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Old 20th Jan 2021, 12:41
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judge11
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: South of the Watford Gap, East of Portland
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I might suggest that 'rank' is a title for which one has worked hard to attain and, hopefully, fully merit and is/was conferred by dint of your Commission granted to you by the Monarch. Upon leaving the Services, there is a hint that you are no longer serving by the addition (in written form) of 'retd' after your rank.

Would you expect a doctor to rescind his hard-earned title upon retirement? I think not.

If your drinking pals down at the local hostelry like to shout 'Evening Colonel' when you walk in - what harm is there in that? Expectation that the entire room to comes to attention is another matter which might need counseling to moderate.

It might also come down to personal standards and respect. Some 40 plus years after leaving school, there is no way I could return to a school reunion and not call any of the surviving teachers by their christian names.
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