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

Way back when (1972) I was stationed at Fort Knox and had driver's duty for the then Armor School Commander, General Patton (son of THE General Patton of WWII fame). While at the PX he asked a young soldier if he wanted a ride back to his unit. The soldier replied, "Cool man". The General never batted an eye. When we got to the unit the General got out and went into the Orderly Room. I could hear him from the street. That Company Commander ended up being at least 50 pounds lighter in his ass by the time the General left. I feel assured that soldier never disrespected an officer again.

Yes, you earned that respect.

No.... Go to his. Section NCO or to his Cheap Petty Officer and let him take care of the problem.

With all due respect, Sir, but WTF are you even asking this question for? This particular Specialist and his NCO should be standing at attention in front of your desk explaining to you how his training has failed and what will take place to correct that failure.

Military customs and courtesy dictate he call you sir regardless of duty status. You should absolutely correct him, but I'd do it tactfully, as he may not know it's not appropriate for him to address you the way he does. If he's doing it just to be a smart-ass, then you have a bigger problem in that he doesn't respect you, especially if he doesn't address other off duty officers in the same manner. If that's the case, a solid verbal "education" is needed the second he does it again.

LMAO! What's the issue it's outside of work meaning you're in civilian attire I would think and your worried about someone saying "hey man" ......I'm guessing you don't have many friends and no Fakebook doesn't count. I used to despise Officer's like you.

It depends on your unit and how you are setup. My last unit preferred last names over rank in the field only. Of course the difference being there that they didn't want to be targeted.
While on post or off post, but not in the field you will always maintain military courtesy for all Officers.

You bet your ass you should. This is why I have to wonder about this so called modern army of ours.

Respect is shown on duty and off duty. When you speak to a men or women you should address them as sir or Madame that is just being respectful.

I had a SMSgt in the US Air Force tell me once, “Don’t hand away away your leadership.” Simple things like customs and courtesies are there to maintain order in an environment that requires it.

I believe the Serviceman does need to be corrected. How you go about that wil also define the type of leader you wish to be.

Case in point.

I was a part of a project on base where we were putting on a play for the Morale and Welfare for the base. There was a mixture of civilian family and military. There was a specific gentleman that myself and my ex-spouse really got along with; we would be joking around, acting out during re-hearsals, etc. I however joked with this specific gentleman in a way that I wouldn't in a completely different setting.

Jump forward to two months, I got a call from my ex-wife saying "Did you know that **** is a Captain?" My heart sank as I realised that I was fooling around in a very un-professional manner with the Captain. First chance I immediately appologized for my actions.

The Captain explained it to me as thus. "It's perfectly fine in this situation because of the following. Here we are coming together as equals for the purpose of putting on a play and it is not a military function, this is actors corp. However, once we leave, yes Customs and Courtesy's are required."

He later explained to me that he honestly never expected to run into myself or my ex-spouse outside of the play we were all putting on together off base so he never thought he had to have that conversation.

That being said, I always tried to pay more attention to how I acted around anybody on base knowing that I never know whom I'm speaking with when out of Uniform.

When I think of leadership, I think of The SMSgt and Captain in regards to how to handle situations and understanding the need for Customs and Courtesy's.