What is your funniest salute story?

I had reported to OCS and hadn't even classed up yet when a couple of buddies and I had to go to a shoppette on the Sand Hill side of Benning to pick up a required book. A private must have been confused by the gold letters on my uniform and saluted me. Then his drill sergeant saluted one of my battles. We just stood there shocked; we had graduated from basic training just 3 days prior!

I spent 4 years as an enlisted soldier and my first 4 years as an officer saluting anyone with a captain rank on. The day I was promoted to captain I was walking around Camp Able Sentry and I walked past a group of Marine Captains and snapped up a salute, out of habit. Half the group gave me a strange look and the other half giggled. I continued past them and took about three steps before I figured out what was going on and remembered that I no longer had to salute captains. I felt pretty dumb!

I posted this story in another string, but it fits here, as well....

While attending the Infantry Officers Advanced Course at Ft Benning, Georgia, I was assigned to be the escort officer for a retired Army four-star and former Ft Benning CG, who was attending the 200th Anniversary of the Infantry celebration. I had been requested, by name, because he was a good friend of my dad.

I was promoted to Captain on the day he was scheduled to arrive. I picked up the driver and car and proceeded to the Columbus, Georgia airport to pick up the general and his wife.

As the general entered the terminal, I walked up to him, saluted, and stated "Sir, I am Lieutenant Burleson and I will be your escort officer". He took one look at the brand new Captain bars on my uniform and said, "Don't you even know what F**king rank you are Captain?"... I quickly stated, "I'm sorry sir, I just got promoted a couple of hours ago". He chuckled, hugged my shoulders, and we had a great few days. Oh ... He wasted no time in telling my dad how I did not even know my own rank... :-) :-)

My last assignment was on a small Air Force base. There were only 40 Army personnel on the entire base and for anyone that didn't know, AF is the only service without warrant officers. It wasn't uncommon for me to be walking from my office to the DFAC (about 1/2 mile walk) to pass some AF guy. I would get anywhere from no salute, to a salute, to the most common the guy staring at my rank really close trying to figure out what the hell I was wearing on my beret moving their right arm up and down debating if they should salute or not. Best time was when I had an AF COL (O6) salute me as I was approaching. I know what we all say about making the on the spot correction (and on any army base I would) but after my first few weeks, there I just went with it because I would never get a chance to eat if I stopped ever person that failed to salute.

I was stationed in Thailand in 1973, as our role in the Vietnam war was winding down. Our wing commander called a staff meeting one day to inform us that he was not happy with the lack, as he put it, of "military courtesy" on base. He specifically was unhappy that a number of enlisted personnel were not saluting officers when they passed by on the street. He told us to stop the "offenders" and strongly reprimand them. I was a captain, but ex-enlisted, and I was uncomfortable dressing down someone for what I considered a minor infraction, especially during wartime. So I went into town to a printer, had a couple of hundred wallet-size cards printed up, and when an enlisted person passed by without saluting I would stop him/her, smile, hand out one of the cards and walk on without a word.
The cards read: "You have just passed a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force without rendering an approved salute as required by Air Force Manual 35-10. Because of this gross discourtesy your right arm will wither and fall off at the elbow within 24 hours." Believe it or not, after that I had enlisted people deliberately running across to my side of the street to give me an elaborate salute with a huge grin. Just goes to show that sometimes -- even in the military -- a little humor can go a lot further than a chewing out.

In 1968, my parents visited me at my first duty location, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. As I approached the guard at the gate, I alerted my parents that he would salute me (a new 2nd Lieutenant who loved being saluted!). I was so eager to return a sharp salute that I ran my car upon the rather tall curb to the right - saluted sharply and then continued to drive on the curb for several feet. I then found a parking place and my parents and I laughed. I am quite certain that the young airman at the gate was laughing as well! I was so embarrassed.

At an inspection, I once saluted so "crisp" that I knocked my glasses off & broke them.

While attending my ships reunion, many of us wore baseball caps with the ships name on it. These hat also had scrambled eggs on the brim. This reunion was held at the Jacksonville Naval Air Base and we were allowed on base for lunch and shopping at the NEX. As we were walking around base we received many salutes from sailors on the base. We never said anything, just returned the salutes and kept walking.

I was new to the military at my AIT posting when a car flying the Two-Star flags turned at the corner I was standing at. I didn't know that I was supposed to salute, so didn't. The car screeched to a halt, all the doors flew open and a full bird Colonel and 2-star general flew out of the back seats. The Colonel, with the General looking on, got in my face, locked me up, and started to dress me down in colorful fashion threatening me with a long prison sentence at hard labor for this breach of protocol. He had me salute him, then turn to the General and salute him. Then, both turned on their heels, got back in the car, and off they went leaving a shaking new recruit to consider his fate. Nothing came of it, and I'm sure they had a good laugh at my expense at the Officer's Club.

in 1985, at Chanute AFB IL during tech school. I finished lunch early, waiting in the formation area for our march back to the school house. I was sitting at a picnic table when a 1LT walked out of the building toward me, I prepared myself and rehearsed a greeting in my head. When he was close enough, I snapped a crispy salute and said "good afternoon Sir!" He kinda giggled and shook his head and returned the salute and walked off. I wondered why he was giggling, then I realized I was still sitting on the picnic table. Idiot...