# Can some still be considered a \[RANK\] after exiting the military? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296 "2017-12-12T17:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/21 "2017-12-14T07:33:44Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > (No seriously, even if you have no legal right to do so, was it ever common for British officers below Major to use their army ranks?) Far from unheard of, but widely taken as an instant marker for a HMG (home made gent) who could well be snickered at behind his back for his self-importance, and whose cheques might not be entirely trustworthy. That was the whole point about Peacock. IIRC, in one episode an old comrade turned up and revealed he’d been a corporal in the Catering Corps or something of the kind. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/22 "2017-12-15T00:38:00Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Far from unheard of, but widely taken as an instant marker for a HMG (home made gent) who could well be snickered at behind his back for his self-importance, and whose cheques might not be entirely trustworthy. > > That was the whole point about Peacock. IIRC, in one episode an old comrade turned up and revealed he’d been a corporal in the Catering Corps or something of the kind. Are You Being Served? One of my favorite sitcoms! Here in the States we have a problem with more people claiming to be Navy Seals than there were ever Seals by something like a 5 to 1 margin. There’s even a Stolen Valor law trying to curb people from falsely claiming to have been awarded things like the Medal of Honor. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/23 "2017-12-15T01:43:57Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Are You Being Served? One of my favorite sitcoms! > > Here in the States we have a problem with more people claiming to be Navy Seals than there were ever Seals by something like a 5 to 1 margin. There’s even a Stolen Valor law trying to curb people from falsely claiming to have been awarded things like the Medal of Honor. You can tell real combat vertans as they _don’t_ talk about combat. Bad food, stupid officers, sadistic DIs, basic training stories, yes. Combat- no. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/24 "2017-12-18T04:26:39Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > …There’s even a Stolen Valor law trying to curb people from falsely claiming to have been awarded things like the Medal of Honor. Which has had its legal ups and downs: [Stolen Valor Act of 2013 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2013) ---
**Author:** ![GinoC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f4b2a3/32.png) [@GinoC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GinoC)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/25 "2017-12-18T16:49:47Z")
The Canadian Armed Forces permits members who have been honorably released after 10 or more years of service to use their rank with (Retd). In practice, it is usually only senior officers who do so, and even then more and more infrequently. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/26 "2017-12-18T18:07:27Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > There’s even a Stolen Valor law trying to curb people from falsely claiming to have been awarded things like the Medal of Honor. I think there’s been some such law in the UK at least since WW1 or some applicable extension of some existing offence - a disreputable great-uncle nearly fell foul of it some time in the 1930s (as if he hadn’t been in enough trouble over the transvestite Fascist’s unlicensed revolver, but that’s another story). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/27 "2017-12-18T18:35:38Z")
As it turns out the British [actually have rules about usage of military ranks after retirement](https://www.debretts.com/expertise/forms-of-address/professions/the-armed-forces/), cause of course they do. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/28 "2017-12-18T21:53:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The only person who ever called me Chief was a gate guard at the AFB in Anchorage when I was working for a contractor; he was just being friendly. So retirement is no different from than ordinary separation from service, at least for everyone other than very senior officers. [underline added] 🙂 I first read that as “Chef” and went into a loop trying to make sense of it. What does “Chief” mean, besides “someone who outranks me”? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/29 "2017-12-18T22:09:48Z")
It means you’re a Chief Petty Officer in the navy. AKA the guys who actually get everything done. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/30 "2017-12-19T03:34:29Z")
During the period 1866 - 1900, H.L. Mencken wrote that practically every politician in local government who had been in the Civil War was called "Colonel ", no matter what his actual rank had been. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/31 "2017-12-19T13:24:25Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It means you’re a Chief Petty Officer in the navy. AKA the guys who actually get everything done. No, a Chief is the supervisor that knows how to direct the petty officers that actually get everything done. Part of why the Chiefs are much better than the officers is in most cases they used to be the petty officers getting the job done for their Chiefs. Though I hate to short the E3s. They are often as good and more useful than the POs. In fact if you’re very good at your job and getting things done but a bit of a fuck up as far as military protocol goes, the Chiefs will usually protect you at very least as you’re a great asset to them. Young officers usually don’t understand the give and take that make a division/department run well. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/32 "2017-12-19T13:29:46Z")
> [@GinoC](#): > > The Canadian Armed Forces permits members who have been honorably released after 10 or more years of service to use their rank with (Retd). In practice, it is usually only senior officers who do so, and even then more and more infrequently. This is true in the US as well. I know a large number of Captains and more junior Admirals. One of the Admirals uses his title and we bust his chops about it. None of the Captains even dares to, as it comes off part antiquated / part tool. I have a friend who was once one of my Chief Petty Officers. When I see him I’ll call him “Chief” and he’ll call me “Lieutenant.” That’s out of respect and camaraderie. We can all tell the difference between this and others putting on airs as they used to say. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/33 "2017-12-30T05:29:59Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Hmm. Poirot’s companion in the Agatha Christie stories, a World War I vet, was always referred to as “Captain Hastings”: [Arthur Hastings - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hastings)… Just saw an episode of the excellent Netflix series _The Crown_, set in the late 1950s, and the Queen refers to her former private secretary to his face as “Captain Lascelles” (his Army rank during WWI). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/34 "2017-12-30T05:46:48Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > As it turns out the British [actually have rules about usage of military ranks after retirement](https://www.debretts.com/expertise/forms-of-address/professions/the-armed-forces/), cause of course they do. In his memoir of his childhood, “Boy”, Roald Dahl talks about one of his schoolmasters: > [@](#): > > Captain Hardcastle was never still. His orange head twitched and jerked perpetually from side to side in the most amazing fashion, and each twitch was accompanied by a little grunt that came out of the nostrils. He had been a soldier in the army in the Great War, and that, of course, was how he received his title. But even small insects like us knew that ‘Captain’ was not a very exalted rank and that only a man with little enough to boast about would keep hanging onto it in civilian life. It was bad enough to call yourself ‘Major’ after it was all over, but ‘Captain’ was the bottoms. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Man\_A\_Plan\_A\_Canal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/839c29/32.png) [@A\_Man\_A\_Plan\_A\_Canal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Man_A_Plan_A_Canal)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/35 "2017-12-30T14:31:44Z")
Having been retired from the military is a lot different than just separating after a period of honorable service. I’ve been retired from the AF for 13 years, but I still get paid, I’m still on the rolls as inactive reserve, I still have a sticker on mycar, and when I drive through the gate at the base, the guard still says ‘Good morning, Senior.’ I still have my rank and title–and I’m keeping it. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/36 "2017-12-30T15:14:02Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What does “Chief” mean, besides “someone who outranks me”? In my experience it means you can address them as anything (polite) with the exception of “Sir”. Doing that will get you loudly informed that you shouldn’t, as their parents were married. Ah, I miss my boss from three jobs ago. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/37 "2017-12-31T03:19:27Z")
The only time that I am referred to as Captain is when my insurance company sends me communications. Of course they do get my payments! Otherwise, only my friends know my service rank, and they do not use it…thankfully. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/38 "2019-05-31T17:35:58Z")
Bumped. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Just saw an episode of the excellent Netflix series _The Crown_, set in the late 1950s, and the Queen refers to her former private secretary to his face as “Captain Lascelles” (his Army rank during WWI). In the HBO miniseries _Gentleman Jack_, set in England in 1832, a long-retired British Army officer who served during the American Revolution is also often referred to as “Captain Lister.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/39 "2019-05-31T17:38:49Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > The only time that I am referred to as Captain is when my insurance company sends me communications. Of course they do get my payments! > Otherwise, only my friends know my service rank, and they do not use it…thankfully. Yes, I do like USAA just for that reason. My rank is mine for life. In this day and age we do not use it as an honorific, but it is still mine. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296/40 "2019-05-31T18:37:24Z")
When _Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos_ comics appeared in the 1960s, they always were credited to Sgt. Stan Lee and Cpl. Jack Kirby. You can decide whether that was to burnish Stan’s bonafides as a WWII veteran or brush aside the constant criticism that “commandos” was a British term, with “rangers” used for Americans. Stan had to write a whole episode in which they were given honorary commando status to justify the goof. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-some-still-be-considered-a-rank-after-exiting-the-military/804296.md?page=3)