver dollars. We ended up folding dollar bills to look somewhat like a police badge. As we exited the building, there were two enlisted CID Agents who knew about the ceremony were standing outside, in uniform, and ambushed us all.

The 6 Ps. Prior planning prevents p*** poor performance. In a commissioning for just one (or a few) new officer(s), the person who is supposed to be getting the first salute should be integrated into the ceremony. At mine, my father was standing to my right, and the moment my mother and commissioning officer finished pinning me and I put on my new cover, he saluted me and congratulated me on my promotion.

For larger ceremonies, the people planning it should be careful to make sure that access to the venue is limited in a way that prevents Private Bagadonuts from crashing in and cashing in at the end of the ceremony.

My first salute was to the MP at the gate to post...yippee....come to think of it that's the only place I've gotten it so far.....

You misunderstand the tradition. The tradition is for the newly commissioned officer to give a silver dollar to the first enlisted who renders him a salute. The officer returns the salute, not gives it. In my case it was Gunnery Sergeant John Hal Mentzer III, my de facto mentor, on 9 June 1965.

In my experience, the cadet invites a NCO they respect to attend the commissioning ceremony. The NCO stands in front of the cadet as they are pinned and salutes immediately. Thats how it went for one of my cadets

You don't avoid saluting anyone who salutes you, or would salute you. It would be disrespectful, at least.

The "first" salute is figurative. If you are saving that coin in your pocket for a special NCO, then be courteous to all, follow the regs, and arrange to see that NCO as soon as you can.

It was a long time ago (1980), but for my friends and I it was pre arranged for our chosen NCO to be standing outside the door of the building. I was very pleased to receive and return my first salute to MSG DeFreign (it's been so long I may have spelled has last name wrong) who was the Special Forces NCO at our ROTC Detachment at Brigham Young University.

Ceremonies as many point out.

Mine was actually "random". USAR direct commission. No ceremony just an e-mail to my mil mail with finalized commissioning orders. Pulled my uniform out of the closet and Velcro'd on my new rank.

In my pocket was an Eisenhower silver dollar from the year I was born and given to the first soldier I happened upon at my new unit. Which I think would be kind of cool on the receiving end. No one expects it.

My first salute was from a SGM during an exercise in S Korea. It was dark, I was 39, and a SPC. So given my age the shield could look like black oak leaves. When is hand reached the rim of his hat before he brought it down he said ah FUUUUUUUU................

Haven't the faintest idea. When I got commissioned, The SGM was there and made it a point to salute all 6 of us. So I had to be prepared. I also gave silver dollars to the 2 admin ladies and 2 supply workers. The admin ladies for doing all the paperwork for my commission and the supply employees because they let me keep my uniforms from the ROTC unit, that saved me several hundred bucks!! I found out that I was the only one that did that. They really appreciated the gesture. I've never saw anyone do the duck and dodge.

If you're seriously worried about WHO you give that salute to, then you're just an asshole.

For the Marine Corps it is pre-arranged, to go to the place of your choosing after graduating OCS to be pinned and render the first salute. Common places are the Marine Corps Museum outside Quantico, or Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.