# Do members of the military ask for permission to speak freely? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 4, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177 "2026-03-04T01:56:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/1 "2026-03-04T01:56:32Z")
I’ve read (I think here) that “and that’s an order” is pretty much a TV/movie trope. What about asking for permission to speak freely, is that a trope too? If not, when would it actually be said? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/2 "2026-03-04T01:59:34Z")
I don’t recall ever doing or seeing this in my five years in the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/3 "2026-03-04T02:01:22Z")
I doubt there is a “rule” about this. You are just asking the other person to not punish you for what you say next for being insubordinate. Hopefully they will honor that casual agreement. I suspect most people would if they give permission to “speak freely.” Kinda like telling a reporter something you say is “off the record.” There is no law or rule about it. You just hope they honor it. Most will. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/4 "2026-03-04T02:09:14Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > What about asking for permission to speak freely, is that a trope too? Yes, complete Hollywood trope. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/5 "2026-03-04T02:38:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Kinda like telling a reporter something you say is “off the record.” There is no law or rule about it. You just hope they honor it. Most will. AIUI, you’re expected to reach an agreement with the reporter _before_ the interview as to whether your answers will be on the record. Randomly prefacing a remark with “off the record” during an interview is just asking for trouble. (And they **really** don’t like “off the record, no comment.”) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/6 "2026-03-04T02:55:28Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t recall ever doing or seeing this in my five years in the Navy. My entire career covered three components: regular Army, Army Reserves (drilling), and regular Navy. Not even once did I see that done. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/7 "2026-03-04T03:38:02Z")
\<\< removed by me…not FQ stuff \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/8 "2026-03-04T07:55:51Z")
I never asked for permission. I simply spoke my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/9 "2026-03-04T08:01:06Z")
Did you ever hold your tongue because what you had to say might not be well received? ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/10 "2026-03-04T08:14:23Z")
With some regret, not that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/11 "2026-03-04T10:30:46Z")
I can also add that in nearly twenty years as a civilian working for the Navy (alongside many active duty Navy personnel) I’ve never seen this. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/12 "2026-03-04T10:47:45Z")
I once had to ask for permission to speak. Not speak freely, just speak at all. The other person, my immediate supervisor at the time, kept interrupting me when I tried to explain why I’d done something that was not quite the way we usually did things. Finally, I came to attention and said “Permission to speak.” This was in the Air Guard, so in the military. Not something that happened again. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/13 "2026-03-04T11:33:14Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#): > > I never asked for permission. I simply spoke my mind. There you go again. You just did. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/14 "2026-03-04T11:34:05Z")
In my experience, outside of very specific formal or technical situations, military people talk exactly like normal human beings. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/15 "2026-03-04T13:15:56Z")
Enlisted have to call officers “Sir” at all times, don’t they? I don’t think most civilians ever use the word sir towards their boss. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/16 "2026-03-04T13:24:49Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Enlisted have to call officers “Sir” at all times, don’t they? The female officers I worked with wouldn’t have appreciated that. 😬 But “Sir” or “Maam”, or rank. Even with commissioned colleagues who I considered personal friends, I never got on a first-name basis. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/17 "2026-03-04T14:02:36Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > The female officers I worked with wouldn’t have appreciated that. But they’re probably used to the occasional slip up. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/18 "2026-03-04T14:25:56Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Enlisted have to call officers “Sir” at all times, don’t they? I don’t think most civilians ever use the word sir towards their boss. You throw it in there from time to time usually at the beginning of a conversation. You don’t have to use it in every sentence. When you have a close working relationship like platoon leader/platoon sergeant it’s usually less formal, unless the lieutenant is a dick. Asking permission to speak freely is ok as long as you follow it with “With all due respect.” ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/19 "2026-03-04T14:48:35Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Asking permission to speak freely is ok as long as you follow it with “With all due respect.” Make sure to toss in a smattering of, “No offense intended…” and, “I’m just saying..” ---
**Author:** ![Meatwater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meatwater/32/20074_2.png) [@Meatwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatwater)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/20 "2026-03-04T14:49:02Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > The female officers I worked with wouldn’t have appreciated that. 😬 > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But they’re probably used to the occasional slip up. During basic I had two women instructors, one demanded to be called sir and the other ma’am. But that’s the mind games they like to play on young trainees. If you slipped up, you got chewed out. Once out of basic however, almost all formalities drop. During my time only met a single E-5 who demanded all lower ranks stood at attention whenever he entered a room. Additionally all officers I spoke to casually said that mandatory saluting was a drag. As too the OP I can only speak from personal experience, one time whilst getting reprimanded by an 0-6 (for being late to a staff meeting) he granted me permission to speak freely while at attention. I thought this a trap and basically said nothing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177.md?page=2)