Posted on Nov 17, 2016
Is a salute or greeting required when walking behind a superior officer while that officer is unaware of your presence (on phone faced away)?
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The path that I was walking on was also accompanied by an Air Force O-6 (Col) who was leaning over the railing on his cell phone. He was unaware of my presence as I walked past him to his rear. I was trying to play out my options in my head, but by the time I could think of anything to do I passed him. I thought maybe I would be distracting him from the attention he was giving his phone. Thoughts?
Regulation
Saluting
Customs and Courtesies
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 33
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Navy customs specify a salute accompanied with the greeting, "By your leave, sir/ma'am" if passing an officer moving in the same direction. Generally accepted not to directly interrupt the superior if they're on their phone...don't expect a return if they are.
When in doubt, salute.
When in doubt, salute.
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1LT (Join to see)
True. In hindsight I would have much rather saluted/greeted and covered my bases. Out of all my training and time in service, I have never found myself in that situation or heard of instances of the same. So, I wasn't prepared. I've also seen reference to the "when in doubt, salute it out" saying in my further research but nothing covered this recent scenario.
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If an officer is distracted or busy she's probably not interested in saluting. If you perceive that the officer is simply not looking or not aware of your presence and a simple greeting may be in order then why not pipe up and say "hello sir/ma'am" and salute with a smile. Salute silently anyway if you want...but generally speaking, saluting is a form of respect, right? Another form of respect is not to be annoying if they're on the phone, too.
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SSG (Join to see)
It would be tempting to bark out a loud greeting to see if you could startle them.
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