How do you greet senior NCOs with Officers?

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 20:06:33 -0500

I mean I often run across officers with senior NCOs often and when I salute the officer I just have a feeling that I'm being looked at as neglecting and ignoring the senior NCO. Is there any specific way greetings suppose to be rendered a certain way in that situation? because I really hate that feeling.

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Feb 13 at 2014 8:10 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 20:10:06 -0500

A verbal greeting in addition to a salute is a good solution. For example, say there is a Captain and a Sergeant Major together. You can salute the officer and simultaneously say "Good morning/afternoon Sir, Good morning/afternoon Sergeant Major." 

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2014 8:39 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 20:39:10 -0500

"Greeting of the Day" Sir, Sergeant Major.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2014 8:42 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 20:42:42 -0500

Always pay respect to that Officer first and acknowledge that senior NCO.  MAJ Weiss said it best and with his advice you will never go wrong.  I tell my Soldiers to acknowledge everybody with at least the greeting of the day, seniors, peers and subordinates.  Nothing gets to me more than when I acknowledge a young Soldier and they blow me off.  That was instilled in me a long time ago and I have never forgot where I came from.  Do your best, even if it's eye contact with that NCO while you salute the Officer.  That should take care of that feeling your having.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 13 at 2014 11:23 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 23:23:10 -0500

There are a few of those un-written courtesies you run into through out your time in the Army when something like that happens and the officer with the senior enlisted happens "ALL THE TIME."

I have pondered on that and some other things and the best thing I have heard and come up with for my best course of action is: Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening Sir/Ma'am, Sergeant Major/1st Sergeant/Master Sergeant.

If there are more then two and they are all males or all females I say Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening Ladies/Gentlemen

Hope That Helps Battle! - SPC Gamble

Response by SPC Matthew Birkinbine made Mar 7 at 2014 6:34 AM

SPC Matthew Birkinbine — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 06:34:41 -0500

I always address the senior person and if time permits, the person with him/her. At least acknowledge the senior. Do not ever ignore him/her. As for addressing one or two sergeants with an officer a greeting should sound roughly like, "Good morning sir/ma'am (insert your salute when you're within 6 paces whether you've spoken already or not). (After return of the salute/ while in the process of, without forgetting to salute, acknowledge with a nod also the enlisted/other member) (1st) Sergeant(s) (Major) (if time permits good morning sergeant)." Use good judgement. Don't worry about messing it up. It's a respect thing. If you can ask someone how they're doing while walking by, do so. Doesn't matter their grade or yours. And genuinely care to listen to their response. In groups where it's hard to address every different rank present, address the senior but at least nod to the rest/the next senior.

If the senior are more than one of the same officer rank, greet them as gentlemen/ladies. In some instances this may be acceptable too between mixed grades, but more often than not, err on the side of caution and address the senior primarily.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2014 7:51 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 07:51:49 -0400

Always recognize the senior of the two first, then the NCO.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2014 9:04 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:04:28 -0400

Greet the officer first, then the senior NCO.

Response by CSM Michael Poll made Mar 15 at 2014 9:09 AM

CSM Michael Poll — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:09:40 -0400

This is the rule I give my Soldiers and I have lived by.  Salute and address the senior first but include the SR NCO at well.  ie "Good morning sir, CSM." you wont ever go wrong, but dont get silly if there are multiples.  Then it is for Officers, "Good morning genlemen, CSM"  or "Good morning Ladies, CSM"  remeber the plural for male officers is gentlemen, not sirs, and for female is ladies, not ma'ams.  Multiple CSM's is Sergeants Major. Not Sergeant Majors.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 15 at 2014 4:50 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:50:03 -0400

Great question. I usually render my salute but always address the SR NCO first.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Apr 1 at 2014 3:33 PM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 15:33:15 -0400

I concur, You are saluting and addressing the officer. Then acknowldge the NCO. If you do it wrong what is the problem if they correct you. Put it in the tool bag for the next time. I have never gotten corrected with single or multiple officers and an NCO if you address and salute the officer/s and greeting of the day and then the NCO. "Good morning sir/Gentelmen/ladies" salute, then SGM or what ever the rank of the NCO. I have Gotten something said when the officer is facing away and I thought it was just the SGM talking to another NCO. SGM stopped me. When I truned around and seen that it was the BN XO then I saluted and apologized to him and then he said no problem carry on. Of coarse that was before the name tapes on the cover.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 1 at 2014 4:16 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 16:16:32 -0400

I'm sure you have your answer by now but I'm also down here at JBSA, just not at SAMMC. I know if I seen the AMEDD C&S CSM walking with the Generals Aid (CPT) I would probably render a salute say good morning to the nominative CSM and say Sir after. You're addressing both so the order should not matter ... Just try to always address the levels of leadership first if they are known.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 6 at 2014 4:33 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 16:33:15 -0400

My battalion motto is "Strike Fear" so I would say: Strike Fear, Sir. Good morning/afternoon/evening Sergeant/First Sergeant/Sergeant Major. Can't go wrong with that.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 6 at 2014 5:20 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 17:20:27 -0400

Very easy.  Good morning sir or ma'am.  Then render the same greeting to the NCO.   I will also suggest this. We are Service members, but we are still gentlemen.  Always greet the higher ranking individual first. But as a gentlemen I always greet the female service member first if the same rank.  

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Apr 6 at 2014 8:30 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 20:30:33 -0400

Navy we refer to our Junior Officers as Mr O-3 and below. "Good Morning Mr McGibbin, Good Morning Master Chief" that goes a long way or if it is an 0-4 LCDR, "Good Morning Commander, Good Morning Chief" (Don't emphasize the the subordinate officer rank) Always call a LTJG, LT if you are not going to call him Mr and Always call a LCDR, CDR. Since they eliminated Comodore, I sure as hell am not going to call a Rear Admiral Lower Half (That). It is always Admiral. Hope that helps.

Response by Thomas Rancourt made May 13 at 2014 12:04 PM

Thomas Rancourt — Tue, 13 May 2014 12:04:23 -0400

I generally follow the book for this type of situation. I would salute the officer first, acknowledging him/her with a "good morning" followed by their rank, then directly after customs and courtesies have been observed, acknowledge the NCO or SNCO by repeating the greeting (minus the salute) followed by their rank.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 13 at 2014 12:06 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 May 2014 12:06:16 -0400

I address every Officer and NCO I come across, especially those senior to me. Usually it's "Morning/ Afternoon Sergeant/Sir/Ma'am"

Response by LT Stephen Amiaga made Jun 11 at 2014 9:48 AM

LT Stephen Amiaga — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 09:48:33 -0400

In my experience, greeting the senior one is good enough. "Good morning Admiral." doesn't need to be followed by, "Captain, Commander, Ma'am, Lieutenant, Master Chief, Senior Chief..."

Response by PFC Zanie Young made Jul 23 at 2014 12:32 PM

PFC Zanie Young — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 12:32:24 -0400

I know that feeling... the best way to address that issue is to salute the officer and verbally greet both. What I mean is to greet the officer with sir or ma'am, and the senior NCOs by rank.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 13 at 2015 11:47 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 23:47:51 -0500

Good ladies and Gentlemen. Or Salute and say "Sir, Sergant Major" or "Sir, First Sergant". I try to include NCO rank with command teams.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 26 at 2015 10:09 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:09:57 -0500

I've never really tried to address it a particular way. Rank based. Eye coordination based (maybe the lower rank is walking or standing a little bit ahead of the senior ranking). Whatever my eyeballs tell me, I just kinda flowed with it.

"Good morning, Sir (while saluting). Sgt. Maj. (even if it's a CSM...it's kinda laborious to say Command Sgt. Maj. unless there's a specific cause to. None have ever hassled me about it)!!"

Or, if it's a case where the ranks greatly mixed, you can address the Officers individually if it's not too many of them, and address the NCO's as a group, because we can handle it like that.

"Good afternoon Sir/Ma'am, Sgt. Maj./First Sgt., NCO's (covering everyone not above a diamond)!!!"

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 18 at 2015 8:41 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 20:41:08 -0500

By greeting the senior you are greeting the junior. It doesn't hurt to give a verbal greeting to the senior NCO as well.

Response by SMSgt David Zobel made Mar 4 at 2015 1:56 PM

SMSgt David Zobel — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 13:56:55 -0500

Not complicated. Make eye contact with the officer, salute smartly & say, "Good afternoon sir/ma'am," then drop the salute quickly as soon as it is returned and then make eye contact with the senior NCO and nod slighly while saying their rank's salutation - for example, "Sergent Major" or "Chief" etc. By the way, if you don't do that, you are ignoring the senior NCO and the officer may very well assume the senior NCO is not commanding the respect due his rank.

Response by SSG David Dickson made Aug 29 at 2015 7:40 PM

SSG David Dickson — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:40:27 -0400

A great question. You want to acknowledge them both, yet it comes off as awkward? Try this and see if it works for you, assume it is morning, the company commander and 1SG are approaching. So, you render the hand salute say, "Good morning Sir, and in the same moment, add 1SG to the end of the greeting, then drop your salute. It will take away from awkwardness of the situation and serve to acknowledge them both.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2015 9:52 PM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 21:52:41 -0400

Well you do it like you are reacting to an officer. Once he puts you at ease then speak to the NCO.

Response by LTC Paul Labrador made Dec 14 at 2015 12:04 PM

LTC Paul Labrador — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 12:04:58 -0500

Acknowledge the officer first, NCO second. I.e. "Good morning, sir/ma'am. Good morning Sergeant Major"....

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 5 at 2016 2:24 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 14:24:46 -0400

Greet the Officer first and then greet the NCO.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 15 at 2017 9:56 PM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 21:56:42 -0400

I didn't, unless the senior NCO was in my chain of command, like the 1st Sergeant, or the NCOIC. If the NCO was a CMSgt I would acknowledge the chief out of deference. I've been out 28 years, so I cannot speak to current trends or changes in protocol.

Response by HN Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 29 at 2018 9:50 AM

HN Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 09:50:04 -0400

Greet officer and then the nco
as an example, a chief, ensign, and a second class
you would greet the officer, then the chief, then the nco

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Apr 29 at 2018 10:00 AM

SGM Bill Frazer — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 10:00:08 -0400

You Salute, say Good Morning Sir, CSM, 1SG, etc.