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.
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.
Which has had its legal ups and downs: Stolen Valor Act of 2013 - Wikipedia
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.
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).
As it turns out the British actually have rules about usage of military ranks after retirement, cause of course they do.
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”?
It means you’re a Chief Petty Officer in the navy. AKA the guys who actually get everything done.
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.
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.
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.
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 his memoir of his childhood, “Boy”, Roald Dahl talks about one of his schoolmasters:
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.
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.
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.
Bumped.
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.”
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.
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.