Whilst helping a station, which had formerly not been too troubled by TACEVAL, drag itself into the (then) real world, I watched some control of entry work being undertaken.
The SWO was also on hand and after an officer had been cleared through, the guard was given a major bl*&king for: 'not saluting the officer'.
As we walked away I gently reminded said SWO that in the First World War, it became very obvious, very quickly, who the officers were 'cause they wore ties, carried pistols on a lanyard, and sometimes even brandished a sword. The only thing they did not do was wear a sign saying 'I am an officer, please shoot me first'. Very soon officers in the trenches dressed as their troops and carried rifles.
When I suggested that an airman saluting an officer at a checkpoint was an open invitation to any sniper nearby to put the officer's 'lights out' fairly swiftly, the SWO got the point. He had the good grace to return to the checkpoint and tell the airman that he had made a mistake and - of course - it was unwise to draw attention towards any potential hi-valu target and saluting was off!
Old Duffer