Posted on Jul 27, 2017
Should we discontinue saluting officers/senior officers so junior military members do not feel so undermined and more included?
152K
5.67K
1.43K
813
803
10
Saluting
Officers
Junior Officers
Customs and Courtesies
Equality
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 920
829
829
0
HA! Haahaaaaaaaa! Oh...wait. I think I actually peed a little. Be right back.
WTF are you talking about? Saluting and the greeting of the day are mandatory. MAN-DA-TORY. It's slop like this that is stripping the military out of the military. Why not let people wear what they want to duty? Wouldn't want to make them feel like less of a snowflake because they have to be subject to the oppression of wearing rank and looking like everyone else. It might bruise their precious ego that an emasculated society has provided them. There's a place for not saluting, it's in the field. They should have PLENTY of time to save their arm strength and pride when they are knee deep in mud and sweating through their uniform while forging something useful out of what society has provided to the military.
Not saluting...you just made my heart break a little inside, marine.
WTF are you talking about? Saluting and the greeting of the day are mandatory. MAN-DA-TORY. It's slop like this that is stripping the military out of the military. Why not let people wear what they want to duty? Wouldn't want to make them feel like less of a snowflake because they have to be subject to the oppression of wearing rank and looking like everyone else. It might bruise their precious ego that an emasculated society has provided them. There's a place for not saluting, it's in the field. They should have PLENTY of time to save their arm strength and pride when they are knee deep in mud and sweating through their uniform while forging something useful out of what society has provided to the military.
Not saluting...you just made my heart break a little inside, marine.
(829)
(0)
SFC Joseph Callahan
Well since the "new" military are coming from the participants trophy generation. Before I retired I called it the Barney army, can't yell don't want to have a hurt feelings report submitted against you.
(0)
(0)
CDR (Join to see)
Emphatic no. I was enlisted Navy E-1 to E-7 (one detour E-4 to E-2, story best told over a cold one). I retired as a Commander (O-5). When I enlisted in the Navy in 1979 there were Officers who clearly looked down on enlisted, at least from the "I am so much more educated than you" perspective and back then it was a true statement. Several years later as AEGIS and new technologies were hitting the Fleet, the education levels, advanced training and ASVAB scores of our Sailors took a decided upturn. Enlisted with Bachelors and higher degrees was no longer a rare occurrence. All that however does not change the protocol of respecting rank which includes saluting seniors. As an enlisted, I never felt demeaned or lesser when saluting Officers. As an Officer, I also never felt superior when rendering or receiving a salute. I also remembered many times trying to figure out if someone was an Officer from a distance so after I was commissioned, there were many times that I initiated a salute when I saw "that look" on an enlisted Sailors face. I agree with many statements regarding the warrior ethos, rank structure and position. My guess is that the new hire at Facebook doesn't walk up to Mark Zuckerberg and engage him like a long lost friend. Good order and discipline is there for a reason and has been refined over generations. If someone feels "undermined/not included" by the egregious act of saluting, perhaps your career choice should NOT be the military
(3)
(0)
(0)
(0)
486
486
0
Is this a joke? If it isn't, that old belief, "there are no stupid questions" was just completely disproved. And FYI-- as an enlisted person, I truly respect the role of our officers, however, I NEVER felt the need to "feel more included" with officers. #WTF
(486)
(0)
COL Jon Lopey
A lot of us "old colonels" were once private E-1s. Saluting is a privilege and a tradition we should not discard. Like many things in our society, we are caving in to too many "feelings" and "emotions" and we need to concentrate on warfighting and taking care of our people. The tougher (in a fair and measured sense) we are on them the better off they will be in combat and in life itself. Some great responses! Semper Fi, COL L
(1)
(0)
369
369
0
If the junior members are feeling undermined and not included it's because they don't have an understanding of the custom. It is an exchange of respect initiated by the junior, reciprocated by the senior. Seniors are just as responsible for returning a salute as juniors are for giving one.
On a related note enlisted should not feel embarrassed when accidentally saluting another enlisted member either.
On a related note enlisted should not feel embarrassed when accidentally saluting another enlisted member either.
(369)
(0)
TSgt Michael Z Williamson
SFC Barbara Layman - Yeah, between USAF, US Army, and two different states' Guard units, I look like a tin-plated dictator. I wore them all to prove a point--that most of the ribbons were irrelevant or redundant.
(0)
(0)
MSG Felipe De Leon Brown
SFC Barbara Layman - I've known enlisted Medal of Honor awardees as a member of Special Forces. I saluted them always. I've also saluted and been saluted by other soldiers. For me, it has always been a sign of respect and recognition of another's achievement(s).
(3)
(0)
Sgt Stephen Brown
I remember after graduation when we had a couple hours to explore the base a group of us were saluting just about everything that didn’t have stripes on their sleeves. We had no idea if they were officers or not. I think about that day every once in awhile and just get a big smile. A bunch of silly boots.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google