What is the proper way to address NCOs in different branches?

Call him or her Gunny. Short for Gunnery Sergeant. They would appreciate that.

When I was in the AF I only ever referred to someone of equal or lower rank by their first name if I knew them well and worked with them regularly. E-1 to E-4 were Airman. E-5 to E-8 Sergeant unless a First Sergeant E-7 to E-8. Then it was was First Sergeant, Top, or Shirt. E-9 was always Chief. Never referred to an officer by first name on or off-duty.

If the rrecruit is taking to anyone while in boot camp, I can understand it. But with that being said, rank should also be expected to be addressed appropriately. But just don't confuse recruits with those that have already graduated.

Recruits don't rate to call anyone anything other than Sir or Ma'am. Once you graduate boot camp and earn the title of US Marine, you call enlisted by their rank. If you can't distinguish their rank due to uniform, eyesight, etc, err on the side of caution and call them sir. Especially in woodlands, it's pretty hard to tell the difference between a SSgt (E-6) and a GySgt (E-7)

Marines call their Drill Instructors sir or ma'am. But out in the fleet we call them corporal, sergeant, gunny, top/Master sergeant and Master guns or Master gunny.

called my DS "Sir' first time I met him, or should I say encountered him. anyone under the rank of E5 in my unit was either by their name or some nice derogatory remark. 1st Sgt was TOP (unless you were visiting his office) all E5 and above were Sarge. most E6 were Staff, and again E7 and above were Sarge. But it really changed dramatically when your in the field.

look at all these sirs and ma'ams!! lol

Officers are Sir or Mam . NC0s by their rank. Chief Warrant Officers are Sir or chief or chief warrant officer

I can't believe they let you be an E-4 .....seriously.

With respect like you would want anyone to give to you. If, respectful I can only assume he or she can explain respectfully address them.

By their rank and not their rate, but their last name if you can pronounced it.

Marine is different from army, e7 noncomm is sir or ma'am, in army it is all about their rank, no matter what.

We only called NCO's, sir in bootcamp. After that, we called all NCO's either Petty Officer or Chief.

NAVY only calls NCOs sir or mamme in boot camp.

Boot camp is different then the fleet. In marine boot camp its " it all depends but either sir or drill instructor.

In the fleet any good staff or nco worth their salt will correct you for calling them sir by pointing out they work for a living

"Don't call me Sir I work for a Living." We all know that applies to everybody accept Chiefs and Master Sargents they just drink coffee for a living.

First off, Marines nor Navy personnel call NCO's Sir. In boot camp they have you call your NCO's Sir because unless you grew up in the south way back you need practice calling someone Sir. The day you wake up in bootcamp for graduation your respective Drill Instructor or Company Commander tells you that you no longer call them Sir.
In the Navy Generally any E-4 to E-6 would be called Mr literally when I was in A school the Petty Officer in charge of my barracks was named Mister- and so it was literally Mr Mister (like the band of the same time) Usually all E-7,8 and 9's are referred to as Chiefs.


I had a weird tour in the Navy, shore duty in a training squadron, - we were not required to do officer on deck when an office enter our space unless they were LT Commander/Major and above.

Well, let me tell ya, in the Air Force, being of superior class, dignity and BS, we referred to Officers in the AF by rank. Enlisted by Sarge, or airman. Other branches were referred to as minions unless they were brass and they were afforded the complimentary "sir". LOL. Brothers and Sisters. We actually referred to any officer by their rank, and enlisted by either Sargeant or Airman. When it came to other branches Officers by rank except sometimes a young airman may not have been aware of the difference between Ensign and 2nd LT. Enlisted were referred to as Seargent, Corporal, Private. I did find out that the senior NCO's in the Army were much happier if you referred to them as Sgt Major or First Sgt. I had little interaction with Marines and Navy

The correct answer, use their rank. However, some may disagree but if you dont know their rank (because we all have different titles) you could Sir it out and let them correct you or just ask how can I address you. Easy day.

You call them by their rank unless they are warrant officer or above... Recruits are taught to say sir and ma'am only to pound it into their heads... You would be surprised at how many kids were never taught those words. Once they become Marines, that all changes, even in the last week of recruit training.

Only in boot camp is it sir or ma'am. Also in the corps an NCO is e4 and e5 while e6-e9 are staff NCO or Snco

A quote from Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum (The Great Santini): I want you to think of mm like... God.

What most of you fail to realize, is that this only happens in recruit training for Marines. Once that Marine graduates from recruit training, he/ she will call higher ranking Marines by their specific rank. PFC, Lance Corporal, Gunnery Sergeant... so on and so forth.

I had a terrible time in basic calling my drill sgt Sir.. Two reason .. One I am from the South and you call just about every one sir of ma.'am. 2 my dad was a WWII Marine .. I fumbled a lot but got it right.

big difference in boot vs in "the fleet" NCO's sort of act as surrogate Officers to help get recruits get used to recognizing rank and saluting.

Some people take it wrong if you call someone sir. I made a MISTAKE BY CALLING A NAVY CHIEF SIR AND BOY DID I GET IT WITH BOTH BARRELLS

Army= Sar'nt
USMC= full rank
Navy= chief
Air Force= hey dude.

Some interesting and funny stories on here....

Well hey are sing the sir or madam bacause they are recruits in boot camp. LOWEST of he low until you earn he title. once you get to fleet then per rank. SGt. SSgt. GUnny. TOp. Depends on the nco

SPC(P) (Join to see) A Marine Recruit calls everyone "Sir"--Proper way after basic is by their rank if enlisted(E-7=Gunnery Sergeant) etc.

"Gunny" is appropriate.

Recruits, they address any marines, enlisted or otherwise as sir or ma'am. Once one becomes a marine they address by rank as any other branch. I guess recruits don't rate to even say ranks.

Army
E1- knucklehead
E2- private
E3- private
E4 - specialist or corporal
E5- Sargent
E6-- Sargent
E7 -Sargent
E8- Sargent or if first Sargent you better call him first Sargent "top" is only if you haven't pissed him off recently
E9-- Sargent major or command Sargent major , and you better get it right

I seldom had a lot of interaction with female sailors unless I was TAD to a shore facility. Those female Petty Officers I came to know never objected to being called Petty Officer (name) or by a slightly more familiar 'last name' used with discretion. Once you got above E-6 it was Chief, Senior Chief, or Master Chief regardless of sex. I watched an E-2 call a female E7 "Ms Chief" one time........charity forbids I describe the result. We were trained that the terms 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' were applied to Officers and civilians. I'm pretty sure you can never go wrong by addressing them by their rank/name. That may have changed since the days of sails and oars when I served.......*grin*

SSgt to MSgt in USAF should be addressed as Sergeant, SMSgt (E8) as Senior, CMSgt (E9) as Chief. First names are not proper anytime for addressing anyone that is senior to You. If there is a diamond shown with His or her stripes., You may address them as 1st Sergeant. A star within the Stripes an E9 would be Command Chief I don't find anything wrong with the use of the word Sir or Mam either, there is nothing that is not polite about that.

Its not a bad idea to learn about the rank structure of every service, I have done that a long time ago. That includes , Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard for enlisted, NCO's Petty Officers, Warrant Officers and Commissioned Officers.

Funny I was at Camp Lejeune for joint task force training GunnySgt was given me the riot act for mud on my boots then another guy says hey that Barret you jump out of planes mate well the gunny didn't like the interruption when he addressed the other guy he was pissed before he could get two words out this guy says hey man bugger off before I put my boot in your arse then his friends showed up and the GunnySgt left I was dumbfounded asked who are you guys they said they were in the French foreign legion nobody outranks us I said OK then we went to the O club I said I can't go in they said you can tonight mate they were right good guy crazy as hell though

I am retired E-7 Army my response to and NCO would sergeant form the rank E-5 to E-7 E-8 first sgt E-9 sgt major not Sir.. that title is for commissioned officers..

In the Army, all sergeants are "sergeant" until they become a master sergeant/first sergeant or sergeant major/command sergeant major.
In the Marine Corps, you use the full rank, sergeant, staff sergeant, gunnery sergeant, master sergeant...
In the Navy, it's pretty officer or chief.
In the Air Force, "...hey Bob..." works just fine....

If you are not sure how to read their rank but they obviously have more rank than you then you should address them as sir or ma'am. They in turn should be professional enough to introduce themselves as Staff Sergeant Joe or Gunny Joe or Master Sergeant Joe. From that point on you should address them as that rank.

E-7 is Gunnery Sergeant, or Gunney if they allow it. Anytime I heard someone refer to any Army Sergeant as Sarge, they would be corrected (tactfully if they out ranked me) Airforce is Airman or Sergeant, bit when in doubt ask.

Don't call them Sir. That's only boot camp. The Corps use full rank. Sgt, Staff Sgt, Gunny,1st Sgt/ Master Sgt or Top and Sgt Maj/Master Gunns. When I left the Corps it was hard for me to call a Sgt 1st class just plain Sgt. Then I finally went USAF and it was pretty much what the person wanted to be called.