Stupid Question, However......
 

This really is a stupid question but here we go....

Stn Cdr , ( at a small unit so lets say a Wingco) walks down the road to work and is confronted by 3 airmen, a Flt Lt pilot and the SMO, a Wg Cdr; Who salutes who?

3 airmen and Flt lt Pilot salute, Wg Cdr returns I expect. if it was vis a vis, then the most senior officer present salutes the junior after he has saluted the collective of officers. OR whoever is closest, generally works in my book!

Why, did you get a Bolloxking?

Were the 3 airmen English, Irish and Scottish by any chance?

Well for a start, the three airmen would spread themselves neatly at 10 pace intervals to make sure that at least ONE of the officers had to keep saluting for a good distance......being a good uniformed civvy, the SMO would probably wonder what all the arm-waving was about......the pilot wouldn't really give a toss, being late for a briefing, and would wave in someones general direction. CO would then no doubt stomp off to write Order No 1 of the next SRO's.....

Do people still salute? Havn't seen one for ages.

:ok:

As close as I could get fella

The Staish is a CO, so everyone of the five people approaching him [ three airmen, a Flt Lt, and a SMO] will salute. The three airmen would do it smartly and instinctively give each other room; the Flt Lt, being a pilot and on the ground, would salute somewhat vaguely in the manner of one who doesn't do such things very often, and the MO will wave because he's a Wg Cdr for pay purposes and hasn't a clue about anything else in the air force.!:D

If people are saluting the Queen's commission, not the individual, surely two flt lts should salute each other's passing commission - their ranks being irrelevent?

Prat At The Back

Shouldn't that be 'Who salutes whom?'

Only if you're an hofficer

You presume the pilot has a hat.

In ASI the order was that out doors - head dress etc and stable belts.

The staish and the 3 sqn ldrs, plus the RN and Army wore hats. No one else did.

BEagle, wrong on one count then. Said airmen, being mess stewards, are rpobably ambling along in whites so they don't look like airmen at all and miscellaneous anoraks.

What no doubt gives them away is the RAF issue rucksack with the out of date eagle and crown logo.

Next week they should be able to draw the updated patch of roundel and forward looking, excited royal air force corporate image logo.

The airmen can't be Mess Stewards, 'cos there aren't any! More likely they would be 'Rocks' because they know how to salute but not, necessarily, who; and their response in this case would have been more of the 'it's moving salute it' rather than from being kicked up the arse by said pilot who, it must be remembered , is himself saluting, so cannot possibly have the two hands free that he would normally require to find his own arse let alone anyone else's.

The MO couldn't possibly arrange a meeting as quickly, because they don't make house calls, and in any event would have to consult with his own staff of NCOs as it is a well-known fact that, apart from not being able to salute, MOs don't really know much about anything and are perpetually confused.

The CO ,incidentally, was walking because his office was full of consultants telling him they are there to solve problems he didn't know he had and in a manner of speaking he doesn't understand.

The three airmen are the sole remaining 'other ranks' in the Service and as such are aware that they can do what they like - the RAF cannot afford to lose them. So they ignore the whole thing, berets in epaulettes, hands in pockets and disappear laughing.

The pilot is so spaced out with fatigue that he doesn't see whats happening and [minus hat] shuffles away to find aircraft, self authorise and fly mission which he hasn't briefed for and doesn't know what he's doing it for.

The SMO is struggling to find a cure for Asian bird flu, has just completed 500 flu jabs, is due to finish yet another batch of meaningless statistics and is thus spaced out. He is not aware of what's happening around him, doesn't know what a salute is anyway, and shuffles off to the RMC to look through the next batch of meaningless e-mails from the Department of Health.

The Staish is an Admin Wg Cdr, who is busy composing the latest PC management-speak diatribe to send round to all sections as a result of the latest HQSTC initiative in management strategy. He is so spaced out because he has achieved Wg Cdr rank, complete with OBE and MBE after only 7 years service and has difficulty coping. He is unaware of what's happening around him, doesn't notice anybody and shuffles off to the office to receive yet another briefing on the forthcoming fireman's strike which will drain his station of 75% of his manpower, thus denying the Station the ability to carry out its primary task of supporting operations at the behest of President Bliar...

Not an unusual day then...

FJJP

Are there such people anymore? I though that in this brave new world, post Rocky Goodall, all wg cdrs and above (excluding the specialist Medic, Dentist, Padre, Directors of Music) are all GD. Admittedly though, some are more GD than others.

"The Staish is an Admin Wg Cdr"

Which reminds me; I see Ross Paterson is now an Air Commodore. (Telegraph. Service postings-Recently) He was my flight commander at Sleaford Tech in 87, and always impressed on us:

"I'm an EDUCATOR, not a scribbly"

We never really saw eye to eye, but he was (is) an immensely capable bloke and will probably end up commanding GWIII whenever that is.

If you do subscribe to such infantile threads as these Ross, PM me and I'll reveal my secret identity:ok:

presuming of course, you give a sh*t

I would have thought said airmen, having more sense, would make themselves look busy in a nearby doorway until said officers had passed, thus alleviating said need to salute! :}

Whats this about all the airmen saluting at once?

In the Army if a group of OR's was bimbling around (not a very common occurrence in the Army what what) then the closest OR's to the said commission holder would give the salute, with the rest 'bracing-up' (or putting their arms smartly by their sides for those less drill orientated).

I always thought this was the procedure in the RAF too, but have seen all manner of displays, from the one I mention above to the 'Mexican Wave' effect by larger groups of airmen.

Does anyone know the official party line on bimbling groups and salutes?

Errrrm not the official party line, no, but I find that if everyone salutes, nobody gets upset and throws teddy out of the cot for not getting waved at. Better safe than sorry!