Manual of Military Training Part 134

When an officer calls a soldier who is some distance away, the soldier should immediately salute, and say, "_Yes, sir_," and, if necessary, approach the officer with a quickened step. If the officer is waiting on the soldier, the latter should take up the double time.

Always salute an officer when he leaves you after a conversation or at any other time. And always salute just as soon as the officer makes the first move to leave. Don't wait until he has moved away several feet before saluting.

Miscellaneous

=1527. How to Enter an Office.= In entering an office a soldier should give two or three knocks at the door (whether it be open or closed); when told to come in, enter, taking off the hat (if unarmed), close the door (if it was closed before you entered) and remain just inside the door until asked what is wanted; then go within a short distance of the officer, stand at attention, salute, and make known your request in as few words as possible. On completion, salute, face toward the door, and go out, being careful to close the door if it was closed when you entered. If it was not closed, leave it open.

=1528. Complaints to the Captain.= Complaints must never be made directly to the captain unless the soldier has the captain's permission to do so, or the first sergeant refuses to have the matter reported. If dissatisfied with his food, clothing, duties, or treatment, the facts should be reported to the first sergeant, with the request, if necessary, to see the captain.

It is also customary for soldiers who wish to speak to the captain about anything to see the first sergeant first, and when speaking to the captain to inform him that they have the first sergeant's permission to do so. Thus: "Private Smith has the first sergeant's permission to speak to the captain," etc.

=1529. How the Soldier is Paid.= When your name is called, answer "Here," step forward and halt directly in front of the paymaster, who will be directly behind the table; salute him. When he spreads out your pay on the table in front of you, count it quickly, take it up with your ungloved hand, execute a left or right face and leave the room and building, unless you wish to deposit, in which case, you will remain in the hall outside the payroom, until the company has been paid, when you enter the payroom. Men wishing to deposit money with the paymaster, will always notify the first sergeant before the company is marched to the pay table.

=1530. Delivery of Messages.= When an enlisted man receives a message, verbal or written, from an officer for delivery, he will, in case he does not understand his instructions, ask the officer to repeat them, saying, for instance, "Sir, Private Smith does not understand; will the captain please repeat?" When he has received his instructions, and understands them, he will salute, and say: "Yes, sir," execute an about face, and proceed immediately to the officer for whom the message is intended. He will halt three or four paces directly in front of the officer and _if the officer be junior to the officer sending the message_, he will say, "Sir, Captain Smith presents his compliments," etc., and then deliver the message, or "The commanding officer presents his compliments to Lieutenant Smith and would like to see him at headquarters." He will salute immediately before he begins to address the officer and will hold his hand at the position of salute while he says, "Sir, Captain Smith presents his compliments,"

or "The commanding officer presents his compliments to Lieutenant Smith." If the officer sending the message be junior to the one receiving it, the soldier will not present his compliments, but will say, for instance, "Sir, Lieutenant Smith directed me to hand this letter to the captain," or "Sir, Lieutenant Smith directed me to say to the captain," etc. As soon as the message has been delivered, the soldier will salute, execute an about face, and proceed at once to the officer who sent the message, and will similarly report to him, "Sir, the lieutenant's message to Captain Smith has been delivered," and leave.

Before leaving an officer to whom you deliver a message always ascertain whether there is an answer.

The compliments of a junior are never presented to a senior. For instance, never say to a captain that a lieutenant presents his compliments to him.

=1531. Appearance as Witness.= The uniform is that prescribed. Proceed to the courtroom and remain outside. When you are notified that you are wanted enter the room. Then take off your cap and right hand glove, and raise your right hand above your head, palm to the front, to be sworn. After the judge-advocate reads the oath, say, "I do" or "So help me G.o.d." Then sit down in the chair indicated by the judge-advocate. Do not cross your legs, but sit upright. When asked, "Do you know the accused? If, so, state who he is," answer, "I do; Corporal John Jones, Co. 'B' 1st Infantry." Be sure you thoroughly understand every question before you start to reply, answering them all promptly, in a loud, distinct, deliberate voice, and confining your answers strictly to the questions asked and telling all you know.

When the judge-advocate says, "That is all," arise, salute him, execute an about face, and leave the room.

CHAPTER II

MILITARY COURTESY

=1532. Its importance.= Some soldiers do not see the necessity for saluting, standing at attention, and other forms of courtesy, because they do not understand their significance--their object. It is a well-known fact that military courtesy is a very important part of the education of the soldier, and there are good reasons for it.

General Orders No. 183, Division of the Philippines, 1901, says: "In all armies the manner in which military courtesies are observed and rendered by officers and soldiers, is the index to the manner in which other duties are performed."

The Army Regulations tells us, "Courtesy among military men is indispensable to discipline; respect to superiors will not be confined to obedience on duty, but will be extended on all occasions."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE NATURE OF SALUTES AND THEIR ORIGIN

The Civilian Salute

=1533.= When a gentleman raises his hat to a lady he is but continuing a custom that had its beginning in the days of knighthood, when every knight wore his helmet as a protection against foes. However, when coming among friends, especially ladies, the knight would remove his helmet as a mark of confidence and trust in his friends. In those days failure to remove the helmet in the presence of ladies signified distrust and want of confidence--today it signifies impoliteness and a want of good breeding.

The Military Salute

=1534.= From time immemorial subordinates have always uncovered before superiors, and equals have always acknowledged each other's presence by some courtesy--this seems to be one of the natural, n.o.bler instincts of man. It was not so many years ago when a sentinel saluted not only with his gun but by taking off his hat also. However, when complicated headgear like the bearskin and the helmet came into use, they could not be readily removed and the act of removing the hat was finally conventionalized into the present salute--into the movement of the hand to the visor as if the hat were going to be removed.

Every once in a while a man is found who has the mistaken idea that he smothers the American spirit of freedom, that he sacrifices his independence, by saluting his officers. Of course, no one but an anarchist or a man with a small, shrivelled-up mind can have such ideas.

Manly deference to superiors, which in military life is merely recognition of const.i.tuted authority, does not imply admission of inferiority any more than respect for law implies cowardice.

The recruit should at once rid himself of the idea that saluting and other forms of military courtesy are un-American. The salute is the soldier's claim from the very highest in the land to instant recognition as a soldier. The raw recruit by his simple act of saluting, commands like honor from the ranking general of the Army--aye, from even the President of the United States.

While the personal element naturally enters into the salute to a certain extent, when a soldier salutes an officer he is really saluting the office rather than the officer personally--the salute is rendered as a mark of respect to the rank, the position that the officer holds, to the authority with which he is vested. A man with the true soldierly instinct never misses an opportunity to salute his officers.

As a matter of fact, military courtesy is just simply an application of common, every-day courtesy and common sense. In common, every-day courtesy no man with the instincts of a gentleman ever thinks about taking advantage of this thing and that thing in order to avoid paying to his fellow-man the ordinary, conventional courtesies of life, and if there is ever any doubt about the matter, he takes no chances but extends the courtesy. And this is just exactly what the man who has the instincts of a real soldier does in the case of military courtesy.

The thought of "Should I salute or should I not salute" never enters the mind of a soldier just because he happens to be in a wagon, in a postoffice, etc.

In all armies of the world, all officers and soldiers are required to salute each other whenever they meet or pa.s.s, the subordinate saluting first. The salute on the part of the subordinate is not intended in any way as an act of degradation or a mark of inferiority, but is simply a military courtesy that is as binding on the officer as it is on the private, and just as the enlisted man is required to salute the officer first, so is the officer required to salute his superiors first. It is a bond uniting all in a common profession, marking the fact that above them there is an authority that both recognize and obey--the Country! Indeed, by custom and regulations, it is as obligatory for the ranking general of the Army to return the salute of the recruit, as it is for the latter to give it.

Let it be remembered that the military salute is a form of greeting that belongs exclusively to the Government--to the soldier, the sailor, the marine--it is the mark and prerogative of the military man and he should be proud of having the privilege of using that form of salutation--a form of salutation that marks him as a member of the Profession of Arms--the profession of Napoleon, Wellington, Grant, Lee, Sherman, Jackson and scores of others of the greatest and most famous men the world has ever known. The military salute is ours, it is ours only. Moreover, it belongs only to the soldier who is in good standing, the prisoner under guard, for instance, not being allowed to salute. Ours is a grand fraternity of men-at-arms, banded together for national defense, for the maintenance of law and order--we are bound together by the love and respect we bear the flag--we are pledged to loyalty, to one G.o.d, one country--our lives are dedicated to the defense of our country's flag--the officer and the private belong to a brotherhood whose regalia is the uniform of the American soldier, and they are known to one another and to all men, by an honored sign and symbol of knighthood that has come down to us from the ages--THE MILITARY SALUTE!

WHOM TO SALUTE

=1535. Army officers.= All Army officers are saluted by their juniors and by enlisted men.

=1536. Navy, Marine Corps, Volunteer and National Guard officers.= Soldiers at all times and in all situations salute officers of the Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard the same as they salute officers of the Regular Army.

=1537. Reserve Corps officers.= Although the subject is not at present (March, 1917) covered by orders or regulations, it goes without saying that soldiers would salute members of the Officers' Reserve Corps _on active duty_ the same as they salute their own officers.

=1538. Foreign naval and military officers.= The Manual of Interior Guard Duty requires sentinels to salute foreign naval and military officers, but there are no instructions about other enlisted men saluting them. However, as an act of international courtesy, they should be saluted the same as our own officers.

WHEN AND HOW TO SALUTE

=1539. General rule.= Day or night, covered or uncovered, whether either or both are in uniform or civilian clothes, salutes shall be exchanged between officers and enlisted men not in a military formation, nor at drill, work, games or mess, on every occasion of their meeting, pa.s.sing near or being addressed, the junior in rank or the enlisted man saluting first.

=1540. Saluting when making and receiving reports.= When making or receiving official reports, or on meeting out of doors, all officers will salute.

Military courtesy requires the junior to salute first, but when the salute is introductory to a report made at a military ceremony or formation, to the representative of a common superior (as, for example, to the adjutant, officer of the day, etc.), the officer making the report, whatever his rank, will salute first; the officer to whom the report is made will acknowledge by saluting that he has received and understood the report.

=1541. Saluting distance.= Saluting distance is that within which recognition is easy. In general, it does not exceed 30 paces.

As to the distance at which the salute should be made, the following is what has been the practice in the Army:

In approaching or pa.s.sing each other within saluting distance, individuals or bodies of troops exchange salutes when at a distance of about 6 paces. If they do not approach each other that closely, the salute is exchanged at the point of nearest approach. For instance, if the officer and soldier are approaching each other on the same sidewalk, the hand is brought up to the headdress when about 6 paces from the officer. If they are on opposite sides of the street, the hand is brought up when about ten paces in advance of the officer. If the officer and soldier are not going in opposite directions and the officer does not approach within six paces, the salute is rendered when the officer reaches the nearest point to the soldier. If a soldier pa.s.ses an officer from the rear, the hand is raised as he reaches the officer; if an officer pa.s.ses a soldier from the rear, the soldier salutes just as the officer is about to pa.s.s him.

=1542. Officer entering room occupied by soldiers.= When an officer enters a room where there are several enlisted men, the word "attention" is given by someone who perceives him, when all rise, uncover, and remain standing at attention until the officer leaves the room or directs otherwise.

=1543. At meals.= Enlisted men at meals stop eating and remain seated at attention when an officer enters the room.