Self-Important Junior Officers: Read This!

AJChenMPH

AJChenMPH

Forum Health Inspector
THE FIRST SALUTE received by a freshly commissioned second lieutenant is always significant, symbolizing authority and prestige. When I pinned on my new Air Force gold bars and stepped out to face the world, I encountered a staff sergeant. Giving me a snappy salute, he said, "Good morning, Lieutenant. Your hat is on backward." As the years have passed, anytime I begin to feel self-important, I remember those words.

--Contributed to "Humor In Uniform" by Lt. Col. H. Fred Waller (Ret.)

Provided Courtesy of Reader's Digest.
 
hey...dosen't the first person you salute get, per tradition, either a silver dollar or a dollar bill??
 
Yep, but he was probably too flustered at that point to remember to give out the coin.

I had to give out two dollar coins: one to a CSM that saluted me while I was in civvies a few days after I received my commission, and one to my unit's NCOIC, where we did a saluting ceremony at my unit after a second commissioning ceremony.
 
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