Veteran, Retired, Retired Veteran who cares? You should still respect others rank, right?

Interesting discussion on this thread! Would like to add a couple of cents here.

(1) Firstly, all RETIRED military personnel are subject to UCMJ. This is a fact. All of us "R" RPers are still in the service, but just on the retired rolls. When we are buried, our ranks will be on our tombstones. Until then, the President of the United States, the Congress, The Secretary of Defense, and the people of this nation who reposed special trust in our valor, fidelity, etc. expect us to conduct ourselves as leaders, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and professionals. I expect every active duty SM on this site below my grade to treat me and others appropriately, and I treat them as if they were in my unit and give them the respect, loyalty, and leadership required of me by my superiors and the President, just like it says on my DD1 and the UCMJ and just like I swore to do for the very first time on June 4, 1971. Doing this from the retired roles isn't a big burden, so there is absolutely no excuse for not doing with full measure. 

(2) Veterans who are not on the retired roles generally have little jurisdiction under the UCMJ. How they conduct themselves as Honorably Discharged Veterans is really up to them. Actually, most veterans are quite honorable, including the ones on this site. They offer respect to rank, and receive it back 98% of the time.

(3) This site does have Terms of Use. We as military personnel (Active, retired, and veteran) have professional ethos. Finally, as Americans and human beings, we all have common courtesy and human failings.

(4) It's easy to forget rank on this site. People get a little heated or sloppy on posts. Most of the time a gentle nudge in the way of friendly counseling response will fix it. No need to get ugly among professionals. When friendly, professional messages don't get through, a nudge to the site owners will usually fix the problem. It is, after all, their turf.

(5) Lastly; Yes, there are some rather bizarre comments and downright insolent posts that occur. That is going to happen with 100,000 plus members. We all learn from those, too! Respect is not only legislated, badged (like on RP), but also earned. Who gets more respect from you: A General or an E-4 with the MOH? Who does a General respect more: the SecDef or the E-4 with the MOH?

SGT Blackburn,

I don't want to get too philosophical, but acting professional (AKA respecting the rank) because of UCMJ is not the same as respecting the individual (which I believe is more important). I respect soldiers for their commitment to serve. I respect NCOs/CW because I realize that they are more experienced than myself. I respect commanders because I understand their level of responsibility. I respect Veterans for their time in service. I respect civilians for their support. Personally, I have respect for myself and therefore hold myself accountable to certain standards. However, I have a much higher level of respect (regardless of rank or military status) for individuals that not only have a similar level of self-respect, but also respect myself and others because of the relationship. So to answer your question, I believe disrespect should not be tolerated not because of rank/status, but because it is wrong.

Sometimes people can be petty or have a bad day or two but that is no excuse to be rude.   No one here is as elite as they fancy themselves to be,   and respect is a two-way street.

There are a few senior posters here who go out of their way to follow the golden rule and that should be the norm.

As an aside we have Veterans passing every day and I will try  to list as many as I can.  This is just another way we can remember those who went before us.  These reports come from the Patriot Guard.   The thing to remember it will be us one day that will pass.

SGT B. thumbs up for your thread.

When I was a young man in intermediate school, (NYC IS 117) we had an Air Force Tech SGT come to the school to talk to us about the Air Force. A few students were rather disrespectful to what he had to say (Racially). What happened was the SGT stopped Standing in front of the auditorium and said : "If you don't have any respect for someone's nationality or race, then you have no respect for your self". 

Personally I took that for myself and made it a part of me personally. While the racial topic is not part of this thread, I still feel its the same when some one disrespects a SM whom is active duty serving and a Veteran. I do find that if a member is disrespectful to any member in RP, well they are just disrespectful. How RP elects to handle that is really up to RP. But personally I have found such actions in threads that I might have posted, but I made no big deal over it, because while a thread is not me, I personally don't allow such actions to phase me as a veteran. Now as a Veteran, I can still have UCMJ actions applied to me. I can still get court martial even though I'm not in the military. Which is why my I don't talk about my MOS much or what I did in the military.

This is a briefing that I was given when I was discharge. perhaps not in article 86 but yes I can still qualify for a court-martial.

Social media I only have about 3 or 4 Veterans and 1 SM, respect is very high there.