Posted on Dec 1, 2013

Are Naval Officers Sailors?

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With the fresh interest in this question, i do need to point out that it was asked over a year ago originality. At that time there were some Officers who were upset that there were being asked to recite "The Sailors Creed" while in the training pipeline. This was a requirement by CNET, RADM Rondeau.

The Sailor's Creed

I am a United States Sailor. I will
support and defend the Constitution of the United States
of America and I will obey the orders of
those appointed over me. I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and those
who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world. I
proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Courage, and
Commitment. I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.

Posted in these groups: Officers logo

Officers

Sailors

Edited >1 y ago

Posted 11 y ago

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Responses: 148

PO1 (Join to see)

Edited >1 y ago

Posted >1 y ago

Admiral Burke, an officer who served 3 times as Chief of Naval Operations said it himself.  If you've ever seen his headstone, at the Naval Academy - it has one word: Sailor.  If it's good enough for a naval warrior - it should be good enough for the rest.

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PO3 Timothy Moore

>1 y

Of course they are Sailors, just of higher rank.

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CPO (Join to see)

>1 y

This is something I'd expect to see on "The Onion" site. Yes they are Sailors.

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CAPT Phillip B.

>1 y

Proud mustang officer here - I'll join the fray.

Are officers in the Army soldiers? Are officers in the Marine Corps marines?

I will gladly cut down to size any naval officers who tries to "set themselves apart" in this manner. Naval personnel are sailors. End of discussion. A Chief Carpenter, with all due respect - you are partly correct. "Officers and men" is a correct statement - but all are sailing together for a common cause...they are all sailors, each simply serving in a different capacity.

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PO3 Patricia Lyons

>1 y

I don't know why folks seem so sensitive and competitive. There is an obvious difference in paygrade and authority...probably even responsibility I wager is where the chiefs would argue. If you go into a hospital the doctors carry most of the authority, sign the documents and get paid better. Everyone else ends up with a heavier work load. But at the end of the day they are all health care workers. Hopefully you end up working for someone who is responsible and knows how to lead. Otherwise you do your best to get along.

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SFC Michael Hasbun

Posted 11 y ago

Are we perhaps making this more complicated than it is? Are you in the Navy ? Congrats, you're a Sailor.

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SPC (Join to see)

>1 y

CPO Jim Turner damn, I should have been a corpsman. I guess i just watched too much MASH growing up.

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PO1 (Join to see)

>1 y

We're still Sailors, BU2. Just because we don't sail, it doesn't mean we're not. And, like it or not, just above our left breast pocket, it says, "U.S. Navy". We all started off boot camp as Seaman Recruit, regardless of what rate we were promised.

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

>1 y

No GOD is Awesome!!

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SFC Michael Hasbun

>1 y

CH (CPT) Heather Davis - Really? Not one of them? At least one should be awesome! The trickster gods are pretty people friendly =)

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

Posted 11 y ago

Master Chief; respectfully we are all Soldiers first in the Army. I am out of my lane to comment but from my understanding the Navy was derived from the British. That being said their is a distinct class system between the Officers and the Enlisted. The Officer's have their mess and the Enlisted eat in the galley. Unlike the other services, there's a bright line dividing officers and enlisted.
Officers eat separately and wear different uniforms. Their living areas — "O
Country," as it's known — are often off-limits to enlisted. For ages, they've
called themselves naval officers, a distinction in keeping with the hierarchical
order aboard ship. The person who swabbed the decks was a sailor, a term
ill-suited to the ship's commander. By contrast, the term "sailor" was reserved
for enlisted men and women.

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CMC Robert Young

11 y

Ma'am you have a keen grasp of nautical history.

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CMDCM Gene Treants

11 y

Captain, I think you have hit the nail right on the head.  Our Naval Officers (not all and not even all Academy Grads.) do feel as if they are from the Upper Classes of Society and resent the fact  that many Sailors are as well educated as they and come from the same backgrounds.  America, unlike Britain tried (unsuccessfully really) to do away with the classes, but Naval Society, like much of some parts of the country, still tries to segregate people into classes - never by races of course - that would be unacceptable. 

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

11 y

Master Chief; respectfully, what I see from my foxhole, is a transition due to the GI-911 bill, technology, many including myself have been able to achieve a higher education. The Navy has been impacted from the adaption and change it has had to accommodate the support for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was 2005, when it was unthinkable to be deployed in the range of support. This war has put demands on the Navy by changing the mindset, uniforms, and the clash with tradition is the result from the
change. I believe this is a broader scope for pushing through traditional roles. What are your thoughts?

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

11 y

Senior Chief; respectfully my Father served in the Navy and the Army. I was raised by Vietnam Veterans.

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CMC Robert Young

11 y

I get it ma'am. My dad was Army, two uncles in the Air Force and one in the Navy; and my stepson is a Marine. The military is the family business. It's amazing what we pick from those around us. :-) Having that history probably makes us better service members, and better people.

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PO1 (Join to see)

>1 y

Even when I had to do daily briefings with the CO... everytime I stepped off the ladder to O-country, I felt out of place. That bright line you speak of is so engrained in the Navy culture. Friend's at the VFW say they worked, ate and bunked in the same spaces with their O's... NOT IN THE NAV... I only served with one CO that was a "regular guy" he made other O's uncomfortable because he would seek us out on the beach, have a couple beers. Said it kept him, grounded, but the decorum was always there.

Are they sailors... no they are Officers, but they take ships to sea. More a play on words really...

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SSG Laureano Pabon

>1 y

I don't mean to interrupt in this conversation, But I don't know much about my father as in what he did or what he looked like, but when I entered active duty 1976, my father was my NCOIC's because they always treated me like family in every aspect of the way. I guess that in a way I was a spoil brat lol

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SSG (ret) William Martin

>1 y

Like CH (CPT) Davis, H. said, everyone SM in the Army is a Soldier. First and foremost, all SMs in the Army should be expected to conduct at least skill level I tasks and that's basic soldiering skills like disabling, assembling, cleaning, and shooting a rifle and/or pistol, throw a grenade, read and navigate by map and terrain, conduct a road march, and maybe even pitch a tent if needed. Far as a separation between officers and enlisted, I personally don't feel separated by officers unless we are talking around levels of leadership, pay grades, and responsibility. I am not even intimidated by officers and maybe that has to do with over a thousand traffic stops I have conducted over the years and dealing with higher ups was and still is something I do. If I am ever in the right place and time and I have an opportunity to speak to a someone who really outranks me like a SGM/ CSM, a LTCOL or a COL or higher I will try to strike up a conversation with that SM to gain insight on the Army from their perspective because I think many of them have lots to tell, to give and share. Sharing is caring.

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PO1 J R Foster

>1 y

In general, I would say they are not. However, in the strictest interpretation, they are. There were many that I held in high regard and there are those I still feel weren't worth the salt I washed off of my fire control radars during fresh water washdowns. But, they go to sea and "sail" like all those that fall below them. A sailor is one who sails. I suppose in the strictest terms, there have been very few actual sailors since the sailing ships gave way to steam many years ago. Just a note, I am a third generation sailor. My father's father was a Bosun's mate during World War II, my father a Commisaryman during the Korean War and I served honorably from 1984 through 2004.

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PO1 Bob Junke

>1 y

PO1 J D Maxim says "The best officer/leader is the one that will get their hands dirty and that just doesn't happen in the Navy." Oh really. I beg to differ. I've seen and worked with many officers in naval aviation that get their hands dirty. My last skipper on the USS America, Retired ADM Leighton Smith, made it a point to ALWAYS swing by the enlisted fleet landing and pick up young sailors to take back to the ship with him. Not sure if are/were a surface sailor nut I know many aviation officers that would get their hands dirty. So, I respectfully disagree with your notion that "The best officer/leader is the one that will get their hands dirty and that just doesn't happen in the Navy."

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PO1 J R Foster

>1 y

Just an added note. They served like all of us and put their lives on the line just like all those they served with.

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ENS Steven Tiedemann

>1 y

Ok, so I have the rare distinction having served in the Navy and Army. One thing I never could understand in the Navy was the "class" differences. When I was a grunt, the officers of a unit always made sure that their troops ate first, but as a Naval Officer we ate in the Wardroom under better conditions, etc. So I would say no, Naval Officers do not consider themselves as "sailors", and should not take that distinction away from their "sailors". Just my 2 cents.

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LT (Join to see)

>1 y

Having been on both sides of the "line" I think of my self as a sailor. I was when I was in Deck Department, I was when I was an Intelligence Specialist, and I still am now as a Naval Intelligence Officer. Any high horse Officer that doesn't see themselves equal to those he/she leads "SAILING" around the globe and into harms way and right up to the doorstep, is not one I want leading me. But maybe I am a grumpy old Mustang...that could just be my stubbornness to NOT be so separated.

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PO3 Kevin Murray

>1 y

Capt, I can't "thumbs up" this comment enough! I was a Machinist Mate on an Amphib from 98-02 and saw my share of water-walking officers. Respect and deference was always the name of the game, but you knew some of these folks would never share a 6-pack with you off hours. Most officers that didn't play the political game got sent to engineering dept, where they quickly fit in and we made them rock stars through our performance. I still miss the Snipes, less pomp and circumstance... Just get down to brass tacks!

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SCPO J Logue II

>1 y

Amen, Master Chief Blitz, Admiral Boorda was an anomaly I believe from every aspect. Non-high school grad to CNO. I was a 2nd class on recruiting duty when he passed away. He put the capital S in Sailor. Any officer that feels he is too good to be considered a Sailor normally did not receive the same treatment from the Chiefs Mess as those that did consider themselves Sailors. And those Officers that are not good enough to consider themselves Sailors are "Not worth their salt", respectfully. SCPO J. Logue (Ret)

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LCDR Gordon Brown

>1 y

I knew ADM Mike Boorda AND after salutes were rendered the First thing out of the ADM's mouth was "How are My Sailors, can I help you with anything?" he was truly a Sailors' Sailor. Since he was a Mustang he understood completely the other side of the coin AND he Respected the Enlisted.

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PO2 Johnathan Kerns

>1 y

Nope you are not out of your lane CPT. A perfect description in my opinion. After separating from the Navy, I've since worked for the Army for almost 4 years and I notice a complete difference. At first, it was a complete culture shock to me to see Army Enlisted and Officers interacting with each other in that way. When I was in the Navy, 95% of my interaction was with my LPO (E-6) or LCPO (Chief/ E-7). Just different worlds I guess lol.

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PO1 (Join to see)

>1 y

CPT Davis is right, the two branches differ greatly on officer and enlisted. I was deployed to LSA, Kuwait for 15 months for Navy Customs, and whenever I`d go into the DFAC, there wasn`t the whole Chief`s Mess, Officer`s Mess, First Class Mess, and below Mess for Gally`s onboard ships and the naval personnel generally divided up like so in groups. Looking at the army personnel in the DFAC, was like looking into another world.

I am not familiar with CNO`s before ADM Clark, but ADM Boorda probably said all members of the Navy are sailors to end the arguments being made. Some examples are seabees, whom rarely see ships, those part of the aviation community who could easily be attached to shore and sea duty commands and never seeing a ship, and never being on a ship has caused some sailors who are salty to call other sailors who have never deployed on a ship not a sailor. Fights can start from these, especially in bars.

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PO1 (Join to see)

>1 y

CPT Davis is correct. Great history lesson on why the Navy differs from the other services. This is why the question even comes about these days. I know that from my experience, we do not hold to the idea that only enlisted are sailors - all Navy Warriors are called Sailors, regardless of rate or rank.

With that being said, when I went to a joint command I was amazed when I learned officer and enlisted ate in the same location. The idea seems so foreign to us sailors. We are a very different service than the shore based military though. I would like to see some interconnection between enlisted and officers (sans fraternization), but the likelihood of the CPO Mess or Wardroom changing is very slim, in my own humble opinion.

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

>1 y

PO2 Kerns:

I have been in the Military for thirty years and the original Navy was taken from the British. Got it perspectives change and the historical history is Sailors are enlisted.

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PO1 Todd Cousins

>1 y

I retired last summer after 20 years but my time as a true sailor was limited to my last five when I became an IDC. I can't speak to big decks but on small boys there is always a difference and you can feel it. As a first class I was expected to act a certain way by shipmates, Chiefs and Officers. I have to admit I never could. Mostly because I spent 12 years with Marines where everyone, officer, Warrent officer, staff NCO, NCO and lower where riflemen first. In the Marines they were a family and I never saw that on a ship. Well not the same way. The differences are too numerous to go into on a post but they where always there. That said they navy way worked on our decks as often as the Marine way worked in the field. Not sure which is truly best.

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PO2 Danny Herron

>1 y

Why are there Marines on ships???????Sheep would be to obvious.

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PO1 Richard Roynon

>1 y

So if an enlisted sailor becomes an officer is he or is he no longer a sailor

SO IF AN ENLISTED SAILOR RISES TO OFFICER STATUS

s

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LCDR Kent Meyer

>1 y

PO1 Richard Roynon the answer is no. I started Enlisted and transitioned to the Officer Corp. I was and will always remain a Sailor.

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LCDR Kent Meyer

>1 y

Chaplain, agreed that you are out of your lane. While the history of the Officer and Enlisted Corps in the Navy is different from most other services we are all still Sailors no matter your career path. No one can say otherwise.

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MAJ (Join to see)

>1 y

There still are legal distinction between officers and enlisted, hence differences in pay and UCMJ. IE the baby faced Army LT found guilty for violating ROE when the two Afghans were killed on a motorcycle. However he was given a chance to explain his reasoning for waving ROE. His judgement was obviously wrong.

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

>1 y

LCDR Meyer:

You started from the enlisted side and if you ask you fellow Officers that started from being an Officer they would disagree with you. You are a Mustang!

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

>1 y

LCDR Meyer:

My Father was in the Navy in WWII and if I know anything he hated officers, and despised them. When you look back into Navy history Sailors were enlisted.

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CPO Michael Callegri

>1 y

The only other issue here that is not totally true is that in the Navy The Chiefs also have their own Mess and sleeping quarters aboard ships. The structure in the Navy is totally different than the other services. I think everyone is tying to make a difference between gala apples and golden delicious apples, they are both still apples.

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CDR Thomas Gatliffe

Posted >1 y ago

I consider myself a genuine sailor in the most basic sense. I was fortunate enough to actually "sail" in a 45-70' sail-powered craft for several hundred miles across the western Atlantic, three different times. At 72 I can still tie a bowline one-handed, steer a course by the stars, and gauge the prevailing wind and seas in my sleep. That said, I also always tried to be at least as proficient in basic skills as those in my division, department, or command throughout my career. That often meant getting down and swinging on a wrench when the chief or senior petty officer urgently needed an extra hand dealing with an engine room casualty, flaking down an errant bitter end and bight of line during a midnight UNREP, reading the troubleshooting steps aloud for my Chief RM or ET while they tried to get gear back on line, or generally whatever was needed to support the mission. Above all, I tried to LISTEN to and learn from those who had already been down the road before trying to tell them how to get there. Sometimes my chiefs didn't completely agree with some aspects but they always knew that I understood their concerns before I made my decisions and I tried to confidently leave the details up to them. There is one inescapable fact about sea duty: "We are all in the same boat, literally, and we can ultimately sink or swim individually or steam together as a team."

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CPO Craig Feise

>1 y

Commander, after my 24 years of Naval service, Ive served along side some officers who were lack luster at best. On the other hand thete were some who inspired and motivated me. After reading your posting here, I regret not having the pleasure of serving with you, drinking from the fountain of knowledge you cleary possess, and leading our sailors as your Chief.
To answer the OP's question, many are fortunate enough to serve in the worlds greatest Navy, but few can look at themselves in the mirror and call themselves a United States Sailor. You Sir, should do so with full confidence and conviction. You have my respect and admiration. Maybe I dont say this often because its become disingenuous over the years. With all the respect i can muster, thank you for your service.

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CDR Thomas Gatliffe

>1 y

For PO3 Rodney Speed , PO2 Phillip Kurtz , CPO Craig Feise , and CMDCM Gene Treants : Thank you all for your respect and graciious comments. I considered every man (and woman) I served with a "shipmate," from the E-2's fresh out of boot camp going to sea for the first time up through the O-10 Fleet Commander on whose staff I had the honor to serve for a while. Some were more challenging at times but all were people I will always call "comrades in service" (not necessarily "drinking buddies" on liberty, that could have been embarrassing in some places like Olongapo or the "Gut" in Barcelona) and sharers in common purpose and convictions in service. "Steady as you go, mates!"

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LTJG Frederick Birchmore

>1 y

Have always proudly called myself a sailor. Got the scars and limp to prove it. Got dirty too (Gator Navy). As to the Officers' Club mystique, here's a secret: Although our pay was higher (I topped at $457/mo) we had to buy our own uniforms and all of shipboard FOOD. I survived only by volunteering, as often as possible, to be the officer required to "sample the enlisted mess." Other JOs felt uncomfortable dining with the men, but I found their table conversations informative, entertaining, raucous, irreverent, and hilarious. The Wardroom meals, by contrast, were formalized, stilted and often very unpleasant, with a haranguing XO presiding. Not to mention the food. While the Wardroom was staring at the standard solitary grilled cheese sandwich on a china plate, with sterling silverware as decoration, I was two decks below, eating out of a battered steel tray, but feasting on roast beef, mashed potatoes with gravy, fresh vegetables, rolls, cornbread, and cherry pie a la mode. Twice we even had lobster. I was always careful to complain to the other JOs about the rigors of being the EM mess sampler, but I can tell the truth now - it was one of the few really great benefits of being a junior officer, able to escape now and then from the oppressive sublimity of Officers' Country..

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Sgt Vince P

>1 y

You sound like a very select few officers I have had the honor of serving with in the Marine Corps. Your type of "management" style is one that all officers and even those in management in the civilian life should achieve. The ability to understand how the "system" or machine works, from the low end to the top. I always had more respect for the officers I served under, as they knew how to "help or assist" when we were trying to complete our mission or assignment. Thanks for your "special" style of truly leading not simply "ordering" those under your command to do the job simply because you said so.

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SCPO (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

They sure as hell are SAILORS, regardless of what some of the mis-informed "O's" think. I have corrected more than one Officer who failed to stand at attention and recite the Sailors Creed with the rest of us. Regardless of the rank, whether Officer or Enlisted, we are all Sailors.

Admiral Arleigh Burke's grave reads as follows because he got it,

ADMIRAL
ARLEIGH A. BURKE
SAILOR
UNITED STATES NAVY

ROBERTA G. BURKE
SAILORS WIFE

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CMDCM Gene Treants

>1 y

I really like that the Creed is now a part of Officers Training programs as well as Boot Camp. and Senior Chief, keep it up - I used to do the same thing and my Officers understood where I was coming from.

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LT (Join to see)

Posted 11 y ago

In the Seabee, community there was a bit of a discussion on whether or not the Officers were Seabees or just CEC Officers (just by the enlisted side.) But I have to say this. I am a Naval Officer. I am also a Sailor because I am supposed to the example for those I leader. I am a CEC Officer, but I am also a Seabee not only because I wear the patch but because I get down in the dirt with my Seabees.

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PO2 Josh Rymer

>1 y

In my experience, the officers take every opportunity to let you know that they are better than you in every way. I know it is not all officers. I was a Seabee reservist for 8 year and did two tours. One to Iraq in 09, and one to afghanistan in 12-13. But anyways back to the question. I think it is a very fine line that we tread with this question. But if your in the navy than tecinally you are a sailor, but on the other hand I have never thought of them as sailors I have always thought of them as officers. And the same in the seabees, they are engineers. And sir I wish I had an opportunity to work with an officer, but I never got a chance. The ones I was under were afraid to get their uniform dirty it seemed like. I have worked with Chiefs senior and even one master Cheif and a warrent officer (who was not a Seabee, but a diver). But even on my scw board I didn't have one officer. Just Chiefs and a E6 and some E5. This is just my experince, but officers only really care about their fellow officers. I was in a command where even after deployment I had an officer who didn't even know my and several others rates. But I think tecinally they are but to the enlisted umm not so much.

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LCDR (Join to see)

>1 y

Sorry to hear that you've had that experience with officers. I'm the same person I was when I enlisted 20 years ago as an MM. I have some great memories I picked up along the way, but still the same person.

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PO2 Barry Baker

>1 y

I had nothing but dirtbag commanders and officers who despised the Sailors they were in Charge of. I had the pleasure to watch 2 CO's get fired for incompetence ( Yes I know they call it something nicer of course).
I Only had ONE good Navy Officer and thanked God I was "Punished" and sent to a USMC Command for my Light Limited Duty. The Marine Officers are of a much higher caliber than all but one Navy Officer I met.

Sorry but when I was in during the 2000's I never knew many NCO's who were impressed with the Hoitey toitey, fancy Officers.
So some Officers think they are too good to be sailors? My Opinion is good then!

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CMDCM Richard Moon

>1 y

There are many CEC who ticket punch and get straight back to a NAVFAC billet - where they belong. There are few officers who actively seek and remain within the Seabee community and the ones who are good at it are respected. They are the only CEC that earn the title of Seabee and given by the Seabees they are charged to lead.

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LtCol Dann Chesnut

Posted 11 y ago

A Marine is a Marine no matter what the rank. Officers in the Marine Corps are Marines. As a Marine enlisted man, and as an officer, at no time was I in the Navy, albeit the USMC is identified as in the Department of the Navy.

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SCPO (Join to see)

>1 y

LtCol,
You can also tell them the only true Marine is a Submarine. That really gets them going.

I will say that every Submarine Officer I have served with understood they where a sailor first, Officer second. While plenty where thinking out of there ass when they got there, each every one of them was a fine man that I eventually enjoyed being with. I think the way they have to learn to be one of the crew due to our unique environment has something to do with that. I have a great respect for Officers in the Surface Fleet, but the vast majority of those who have made me think they are raging assholes have been from that side of the house. I have met some great Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) as well, but more often than not they have been the ones to think they where officers not sailors.

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PO2 Dale Brown

>1 y

Respectfully Sir, as a former sailor {EW2} , with a son-in-law serving as a Major in the Corp, it is well known in my family that the Marines are a Department of the Navy. THE MENS DEPARTMENT!

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SCPO J Logue II

>1 y

I'm just an old retired SCPO..... But there are 2 things I know for sure. 1. There is a lot of jokes and rivalry between Sailors and Marines. 2. Let a civilian mess with a Sailor and or a Marine, and that individual is in for a really bad day and ass whoopin. I know a MajGen that tells me to call him by his first name, but he won't call me J, it's always "Chief", just as his first name is General and always will be. Sempre Fi my Marine brothers.

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PO2 (Join to see)

>1 y

Isn't it the women department of the navy?

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Cpl Glynis Sakowicz

Posted 11 y ago

I have thought about your question for a while now, and I have been considering if it is different in the Marines, and as far as I know, which is from the enlisted side, in the Corps, we are all Riflemen first, no matter what our job. That is drummed into us from day one, that no matter how we serve, we always have two MOS's.

That said, I served with some incredibly good officers, who made a point to be an integral part of their units. They PT'd with us, often ate with us, and not a few times, backed us up when necessary. I had the honor of knowing one Captain, who, upon knowing one of his troops had a terminal spouse, quietly worked thru others, to pay electric bills, buy groceries and find care for his children so that the Sergeant could spend those precious hours with his wife.

I have seen, in the Air Wing, how many officers made a point of getting to know the people who kept their aircraft flying. It may have been a sense of personal safety that pushed this view, but those squadrons were often very tight, even with the divide between officers and enlisted.

My point is, in the Corps, there is also a large divide between the ranks, but we always understood, that this was in some way necessary because of our first job in the Corps, those officers and upper enlisted, demands that we perform our job without thought to who might or might not survive... or show favoritisim in any situation. No Marine ever calls another by their first name, and quite frankly, we are shocked when we hear others of various ranks, do so. I am not sure if that makes sense in reference to your question, but that is the way I saw it.

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MSgt (Join to see)

11 y

When I was in the Corps in the early 80's, we were all 'MARINES'. Everyone knew the differences between being enlisted and being an officer as to rank, but we were in the same mind set as to being of one 'TEAM' working towards the same goals. We knew the Navy as 'Sailors' or 'Seamen,' the Air Force were 'Airmen,' the Army as 'Soldiers.' The officers who were in touch with their enlisted ranks considered everyone on the same team but just having different responsibilities due to the rank.

If there are officers who think being labeled the same as the enlisted is beneath them - then maybe they should rethink why they joined. We are all on the same team working towards the same goals - they should be proud to be considered as part of the of rank and file enlisted members.

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CPT Keith Steinhurst

>1 y

CPT Davis, roger - roger - for some of us it is the family business, and in some cases, the generational effect transitions across nations and oceans - to include a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and a Pour le Merite . . . Cheers!

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CH (CPT) Heather Davis

>1 y

Cheers! to you as well:

I had the pleasure working with the Royal Air Force when I was working Joint in the 80's. My Mother's side also served in the Spanish military.

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LtCol Dann Chesnut

>1 y

Cpl Glynis Sakowicz, Thanks for your input. My experience in the Marine Corps is similar to yours. We are hard on ourselves, but no one takes better care of each other!

Glynis Sakowicz at Available for Employment Military Profile | RallyPoint

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CPT (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

MCPO Treants,

Wow, I am shocked that some Naval Officers would not consider themselves Sailors. I am a Soldier and my fellow officers would tell anyone who says otherwise that they are nuts. Tell a Marine Officer that he is not a Marine and you may get punched.

Personally, I think attitudes like those displayed by the "offended" Navy Officers are a major contributer to the 'us versus them' attitude between some groups of enlisted and officers; it denotes a lack of respect on the part of the officer for the very people that they are charged to lead and care for.

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CMDCM Gene Treants

>1 y

I have to agree fully Captain. Respect does start at the top and it does not help if seniors display an attitude of being aloof or better than others,]. In my experience leaders know this and are part of the team, not just coaches or onlookers. Just from your answer, I know your men believe in your leadership.

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CWO3 (Join to see)

>1 y

From what I have seen (before my commission), some Officers would either stand at attention and not recite it OR show up after their division recited The Sailors Creed. I recite The Sailors Creed every morning with my division. I am a Sailor and always will be!

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CMSgt Mark Schubert

Posted >1 y ago

All members of the Air Force, regardless of rank, are Airmen!

The Airman's Creed[1]

I am an American Airman.I am a Warrior.I have answered my Nation’s call.I am an American Airman.My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win.I am faithful to a Proud Heritage,A Tradition of Honor,And a Legacy of Valor.I am an American Airman.Guardian of Freedom and Justice,My Nation’s Sword and Shield,Its Sentry and Avenger.I defend my Country with my Life.I am an American Airman.Wingman, Leader, Warrior.I will never leave an Airman behind,I will never falter,And I will not fail.

Airman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An airman is a member of the air component of a nation's armed service. In the United States Air Force, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. More informally, it can refer to any member of an...

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CMDCM Gene Treants

>1 y

I fully agree Chief!

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