Having never served (due to medical conditions :mad in the US military, I am unfamiliar with much of the protocol and courtesies required and I love stuff like that so: For anyone whose served, would you please answer a couple of questions for me? 1. What is the protocol for your cover (hat)? When do you wear it, when do you take it off, etc. 2. How are people addressed? Is it Sir, Ma'am or by rank and last name? (ie -Good morning, General Smith). How are civilians supposed to be addressed? I see so many service personnel address civilians as Sir or Ma'am but I don't know if this is required or not. 3. What other interesting customs and courtesies exist (either by informal by tradition or formal by regulation)? I realize that this can be different by branch of service and different between officers and enlisted personnel but I'm just looking for an overview. I love military history and tradition and enjoy learning about it.
This is what I remember from the Navy between 1989 and 1992: 1) Cover is taken off when entering a building, it is put on when exiting a building. I was assigned to an aircraft carrier, so we never wore our covers when out to sea so as to avoid potential FOD (foreign object damage) of aircraft engines. In the Navy, we were not required to salute an officer when we were not wearing a cover, which pretty much left the saluting to being outside, on a base. 2) We used Sir and Ma'am, unless the rank was Lt. Commander or above and then we referred to that person as Commander, Capitan, Admiral, etc...it was optional to refer to an Ensign, Lieutenant Junior Grade (Left-Tenant) or a Lieutenant as such, but for me it was usually Sir or Ma'am. 3) Other than the salute, I can't think of any customs or courtesies that were routine. Although when at sea, there are a variety of Line Crossing Ceremonies, such as The Shellback for crossing the equator. If you want to know more about it and others like it, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-crossing_ceremony I don't know if it was just my E-2C Squadron, or if everyone had to do it, but we had eh "Order of the Pink Belly" which was when you are straight out of boot camp and assigned your first ship, on your first trip out to sea, everyone would line up and while you were laying on a table, the entire squad would slap you in the belly as hard as they could. After about 50 slaps your belly hurt so bad you could not sit up. Then there is the whole promotion thing, where when you made E-4 or higher, everyone with the same rank or higher got to come around and sock you in your new insignia patch as hard as they could to make sure it was on good and tight. I am sure there are others, but these were my experiences.
Great! Thanks for the input. I remember hearing about the promotion tradition. What aircraft carrier were you assigned to? My Dad served on the Wasp in the early to mid 1960's doing anti-submarine sonar. But that ships long gone now and we've probably all shaved with parts of it by now.
I was on The America CV-66 and The Forestall CV-59. The America was sunk in a live fire training and is now a reef, as is the soon to be fate of The Forestall.
I have never personally served because of weight issues and I have always hated myself for that. My family on the other hand is mostly military and I was a part of an Air Force R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corp.) program in school, not like what is at most High Schools now though, but they do look like fun (daughter is in a high school that has one). 1. Cover is only worn outside. 2. If you pass by someone and are close enough to see their insignia you address them by rank, if not then just Sir or Ma'am. Always accompanied by a salute, the lesser rank holds the salute till it is either returned or they pass the person. 3. Not sure of any type of protocol but most just say Sir or Ma'am with no salute (unless other wise stated).
Jeff pretty much covered it from my experience I would add the following: Hats: When you are under arms (i.e. carrying a weapon) your hat is never removed, even inside. When entering a club, squadron lounge or other "drinking venue" forgetting to first remove and properly secure your hat was especially expensive. Many such areas post signs which read, "Those who enter covered here will buy the rest a round of beer." Putting your hat on the bar or worse yet, receiving a call from your bride in these venues were similarly punished. As far as civilians, I'm not aware of any hard and fast regulations on how they should be addressed. Sir and Ma'am generally become a reflex for most GIs as a result of aggressive re-education in Basic Training/Boot Camp. To this day, I often use Sir and Ma'am even to address people younger than me. Just a well engrained habit I guess. Revelle and Retreat are an interesting military custom. These are basically the raising of the base flag at the beginning of the duty day (Revelle) and the lowering of the base flag at the end of the day (Retreat). Music is played over "the Giant Voice" which is basically a big PA type system with huge speakers. If you are walking around outside you are required to stop, face the music and present arms (salute). After the last note of the music you can order arms (drop your salute) and go on about your business. If you're driving on base and the music starts you're required to pull off the road, stop your vehicle, turn down any music you have on in the car and sit quietly in your vehicle until the Revelle or Retreat music stops. Retreat typically takes a bit longer as you have the initial bugle call kind of thing followed by the National Anthem of the United States and (if you are overseas) the national anthem of the host country.
Absolutely! Thank You for reminding me of this part! This was true for me as well at Naval Station / Naval Air Station Norfolk! Thanks Bro!
When reading this thread I was reminded of how in the Navy the rendering of honors for senior officers that arrive onboard Naval vessels occurs via the ships general announcing system called the 1MC. It happens like this: The ships Officer of the Deck receives word of the arrival of a senior officer by the pier sentry usually by "walkie talkie". As the officer approaches and starts his accent up the brow leading up to the ship the Petty Officer of the Watch will hold the microphone to a bell located on the quarterdeck and will strike the bell the appropriate number of times for that officer. Most commonly 4 bells for a Navy Captain. Then the officers position will be announced. For example, every morning when in-port the ships commanding officer will arrive for the day and will be announced as follows: "Enterprise arriving" Of course every ship has a different name so it would be the name of the ship that captain commands. As the commanding officers foot steps onto the ship, the POOW (Petty Officer of the Watch) will strike the bell at the same time. This bell strike is called a "stinger". This whole procedure lets the entire ship know that the "CO" has arrived for the day. Why would we do this? Tradition. Naval tradition is something we embrace and since its been done for so long, we continue to do it to this day. The opposite announcement occurs when the CO departs the ship as well. Now when senior officers arrive to visit the ship, honors are rendered for them as well. For example if an admiral were to visit the appropriate number of bells would be struck and his position would be announced not his rank or name. "7th Fleet, arriving" or whatever his title or job is. Now that "stinger" bell ring only happens for the commanding officer and no one else. Neat huh? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_of_the_Deck
I'm loving it guys. Thanks for the stories. Military tradition is one of my favorite subjects (especially the origins of them). I, too, want to say thank you to everyone for there service, including your family TSasser. 1OldGI, at retreat, was the National Anthem played before the anthem of the host country or after?
