What’s the proper way to correct someone when not saluting an officer?

SPC Ball,
You did EXACTLY what a soldier SHOULD do. Not to be denegrating but the Major (if medical corps.) was probably appointed by a direct commission and does not have the same military discipline you have on Customs and Courtesies. Sad, but true! You helped to elevate that PFC to a professional level that she had not been at before. When I was an NCO, I was taught that if you fail to enforce a standard, you establish a new standard. That Maj was in for job, you are living a calling. Big difference! When I would "jack-up" privates for not saluting other officers or ME, I was not overly cuddly, BUT, my point was that their lack of discipline and lack of attention to detail (as they almost always said they didn't see me coming, until they put their head down after recognizing an officer approaching) is what gets people killed. Their lack of discipline makes them the same as those who have done nothing to earn the uniform, act better and professional as they have worked to achieve what they have and they need to have enough self-respect to show it. I am honestly proud of you for enforcing the standard and doing so properly. Airborne!!!

No.

You were absolutely correct for calling out this female PFC. The PFC needs to go back to Basic Infantry School Training refresher course. Jack Charrin 1st Lt. US RA Air Defense

I agree with the Major get over it

I wouldn't say you were aggressive by asking that question.

This would be my response: I'm sorry you feel i was too aggressive, but this is enlisted business and I am totally within my lane. Next time you might want to let the officers get out of earshot before you correct someone.

I think we are seeing some of civilian society spread into the military. The disrespect we see out there, out here every day by a new generation is horrific. When I grew up you were expected to respect your elders, your teachers, all adults and people! Today we see so much disrespect for children and young adults, it is spreading into everything.

As for how to handle this, I am all for making sure that the respect and dignity in the military stays there! This person should be immediately addressed and yes, asked why they neglected to salute! Not saluting was something I would never have done when I was in. And it’s not just about respect, it is also about discipline! In order to maintain the discipline needed in the military, any, and I mean any lack of discipline needs to be addressed immediately and corrected.

I agree; Saluting is a show of respect at the very least. I would have ckucjed.kicjed gher gek=els if i had been there. 1LT Pamela S Lee, USA ADA, RET.

We have a number of issues here. Chances are you were with individuals that are in the medical corps. We line officers refered to them as 90 day wonders. They spen 3 months learning drill and ceremonies and this was predicated on their background in medicine (You can also insert JAG, area defense council & chapelin here). This is not an excuse, just a reality based on these individuals not being combat officers. The whole movie "MASH" and the television series of the 1970s revolves around the idiosycracies of military medicine. That said, yes, a saluet should have been offered or reterned. One of the best ways of handeling this would be to consult with your first sergent and have him mention it to the medical corp first sergent, where it will then be elevated to the hospital commander who will send out a memo to all medical personnel to observe military cortosies.

For most marines in my experience it was something like:
"HEY THERE DEVIL! I GUESS WE DON'T GIVE THE PROPER GREETING OF THE DAY NOW!?"
Much respect to all of you for your restraint and courtesy.

You did good! I would’ve lit them up, it’s the military not McDonald’s

In 1970 I was at a rear-echelon Army base in Vietnam. I was a Spec-4 (E-4). I arrived at (believe it!) a Tennis court to play tennis against a Captain in my unit. We worked alongside each other. I forgot to salute him. Without hesitation or delay he matter-of-factly reminded me to salute when approaching or passing an officer -- especially away from the "workplace". I instantly did so and learned a valuable lesson. Don't get casual. Maintain your decorum no matter what, as it's clearly important to the maintaining of military discipline at all times whether in uniform or not. Undisciplined behavior while away from the combat zone, like weak training and individual/unit discipline, erodes our readiness and must be avoided "at all costs", as they say.

I think you're completely in the right battle. Although the MAJ may not have liked your style as a future NCO its your job to maintain standards and discipline. I don't see what you did as toxic leadership or a bad way of addressing it. Good work.

I don't think you did anything wrong. You can ask many different ways but the bottom line is, the PFC was definitely in the wrong. I would've handled it slightly different by asking the PFC to chat off to the side. I would've asked the question about saluting and if he/she knew what the regulation was and if they could explain it to you. It also depends on whether they were looking at you all and just blatantly walking by - that would definitely change my approach.

Hate to say it but nurses and doctors generally do not care much about customs.

Keep your head down and move on. If you are right but the seniors are wrong, very little can be gained on trivialities. If the stakes are high and the results matter, that's another story. But, at the end of the day who does or who does not salute whom really doesn't matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Peel away from the Major and stop the PFC. Have a direct chat with the PFC expressing her error by imparting to her the military customs & Courtesy. Have the PFC approach the MAJOR, apologize and render the proper salute with the greeting of the day. Correction of mistakes is never wrong; overlooking an error deliberately is error squared. The Major should not have interfered and allowed compliance.

Your "question" was hardly aggressive, I would say it was a mild response. As a retired Medical Service Corps officer and former Corpsman, I know that medical commands are often lax re saluting.
I also know of several medical department officers who are not "into" being saluted.
The underlying problem lies in the poor military training given to our medical personnel.

I walked by a Marine Captain and an Air Force Lieutenant when checking in to my "A" school fresh out of boot camp. The Captain asked me if I saluted officers, and I said yes and did so. He and I later became friends! I had all the Naval Insignia down pat, but this was a combined command. At the time every Airman or PFC looked like an officer in their dress uniforms to me, but I quickly set about learning what officers from the other services looked like!

This is one example why basic trainer for all services needs to go back to how it was. I retired in 2002 and am happy beyond belief that I retired when I did, because I know the things I see on Facebook and the news would be corrected right then and it wouldn’t be pleasant. I was traveling around a few Eastern European countries with a friend and saw some severely drunk and disrespectful US Navy sailors in Odessa Ukraine. I pulled them aside and let them have it. I told them that they need to remember that they are representing the USA and the way they are conducting themselves should never happen as long as they are wearing that uniform.