When an E-4 calls me "hey" or "hey man" knowing that I am an officer, should I bother to correct him?

Wow at some of the comments in here. Can we be any more self absorbed guys?

The idea behind all this is crazy and why gen Z refuses to join the military in droves like previous generations. You guys are not friends. Lower enlisted and officers of any rank being friends is a recipe for bad times. However, "lighting him up" is absolutely ridiculous. A polite reminder that regardless of uniformed status, and location, he should regard you in a leadership manner. So, "hey man" isn't acceptable. Screaming or berating them does nothing but make a younger enlisted hate the military and you even more. This is a big reason why retention is shit. Do follow it up by giving him props for being formal in uniform though. A little softer stance goes a lot further in today's world.

If you don't correct him you're setting him up for failure.

Get with his NCO! Let him know.

You shouldn’t need to correct him. That’s the task of every NCO within earshot.

It is inconceivable to me that as a Captain you even thought of NOT firmly getting on this soldier's case. Even outside of work you are still an officer, and military discipline must be observed. I would have ripped this soldier at new a**hole and might well have recommended formal disciplinary action to his commanding officer. If you want to see a good example, though fictional, of what can happen when an officer allows enlisted soldiers to treat him with other than the respect due his rank, watch the film "Master and Commander" and see what happens to the junior naval officer on the ship in question.

you can make correction without being hard

Are you kidding me? Failure to correct this would be unforgivable.

Well Sir, it depends on the environment you want to set. I have been out longer than I've been in but I will still refer to my past officers as Sir or Ma'am but then again I was raised by a Senior NCO and he taught me how to be the person I am now. It is up to YOU, Sir, to set the standard that you want your soldiers to follow. If you want the SPC to show the proper courtesies, then the conduct should be corrected.

yep

Sir, with all due respect and as a former Sham Shield holder; there is no “outside of work” for rank. However, careful with correcting CSMs