Should a 2LT salute a 1LT?

I guess an additional way of looking at this would be if an O-1 from the Army encountered and O-2 from another service, would he not salute either the Air Force or Marine Corps lieutenants but would salute Lieutenant Junior Grade because the Lieutenant Junior Grade would demand that an Ensign (O-1 in the Navy) salute him? Thank God we no longer have 3rd and 4th LTs.

The procedures for inter-service customs and traditions can get complicated if you want to make it that way. When I served on joint service duty, I was told to follow the customs for each branch. Therefore, I reported with a salute when went to the AF CMDR, but no salute for the USMC Dep CMDR. It took a bit to get use to switching rules around, but that's the nature of the duty. My department Co was Air Force and my section leader was an Army Warrant. There were times when things got interesting, but everyone went with the flow. No one was trying to disrespect anyone else. So much rank at Patch Barracks that sometimes I would by passed the building I was heading for because of all the saluting, but it was still great duty. In short, following the customs of the other service. If you have doubts, follow the regs for your service, everyone will adjust.

Sir,

I have posted verbatim AR. 600-25, and will post portions again...with comment, I would be very interested to see the requlation you are sighting?

b. All Army personnel in uniform are required to salute when they meet and recognize persons entitled to the salute.
Salutes will be exchanged between officers (commissioned and warrant) and enlisted personnel, and with personnel of
the Armed Forces of the United States (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard), the commissioned corps
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service
entitled to the salute.

ALL Army personnel in uniform.

A 1LT is entitled to a salute. As an soldier in uniform. Anyone disagrre? Good.

The only real question according to the Reg. is who salutes first.

Who is junior? 2LT or 1LT?

c. The junior person shall salute first.

A 2LT is junior to a 1LT. This a fact, even if an O-4, an E-9 or W-1 does not understand, an O-1 is junior to O-2. They may both be lieutenants, and may consider themseves peers BUT 'when in uniform they are required to salute when they meet and recognize persons entitled to the salute'. Not up for debate, the regulations is clear.

IF you do have two captains who know the time in grade of both officers, the one with less time...being the junior person...is required to salute when they meet and recognize the other soldier entitled to a salute.

This CW2 understands.

Sir, if it is established then it must be written somewhere. Please post the reference and put an end to this discussion.

So the reason here is, "it's just the way we've always done it"? I adkit I have never been a company commander or a commissioned officer, but this is the first I've heard of this custom in ten years. I've never seen it in an MP company, artillery battery, or infantry battalion. Maybe I just wasnt privy to the "tradition".

I can't imagine being bothered by a 2LT who wanted to salute me as a 1LT. 

I believe I was unclear.  I do in fact salute, consistently.  My point was one of nuance.  These are guys with whom I shared rank for a time, as I was new to being a 2LT and they were a few months away from promotion.  They are weirded out receiving salute from me as we shared rank, but I continue to salute because its the right thing to do and I find their squeamishness humorous as this is a social interaction with which they will need to grow comfortable as it will come up time and time again.

I never saluted a 1LT as a 2LT.  However, if someone junior to me in rank (regardless of what the rank was) felt compelled to salute me, I would respect that and return the salute.  With all the problems we have in the force these days, this is a non-issue for me either way.

Sir, let us not get into a silly argument of dates of rank for two individuals of the same rank. A 1LT is clearly senior to a 2LT. Unless we adjust the ranks to display DOR. A 1LT is a 1LT just as two COLs are two COLs. To say there is no Seniority for LTs is saying two things. 1. O1 pay is equal to O2 pay and they will pin on Captain at the same time. 2. All Generals from BG to GEN are the same. Your argument is very defective with all due respect.

NCOs don't write the regs we just enforce them.  Maybe some high speed Officer should make the rewrite and clarify that there is no honor among LTs.  This would clear up this whole mess.  We could go even further and have all Soldiers call one another by there first name and get rid of the rank structure altogether.  Of course that would get confusing since both my Generals are named David.

I dance on that edge every day Sir and some days it's real fun other days frustrating as hell.  Keep up the good fight Sir.

I understand customs of the service, but they differ wildly between environments, such as Infantry, Armor, Aviation, Medical, etc... The problem is that they aren't written anywhere in Army policy, and therefore are unreliable. MACOM commanders have the responsibility to determine local saluting policy, and could put this in their policy letter at any time. I don't normally read MACOM policy letters, but I haven't had one brought to my attention.

Sorry sir. It is. AR600-25 Chapter 1, paragraph 5.b.   http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r600_25.pdf

A 1LT is an O-2, a 2LT is an O-1. That right tells me a 1LT is senior to a 2LT. Maybe all these 1's and 2's are creating confusion. If a Captain salutes a Major, a 1LT salutes a Captain, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say a 2LT salutes a 1LT. And if I'm wrong, then I someone better call Parris Island and tell the Marines what they are doing wrong with general knowledge classes. Believe it or not but there are so reg happy service members out there that make sure they know their own time and grade to others and look for salutes and command authority. It's childish, but it happens. A NCO can dictate to a commander what a regulation means tactfully, if the commander isn't interpreting the regulation correctly. It's rare, but happens. This might not be the case here but, I have run into situations, in and out of the military, where leaders are wrong, know they are wrong, and keeping going with it not to embarrass themselves. My fellow bearded veteran above is correct.

Love the know it all mentality. Officers are not omnipotent. They eed their NCO's and SNCO's for guidance. That is in our credo. It is most certainly our position to correct an officer who is in the wrong. And once again, per the regs, a 1 is senior to a two. Not only are they payed differently, but they are a,different rank. Just because they have a similar word does not make them the same. You are interpreting it incorrectly. So with this logic, 1 stars should not have to salute 2, 3 or 4 star generals because they have the same word. They are peers right? They have a rank structure for a reason. One O2 can be senior to another O2, yes, but it is referencing seniority based not only on that but more obviously the pay grade. If officers want to not salute each other and go by first names, who cares, but don't pass bum scoop on how it's supposed to go down. And good example posting on a social site from work. Must be a busy day.

As someone who works in a Joint command I can attest to the vast cultural differences in the respective service officer corps, especially officers in the Dept of the Navy. I dare say that the enlisted cultures of the various services are far more closely related. Be wary assailing the customs and courtesies of another service as they can be quite different to your own and yours do not apply to them.

I good example is the USMC fully announcing an enlistedman's rank as opposed to the Army which only has Privates, Specialists, Sergeants, First Sergeants, and Master Sergeants. Part of the reason for this is we used to have a naval style rank/rate structure with over 200 'ranks' the impracticality of knowing them all resulted in today's customs. I work hard to ensure I respect the USMC's customs in that regard, but I'm not required to. I point then out when I deal with Marines who like to get in Army Jr. Enlisted's face about it. It is completely unnecessary to be little a PV1, fresh out of basic training for not knowing USMC customs.

I guess if you consider a LT an LT regardless if 1st or 2nd, you could make the case. I can only find where it says juniors salute seniors. Personally and from my time in service, there was always a difference between a 1st and 2nd Lt just as there is a difference between a private and PFC. One is a boot and the other is not.<div><br></div><div>As for number 2, I have always been taught that juniors salute seniors and I have always seen 2nd LTs rendering honors by saluting 1st Lt. As a matter of fact, I have had officers tell me that they salute equal ranks out of courtesy to one another. <b>Saluting is not a pain in the butt, it is an honorable greeting between warriors.</b>&nbsp;My career spans over 40 years. I retired after about 22 years under my belt with almost 12 of it on active service. When 9-11 came about, I was able to meet the physical qualifications and I returned to the active Guard and did a tour in Iraq in 2006 and retired again in 2008 not long before I turned 60. In those years I never saw a junior not salute a senior except for the special exceptions listed in the regulations. Saluting one another is a time-honored tradition.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Salutes between soldiers regardless of rank can be a requirement or an honorable greeting. For example, if an enlisted man is taking the place of an officer in formation, s/he will render the appropriate salute when reporting regardless of the rank of the soldiers involved. When a junior member does something that may rate more than pat on the back any service member may honor that solder with a salute regardless of rank.</div><div><br></div><div>As for your last statement, I have never had this become an issue since the officers I served with made this a non-issue by rendering the salute. If I were still in and the regs changed, I would in fact re-educate my soldiers. ...</div><div><br></div><div>But please quote where in the regulations it says there is no distinction between the LTs. I am not saying that disrespectfully, I just cannot find it. All I found was where it said that junior will salute seniors (paraphrasing). In my scanning of the regs, I could have overlooked it or maybe I was looking on the wrong page.</div>

Because unless they happen to work together there is no way two captains passing each other have no way of knowing who is more senior. In the case of two lieutenants it should be obvious unless one or both are color blind.

Hmm...I NEVER have hard of a time a 2Lt would not salute a 1Lt. Period. Both with my time as a Lt, then as a company grade officer, up to my time as a Commander. Never. Period.

MAJ Scharven, AFI 1-1 para 1.6.1.1. does not apply to Army personnel. When I was in the USAF, all Officers saluted each other. AR 600-25 isn't worded the same way. Each branch has it's intricacies.