Non useful bitch, love it but we cannot use that term in the kinder, gentler navy.

 

you should call DirecTV and tell them they installed your dish upside down.

 

Ok I read about three posts and I've come to settle this discussion:

Officers in the military, while there are some good ones, I also know a bunch of douche bags (great terminology) that I have had the pleasure of meeting have gone military and simply gotten officer status because they graduated college (whether in 4 or 7 years). Them having a rank does not make them less of a douche.
Now I understand you have a great deal of respect for these individuals (they apparently must fall into the non-douche category, so my suggestion would be this:
They would respect you a great deal more, if instead of calling them Captain, you bought them a bottle of Captain (Morgan). Neighbors are neighbors either way, call them by their first name, get blitzed and invite them to a BBQ.

Also, my previous contract was at Veteran's Affairs, a mix of all branches retired military. If you want to really get in on their good side, and they are marines.. just complain about how the Air Force have it easy with all the golf courses on their bases and ****. Please find a picture below that my marine buddies love.

 

Leave the military to the military in most cases. Colonel is pretty high up though, anyone major and above I might address as such unless I'd ever had a beer with them, then it's open season. If they're going to be stuffy about it then I'll just demand that they call me reverend since I am ordained.

 

Call him sir if you want, but "us military folk" usually don't address each other by rank/lastname when we're out of uniform and off duty.

For example: My NCO at work is "sergeant (last name)"

after duty hours, he's "Tom"

 

One more thing: according to regulation, it is them who are required to address YOU as sir. Kudos for respecting them though. There are some nimrods out there who don't give two ***** about the military.

 

Pretty cool. E-2C? Carrier-based?

I'm always impressed by the skill and ***** it must take to land something that big on a moving carrier deck.

 

They usually do call me sir if they are younger than me. Which is hilarious.

The military always suffers politics, the media and idiots. It's unfortunate but it goes with the job and it isn't anything new. On the otherhand they are given a lot of oppurtunity in their lives. My cousin just retired after 20 years. He dropped out of high school but just got a job with the DOD making twice what I do. He paid his dues and was well rewarded. But actually, he never let the BS bother him, as far as he was concerned there was no place for politics in the military. Trust me when I say his time in the military was no picnic, he deserved what was coming to him, but it does show that if you do your job you'll be taken care of.

 

One last thought, I will say that I find hilarious the ******** in the military who'll say my opinion doesn't matter because I never served even though they were a cook, never left the U.S. or worked in an office building for their entire military career. Those idiots can kiss my ***.

 

You betcha! This is how we keep it real!


Landing.


This is what my seat looks like:

 

I don't know about THAT. For officers it's a little different but a Chief will be a Chief no matter what he is wearing, even a clown outfit. Same goes for "Gunnys". Even officers know that. It has to do with the great amount of respect the Chiefs get due to their time-in-service and "paying dues", they are also crazy *************, especially the AOs (Aviation Ordinance). An officer, on the hand, can get the title right out of college, but you need a whole lot of stripes on your arm to get to Chief.

 

Koto, are you in the Army? If so, then you'll know that the Army in general has the reputation as being much more lax when it comes to stuff like this. Exhondaman is right. In the Navy, a Chief is "Chief" or "Senior" or "MasterChief", no matter what.

I played golf this afternoon at the base 9-hole course. We were a threesome of LT's. Another guy showed up and asked to join. He was a little older, but chewed the fat and talked **** just like we were. He told us his name and we played a nice round. On the last hole, he said he was in a little hurry and did we mind if he played ahead... I said "Sure thing, we'll catch you next time Sir." Hell, I call my Grandpaw sir... it's just something I've gotten used to saying. He looked at me "Aw hell son, it's just Tom out here... I'll catch you boys next time." As we were finishing up, I saw him walk out to his car...parked in the Flag Officers spot. Yup, 3-star General... or Tom on the golf course.

 

Most of the military just likes to get out of that life when they go home. It is almost like we live double lifes. My gf gets pissed because I don't talk about work when I get home because I don't want to. I leave that behind when I step off the "deckplates." Something that always makes me and most of my shipmates feel good, is to offer to buy us a few drinks. I never turn down drinks. Just maintain the current relationship that you have, and make it appearent that you respect him with a drink and a complement.

 

Looks like the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile with wings.

Mark

 

Gotta admit, that's how my time in the USAF was... On-duty was all business and off-duty I was a different person. Did someone see an AF base around here.

Very much a double life at the time. I have a feeling my time in the Navy will be a little different.

Mark

 

Ok, well. That generated a surprisingly large volume of information, some of it useful.

I guess a lot of folks mis-understood me. I'm not trying to be formal here, and believe me, many of you would be unable to comprehend the volume of alcohol that passes betwixt us neighbors on a regular basis.

I just wanted to make sure that the occasional "Afternoon, sir" spoken in a neighborly tone and with a handshake wasn't horribly violating some unwritten rue of protocol and secretly making me look like an ***.