On Customs and Courtesies

It goes both ways

Military customs and courtesies are defined as “a system of traditions and rules that govern conduct within the armed forces, promoting respect, discipline, and professionalism. These practices, which include saluting, proper forms of address, and adherence to ceremonial procedures, contribute to a cohesive and respectful military environment.”

American Embassy, Madrid, Spain, 1997.

The Defense Attache offices at the embassy in Madrid took up nearly an entire floor all by themselves if memory serves. The Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) worked out of their own building somewhere else in the city. Suffice it to say the majority of military personnel working in these offices were officers. Unless attending some kind of military function requiring a uniform, said officers usually wore a suit and tie as the uniform of the day. All of these guys combined probably outnumbered the Marine detachment five to one if not more.

One day our detachment commander, a staff sergeant, announced it had come down from the Defense Attache office that the officers of both the Defense Attache and ODC complained that the Marines never saluted them. This would be an egregious breach of military customs and courtesies if true.

Technically we didn’t work for any of them, we operationally worked for the ambassador through the Regional Security Officer. Although we didn’t answer to any of the officers in the Defense Attache or ODC, the expectation was that the Marine detachment conduct themselves as the very exemplars of military comportment.

“But Staff Sergeant,” I remember saying, “how the hell are we supposed to know who any of them are if they never talk to us?”

This, in military terms, is known as complete and utter bullshit. Of course we knew who all the American officers were. Situational awareness and observation was our thing after all. We simply took offense that the majority of them never bothered to speak to us, particularly if they didn’t respond to the proper greeting of the day. Customs and courtesies worked both ways like that. The expectation being that a “Good morning, Sir” received a response of at least a “Good morning, Marine.”

Now, a number of Defense Attache and ODC officers did get a regular salute. These would be the ones who at least took a moment to introduce themselves to the Marines at Post 1 upon entering the chancery. “Hey Sergeant, I’m Major Banotz, heading up to the attache office.”

Our det commander assured the Defense Attache office this breach in protocol would be rectified. At Post 1 we had a rolodex of American personnel who were allowed access to the embassy. The det commander had us remove all the military officers and spread them out on the countertop of Post 1 so we could easily identify any of the ODC types who visited the building. Of course, the bigger a dick I thought you were, the longer it took me to find your card, render a salute, give a proper greeting of the day, then toggle the mag lock and allow access.

On the flip side, I suspect the officers were instructed to kindly remove the stick from their collective rectums as to their attitude toward us lowly enlisted scum. The number of staff officers who suddenly introduced themselves increased exponentially.

Thus, a cohesive and respectful military environment was achieved. Imagine that.