Nicknames: Are they professional?

2014-11-16T23:19:37-05:00

Calling First Sergeant Top and Chief Warrant Officers Chief is that professional or a sign of relaxed standards?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2014 11:30 PM

2014-11-16T23:30:04-05:00

I am not sure that those are the same Sir. If I recall correctly, Chief is an approved way of addressing a CW2 or higher; top is a nickname. "top" has been around for at least 20 years in my experience and I don't think it is unprofessional.

How did you feel about "El Tee"?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 16 at 2014 11:49 PM

2014-11-16T23:49:11-05:00

I had a 1SG who didnt like being called Top, said it was just weird to him. With the warrents tho I was tripped out when I found out you can call them Mr or Ms instead of the rank or just Chief. What else I also find strange is that if you are walking by a group of female officers you call them Ladies. How creepy is that " good afternoon Ladies", yea that doesnt sound creepy at all lol.

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Mar 16 at 2015 1:06 AM

2015-03-16T01:06:48-04:00

Sir, I will venture that we are all professionals the minute we received our first paycheck to perform as the professional soldiers we are.

I personally do not see the connection between calling someone Top or Chief when they approve of it, and being unprofessional.

Unprofessional would be to do something substandard or that doesn't produce the results expected of us.

Affection and comraderie do have a place in the military rank structure, and in my opinion, Top or Chief, denote all three.

v/r

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 9:22 AM

2015-05-10T09:22:19-04:00

Ah. And here I though you meant actual nicknames...because in my community, that's almost all we use. There are times when I struggle to remember someone's actual first name.

Response by 1LT Luke Flowers made Oct 27 at 2018 1:30 PM

2018-10-27T13:30:47-04:00

“Nicknames” are very important for high performance and high values teams. They can be terms of endearment, morale makers and coping mechanisms. I would argue they are in fact a very insightful indicator as to the way an individual is viewed or accepted as a member of the team and team culture. The way the individual reacts and responds to finding out their nicknames, good or bad, is also an indicator of the individual’s professionalism.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Oct 27 at 2018 9:10 PM

2018-10-27T21:10:02-04:00

Hmmm.
Pretty sure calling a 2LT "Bobo" would be unprofessional.
Calling a 1SG in a formal setting, "Top" is also.

It helps to know the setting you are concerned about.
Foxhole hugging the ground or Dining-in?

Response by SFC Christopher Taggart made Oct 27 at 2018 10:49 PM

2018-10-27T22:49:13-04:00

I think using nicknames is unprofessional unless you know for sure, they have given you permission to call them that. I've always stayed with proper etiquette and rank. I have seen and heard, soldiers of lower rank than me, call First Sergeant Top...that soldier was probably working directly for First Sergeant.