Should a PDF PTE salute a RDF officer?

TinTin09 · 26-10-2009 11:09pm #1

Should a PDF PTE or even NCO salute a RDF officer, bearing in mind that RDF officers are paid on par with their PDF counterparts and hold a commission from the president

zuroph · 26-10-2009 11:10pm

yes.

gizmo555 · 26-10-2009 11:15pm

TinTin09 wrote: »

Should a PDF PTE or even NCO salute a RDF officer, bearing in mind that RDF officers are paid on par with their PDF counterparts and hold a commission from the minister of defence.

Both RDF and PDF officers hold their commissions from the president, in accordance with article 13.5.2 of the constitution:

All commissioned officers of the Defence Forces shall hold their commissions from the President.

time lord · 26-10-2009 11:31pm

Give it to get one back, its mutual.

minidazzler · 26-10-2009 11:49pm

Yeah they should. I have seen a few do it too. The reaction of the officer was to salute back as normal. The reaction of the RDF troops, Pte's and some junior NCO's was to snigger because saluting isn't exactly in the RDF repetoir apparently.

iceage · 27-10-2009 12:10am

Strange question I would have thought there OP. The answer I'm sure is yes.

serjical_strike · 27-10-2009 12:16am

im in the navy and it wouldnt bother me as your saluting the rank not the person..

Poccington · 27-10-2009 12:21am

Of course they should.

I've never understood why some people don't do it... I mean, is it really that much effort to salute someone? Is there any reason why an RDF Officer, holding a commission from the President, shouldn't be saluted?

There's no need for people to be **** because of a different coloured beret and let's be honest, that's all it is... Just people being ****.

minidazzler · 27-10-2009 12:37am

Poccington wrote: »

Of course they should.

I've never understood why some people don't do it... I mean, is it really that much effort to salute someone? Is there any reason why an RDF Officer, holding a commission from the President, shouldn't be saluted?

There's no need for people to be **** because of a different coloured beret and let's be honest, that's all it is... Just people being ****.

In fairness though, how often do you see RDF saluting ANYONE, never mind the beret colour.

I like when I see PDF lads saluting RDF officers, it just makes me think "Hmm, that's good, he has no or few preconceptions."

iceage · 27-10-2009 1:01am

Not my place to say it, but hey, doesn't matter really. just an observation, No wonder the RDF gets so much flak from the PDF.. Sh!t drills, these guys you spoke of MD should know better. Imagine the flak if it was the other way around. A commissioned officer is a commissioned officer.

No excuse for that kind of carry on, take it seriously, or pay the consequences, an epic bollicking...they won't do it again. End of.

djtechnics1210 · 27-10-2009 5:54pm

Take the risk of not saluting an mp officer, just pray hes rdf, cant tell the difference with their berets, in all honesty though it doesnt take much to salute. Your saluting the rank after all, doesnt matter if its pdf or rdf

pmg58 · 27-10-2009 6:34pm

djtechnics1210 wrote: »

Take the risk of not saluting an mp officer, just pray hes rdf, cant tell the difference with their berets, in all honesty though it doesnt take much to salute. Your saluting the rank after all, doesnt matter if its pdf or rdf

Good point, I can't understand why some people have such a problem with it, its not exactly difficult. I know this is slightly off topic, but I hate the way a lot of people in the RDF think that once they reach 3* they're exempt from saluting, polishing boots, ironing uniform etc.

Anyway, back on topic, of course PDF Ptes should salute RDF officers. If you have a problem with saluting people, then you shouldn't be in the DF in the first place.

McArmalite · 27-10-2009 6:44pm

What is the penalty if an officer took the hump at a private not saluting him ?

dahamster · 27-10-2009 7:01pm

McArmalite wrote: »

What is the penalty if an officer took the hump at a private not saluting him ?

A good bollocking i asssume. I never had a problem saluting and rdf officer, i used the like the confused look on their faces

pmg58 · 27-10-2009 7:28pm

Another thing I hate is officers not returning salutes. Thankfully its fairly rare.

superref · 27-10-2009 7:49pm

as said above he/she still holds a commission from the president but what are they really going to say to you if you didnt salute him/her

BigDuffman · 27-10-2009 8:26pm

The older ones of ye might remember a Few years ago an RDF CS tearing a PDF Pte. a new one and as a result landed your man in the major doo doo.

A comment of "f**king baggers" was passed and when confronted by an RDF Officer, the pte. in question told him to "calm the f*ck down", whilst leaning against the shed wall. Both the CS and PDF NCO (who was utterly disgusted at the Pte.) tore into the chap.

Regardless of beret colour disrespect wont be tolerated by any NCO (and shouldn't be by any Pte. either).

Rank is rank. Whilst I dont like to see RDF heads lording it round on tenterhooks jumping at the slightest friendly banter. I hate seeing it devolve past friendly banter.

Its the rank not the man (no matter how much of a tosser he may be).

OS119 · 27-10-2009 8:55pm

fcuk me, 18 posts on whether a private should give compliments to an Officer (fcuking duh..), and only two replies - both of them 'foriegners' - on how useful/possible/worthwhile it would be to use the PC-9M fleet for something useful.

i'm sure that's absolutely no reflection whatsoever on the intellectual cut and thrust within the Irish military.

iceage · 27-10-2009 9:19pm

OS119...pimms.

concussion · 30-10-2009 3:00pm

Oh no, an officer, what do I do, what do I do??!. Christ above, a salute is a simple thing to do :mad:

bleedinrapidbud · 31-10-2009 12:51pm

An officer should be saluted if he/she has gone through the school in the Curragh-a proper cadetship like. But i'd prefer not to salute a direct entry cause they are useless.They do 3 weeks in the curragh and think their the dogs b****x-they can't even march llike.They should have a civilian role in the DF and thats it!!!!!!!!!!!

segaBOY · 31-10-2009 3:40pm

Of course they should

Manic Moran · 31-10-2009 4:33pm

bleedinrapidbud wrote: »

An officer should be saluted if he/she has gone through the school in the Curragh-a proper cadetship like. But i'd prefer not to salute a direct entry cause they are useless.They do 3 weeks in the curragh and think their the dogs b****x-they can't even march llike. They should have a civilian role in the DF and thats it!!!!!!!!!!!

I would point out that your preference is irrelevant. It's the President's commission, if she deems anyone worthy of the position, who are you to argue with her?

Many moons ago, I was being told a story of two chaps in the signals branch. One was an enlisted soldier, the other commissioned. Both worked side by side doing more or less the same daily job on the same equipment, with the same hours. Of course, one was paid twice as much as the other. After the inevitable gripe to the question of "Really, what's the difference between him and me?" the response was "Four years of college, and Congress trusts him"

Oh no, an officer, what do I do, what do I do??!

When I was in Basic, officers were never seen. The Drill Sergeant was the Right Hand of God. The Company Commander was God, and if you caught his attention, you were in real trouble. About the only time we saw him was for the final inspection before graduation. As a result, the difference in attitude upon encountering an officer when in Basic was somewhat different to after being on the line for a few months. In a unit, it's "Ah, it's just a lieutenant". As a fresh trainee, it's "Holy crap, look out! A lieutenant!"

A couple of years later, I returned to Ft Knox, except as a lieutenant. I swung by the cinema which was in the middle of Disneyland (Disney Barracks, part of Basic Training Land), and wanted to check out the movies. As I walked past the various recruits I encountered, you could see the thought process absolutely visible on their face as they recognised me.

"Holy sh**. He's got shiny stuff on his hat. It's an officer! Oh dear God, what was I supposed to do again? Please don't let me screw this up or he will rip off my head and shove it up my arse."

It then went a couple of different ways.
1) "Maybe if I just ignore him and keep walking by. If I don't do anything, I can't be accused of doing anything wrong..."
2) "Greeting of the day... that's it. 'Good morning, Sir!'"
3) "Come to attention. That should be close enough...."

So they'd do whatever, and I walked past them. Give them a chance to get it right. They don't. So I stop, turn, say "Trooper, are you missing something?" (In a generally friendly tone, but I don't think that was picked up on)

"Oh mommy. I'm screwed now...."

If they chose option 1, usually they did 2 and 3. If just three or two, they'd do two or three. "OK.. getting better, but still missing something"

You could see the gears turning a bit more, then, very hesitantly, they'd raise their hand in a salute, expecting me to snap at them for doing the wrong thing as the hand was on their way up....

"There you go. 'Bye now'" and I'd walk off.

Invariably the trooper would scan around to see if any Drill Sergeant witnessed the transgression...

As another aside, on the same course, I was driving back in at stupid-O'-clock in the morning after a night on the town. I hand my ID card to the sentry, usually it's a quick scan of the card, hand it back, salute, and wave me on. On this one occasion, however, the guard holds on to the card and reads out my name in a long, slow drawl, almost disbelievingly. I check the rank, and he's junior enlisted. I think to myself "That's a bit of an odd way for a Specialist to address an officer" but before I can call him on it, he continues in his Forrest-Gump-like accent "I went to basic with you." Check the nametag. "Good lord. Clay Layton!"

NTM

Should a PDF PTE salute a RDF officer?

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