[Urbane Guerrilla]

ZenG, if one cannot salute -- usually for something more mundane like carrying a large box -- one greets the officer courteously, with a sturdy military "sir." He will return the salute implied in the salutation.

Enlisted salute officers; officers salute everyone.

HLJ's use of "boot camp" says he was Navy or Marines. Army and Air Force say "basic," as in "Basic Training."

Worst saluting booboo I ever did was just glimpsing a Navy Chief when I was hastening to class and saluting him. Chief Petty Officers are the equivalent of Sergeants First Class, Master Sergeants, and upwards, very definitely enlisted. All I saw was metal insignia on collar, which the chiefs wear, and didn't have a good picture of its nature, so I saluted and he laughed at me. I think he did return the salute, as it is rather a conditioned reflex, but he did suggest I pay a bit more attention. After all, Navy officers wear metal on the collar too, on the uniform they usually wear, but under salutin' conditions they wear more metal, a great deal of it on their hats. Enlisted men have plain chinstraps or piping, while officers have metal chinstraps or metalized piping. Everyone but the Air Force uses gold metal chinstraps, while the Air Force goes with silver, and for senior officers, silver thunder-and-lightning embroidery on the cap bill rather than the gold oakleaves everyone else uses. The Army is famous for metal bits and insignia about everywhere, while the Marines are famous for metal almost nowhere -- almost the only shiny bit on a Marine enlisted Class A uniform, a forest-green outfit that looks straight out of the First World War but isn't, is a marksmanship badge.