Posted on Jan 6, 2014
No Hat, No Salute Areas...suggestion, mandatory, order, convenience? Which is it?
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OK I almost got into it today but I exercised great restraint (you'd all be proud). Im in a course right now at a building where there apparently is a no hat, salute zone right before the entrance in a breeze way.<div>Now there is a sign that is about 12x12 inches 1 ft off the ground behind a bush that says this, and that is all it says. That is not the entrance I came in, but it is the exit (where there is no sign posted). </div><div>So Im walking out the door on the way to my car. I put my hat on. There's about 10 soldiers in PT's walking by me on the way in with their caps on. Behind them is an SFC Drill. Mind you there's a sever cold front coming in and the wind is blowing 20+mph with a windchill of about 19 right now.</div><div>He says to me "hey sergeant, this is a no hat no salute zone." I'm range walking because I'm freezing and I say "ok, thank you." And continue to move out briskly. (not removing my hat)</div><div>Then from about 20 meters away he enters knife hand mode. "HEY SGT! THATS NOT A SUGGESTION, THATS AN ORDER" Now normally I engage in a conversation at this point but because I was freezing I took off the hat walked 5 more steps and put it on when I was back in real Army zone.</div><div>So my question is, in these areas is this an order? I thought that these areas existed because they are high traffic areas where many officers are in and out and don't need to be saluting 300 times in and out of the building. More of a convince thing. I had no idea this was MANDATORY and that I MUST remove my head gear in these areas.</div><div>So what's the deal?</div>
NCOES
Saluting
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 37
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No covers? No salutes? Madness, utter and complete madness....if we want to avoid saluting, we have to go around the building in the other direction from the officers like everybody else....A place where you don't have to salute....That's gold!
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TSgt Jevon Fulton
I don't know how the Army or other services work but in the Air Force a "no hat" "no salute" area are normally used for safety reasons and not for "high traffic of officers in the area". Imagine being on an air field and your cover flies off your head while you trying to chase it down on a flight line area. Imagine that same cover you were unable to retrieve flying into an intake of a F22 or B2 bomber and the engine was damaged. imagine trying to render a salute in these areas (distracted)and you were accidentally sucked into one of these intakes! Get the picture? Yes regulations cover when and when not to salute but the base commander can implement "no hat" "no salute" areas and it's not a suggestion.
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SSG Burns, the reason you are having such a hard time rationalizing this or finding an answer is because it is "make believe" - there is no such thing.<div><br></div><div>I must have missed the part in the AR that explains that one of times I'm not required to salute is in a "no hat, no salute area". And no, this would not be "adding to the regulation", you would be "taking away" because the regulation explicitly covers when not to salute.</div><div><br></div><div>Additionally, what guides me to believe that I must interpret random signs as orders to obey?</div><div><br></div><div>As MCPO Young stated - this is complete and utter madness.</div><div><br></div><div>In fact, this was probably one of the first topics on the Duffel Blog.</div>
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LTC (Join to see)
I have a motorpool in my AO. I have designated it a No Hat No Salute area. This work very well for me. It is within a chain link fence on a concrete pad with lots of vehicles backing up and Soldiers using hand and arm signals. When I was deployed to AFG the same thing help true for the COIN Training Center in Kabul. We had alot of Flag Officers attend every class and they had no issue with it.. This included the 2 US 4 Stars who came and spoke at the class.
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PO3 Christopher Jonah Nelson
CSM Mike Maynard No salute zones being optional I can see, but occasionally no-cover zones are mandatory, like many locations on an airbase, where a cover could potentially be sucked in to an intake and damage or destroy an aircraft's engine.
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CSM Mike Maynard
PO3 Christopher Jonah Nelson - Yeah, this thread wasn't really referencing a logical/safety reason for a no cover area, it was discussing the places where these zones have been designated for "convenience".
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SFC Derrick Hardison
CSM Maynard, I totally agree with you on this subject. If they want Soldiers to abide by this then they need to update the regulations to make everything legal so there is no gray area. This is the kind of thing that can get people into pissing matches for no good reason and potentially cause a Soldier to be hemmed up over bullshit. Another thing that should be addressed is designated parking areas. I was in an MP battalion and was informed that there is no legal reason for designated parking spaces. I know this is a privilege to have a spot because of rank and position, but if someone takes your spot, there is really nothing you can do besides be pissed. Regulations should be updated to cover any and all gray areas because Soldiers "will" challenge you on certain things if its not in writing
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