On the spot corrections in public; when is it appropriate?

She was wrong and she knew it. You did the right thing. I would have approached her and asked to talk privately. I would have let her know she was wrong. I would have gotten her Unit, NCO, 1SG, and commander. I would contact her CoC especially if she got an attitude. No yelling or silly stuff at the movie theater. Good way to get arrested. I have seen it happen.

Best bet would be to pull her to the side and make her fix herself we are soldiers 24/7 and if you think the public is not watching you are wrong this is one of my pet peeves one soldier can make us all look bad. If she refuses and gets attitude find out what unit she is with and report her to her chain of command and hopefully they will fix her.

When they are so ate up you can't let it slide and when they are embarrassing the military.

I was not going to make a comment about this thread, but after reading a fairly significant amount of the comments on this subject here, I could stand it no longer.

Is there anyone that has made a comment related to the military members not knowing the proper dress, believe that an individual in the pay grade of E-4 does not know the proper appearance for their branch of service?

For those of you that are in the Top Three group, no matter what your service or current affiliation, do you not teach or learn in the respective NCO courses about General Military Authority?

Even disregarding Stolen Valor laws, wearing of a US military uniform IS against the law; just because it is not enforced or enforced improperly still does not mean that it is not against the law. I would suggest that you read 10 USC 771 and 772 and the respective regulations in regards to your branch of service.

And for those of you that have made the young SSG (E-6) appear to have conducted himself in an unbecoming manner, I would suggest that you reread the original statement or read it if you have not already done so. I believe that the young SSG deported himself quite well and extracted himself from a situation in a professional manner, when he did not know what to do. He then presented his conundrum to his peers and colleagues in this forum, and a number of you have stated that he could have done a better job; this was not a failure on his part, it was a failure of the leadership that this young soldier has had over the years that he has been in the service. For those of you that know the proper way of handling this situation, have you taught or are you actively teaching your subordinates Leadership in regards to situations like this, if not, you need to take a step back and reevaluate your statements.

Absolutely NOT acceptable. ALL sevicemembers are not only taught, but are expected to UPHOLD ALL regulations regarding the uniform at all times when clothed in the same. AS an NCO, should you have made her fix herself? Definitely. Show her your CAC card, and state your name and rank. If she refuses to correct her infaction on the spot accordingly, she is violating a directive from a noncommissioned officer. At that point, you get name, rank and unit, track her little butt down, and report her blantant disregard for regulation, and disrespect to a noncommissioned officer to her Chain of Command. is it harsh? Maybe, but is it also your responsibility, as a leader of troops? Certainly. and given that she rolled her eyes at you, some on the spot corrective training probably wouldnt hurt. Sometimes you have to be an asshole to make a good leader.

Sorry for the language. That type of thing gets me pretty heated.

Wow. That's pretty bold of that SPC. I think that corrections are necessary no matter the siutation, but the way in which we approach them should be particular to that situation. Just me being me, I would have shown her my ID card (if I were in civilian) clothes) and have her fix herself ASAP. If she refused to comply, I would have been at personnel so quick the next day it would make her unauthorized ponytail spin. You did the right thing by not making a scene, but if she would have known you were a NCO she may have corrected herself.

Yes, you IMHO opinion of had her cough up her CAC card and identified herself. If she wanted to play dumb - cellphone pic and AKO. Theres two kinds of military authority - command relationship and general. Even out on the town, USAR/NG/AD you got it. Glad you said SOMETHING to her. What a slug.

@SSG Dontre' Robinson
Although some on RP may only see me as a PFC, it is your duty as a soldier and an NCO to set the example for others to follow. Remember, no one is more professional than I. Now I do not mean that you should hound on another soldier in front of everyone but simply bring the soldier to the side and correct them from there. Just the other day I corrected a E-5 at the mall for having his hands in his pockets and playing on his phone while walking in uniform. This being said it was much later in the night and I belive the NCO should have changed going to the mall. But I confronted the NCO with respect and insisted that he correct himself for he must set the example for other soldiers and civilians nearby. Although I wasn't given an attitude, he corrected himself and nodded his head. Professionalism is important and although some civilians may not know what right looks like in the military world, that does not mean that it is okay to be unprofessional while other soldiers aren't around. I applaud you for keeping a level head SSG but walking away from that SPC was a no go.

On the spot corrections are always appropriate and that is our responsibility to make them as leaders. What is not appropriate is making a scene when doing them or degrading or belittling them in the process. If given attitude it is not necessary to get in a dispute especially if not on a military installation. What I have done though is written down the Soldiers name and taken a picture of there unit patch and contacted the unit and make them aware of the issue. Walking away is okay when the environment does not support the confrontation but what is not ok is for getting about it and not trying to follow up on it. I applaud you for making this correction and remember we cannot fix everything but we must continue to try.

I had a very similar situation this past week in a mall in Phoenix. Man wearing ACUs with the wind breaker (the one without patches on the arms), IR tab was hanging out, sun glasses hanging from the front of the uniform and completely unshaven. I asked him about his service, he was wearing SSG rank and caught attitude with me when I called him out for being out of regs. When violent threats were made I walked away. There is no need for someone getting hurt, however, it angered me so badly that I couldn't just shake it. I do wish there was more that could be done to correct these issues.