Who has made the mistake of saluting an enlisted person?

The last I heard is that Cadet is a military rank. Fits right in there with WOs, between Officers and NCOs. They are appropriately addressed as either "Cadet" or "Mister". Therefore it is totally appropriate for enlisted soldiers of all ranks to salute them. Especially during times when they are acting in officer positions during training. Admittedly, this is honored more by being generally ignored by everyone including the cadets!

CPT Bruce Beattie
Technically I don't think Cadet is a military rank and you are not required to salute them. I usually require my Soldiers to salute them when they come to the units for their summer "internship" because they are placed in platoon leader positions so, I have the Soldiers treat them as such.

CSM (verify To See) I invite you to peruse AR600-20 dated Oct 14. You will find several references to the rank of "Cadet". In each instance it appears in the tables and charts just below WOs and above Senior NCOs. The charts go so far as to list proper forms of address and the abreviation "CDT" as proper for their rank. I have not yet researched the regulations requiring saluting but I assure you that technically Cadet is a real army rank. Saluting is a proper military greeting between all ranks, not just Officers and Enlisted. Saluting is just our military fraternity's way of greeting our brothers and sisters in arms. So, I salute you and recognize your years of dedication to our country's cause!

When I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, I saluted a number of specialists because I was leaving or arriving at the hospital in the dark and I couldn't tell if they were LTCs. It made me appreciate the difference between officer and enlisted ranks in the USAF.

LT (Join to see) not going to lie sir, I've made that comment before too, jokingly of course and never to an officer. But that's literally what I heard from across the street from the Chief I saluted!

Yes, and I was midly irritated at first, because my dad was a mustang, and thought, well my dad certainly worked for a living, and if his aircraft needed maintenance, he would get his hands dirty and help them fix it. Plus, we were raised to call everyone sir/ma'am or Mr./Mrs... Sir is always easier and faster than trying to figure out rank. I never heard the one about knowing who your parents are being and enlisted vs. officers thing.

The Air Force and their "Sir"....drives me nuts!!! Very respectful but insane, you think we would have learned each others rank structure by now...at least the enlisted. LOL!

If, as a senior NCO, you're smoking someone for rendering a salute instead of correcting them, you're wrong.

Good one.