Civilians DO NOT Salute and How I Learned to Tell Rank

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The “Tell-Your-Own-Story” military spouse contest sponsored by www.YourMilitary.com in connection with Lifetime TV’s Season 2 of ARMY WIVES has announced the contest winners. Their names and the winning essays can be read at www.YourMilitaryBlog.com.

Here are winning essays by two of the five grand prize winners; reprinted with permission from YourMilitary.com.

Jennifer B. – Civilians DO NOT Salute:

Shortly after my IRR husband and I were married, he began to consider re-entering the Army, either going active duty or perhaps finding a reserve unit in our area. So during a visit to the county fair, we stopped by the Army recruiting tent for a chat.

After a LENGTHY discussion of the options available, we finally began to depart. As we did, the sergeant saluted my husband, who is an officer. My husband returned the salute. As did I.

When we were out of the sergeant's earshot, my husband made an on-the-spot correction through gritted teeth: "Civilians DO NOT salute."

Abbey P. – How I Learned to Tell Rank:

We had only been married about 18 months when my husband got promoted to SGT. It is a big promotion for NCOs and I was so thrilled.

I was approximately seven months pregnant with our 2nd child when the pinning took place. Back then, the guys ranks were pinned on, not velcroed on like now.

Anyway, I went to this ceremony thinking that I would just record it on my camcorder and be on my merry way. Well, half way into the ceremony, in front of the whole company, my husband’s 1SGT called me up front.

Suddenly someone took my camera from me and shoved me a little bit. I waddled up to the front wondering what the hell I was needed up there for. I had never been to a promotion ceremony so this was all new to me.

Suddenly in my hands lay a single pin of points. My mind starts flashing "Do these go up? Down?" I honestly had no idea.

And as the time came to pin him in front of the whole company, as he was taking his NCO oath, I pinned him upside down. I didn't realize that it was wrong and I proudly stood back to look at my handsome husband and his new rank.

Somewhere off in the distance was some snickering, and then a soldier stepped in front of me very quickly to right my wrong. I would have run if I could have, but all had seen it anyway and running would have made it worse. I slowly sunk back into the background.

I went home and promptly learned all of the rank.

Syndicated from www.mrslieutenant.blogspot.com

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__________________________
Phyllis Zimbler Miller
Author, MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL

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Submitted by PZMiller on Fri, 08/08/2008 - 14:22.

Trick Falls's picture

Funny stories

Submitted by Trick Falls on Sat, 08/23/2008 - 14:29.

It's amusing seeing the various ways people got educated about what was what!

Two thoughts of my own:

While I was a staff member at Recruit Training Command (Navy Boot Camp), recruits often learned the hard way that during a rain storm, one cannot easily tell an NCO's rank. A white hat could be anyone from an E-1 to an E-6 and raincoats don't have any indication on them. More than once, I went in the staff door only to be challenged by a recruit "standing guard" there, to his great embarrassment when I took off my dripping rain coat and he saw to his horror that I wasn't a recruit coming in a forbidden door.

While I was attending an all-services school at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, those of us in the Navy were hassled sometimes by Army personnel who didn't know our practices. Rank and Rate for sailors only goes on one sleeve, so I was hassled about why I was sloppily wearing a uniform with something missing. Normally, sailors never wear hats inside a building and it's considered improper to salute when you're not wearing a hat. Some Army personnel didn't understand this, and would ask why we were going around without our hats on and why, when a Navy officer walked by (also without a hat) we didn't salute.

We had to do a lot of educating to get people from other services to stop bugging us about this stuff.

(I go nuts when I see movies showing Navy people saluting an officer when they leave his office.)

TF