# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 23
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177/23 "2026-03-04T15:15:00Z")
Here are two prior FQ threads on topic. The answer now is the same as then: It’s a Hollywood trope. Oct 2016: > [@To a senior officer: "Permission to speak freely, sir"--Do people IRL say this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-a-senior-officer-permission-to-speak-freely-sir-do-people-irl-say-this/767632): > > See query. It’s a Hollywood standard. I understand formal patterns exist for a reason in all communications, from everyday speech to “I Do” in a marriage. (In another thread I just asked about how to wake up a sleeping officer.) And mutually recognizing a conversation is taking a different turn is nothing unusual. But, like the exact words “off the record” between a journalist and a source, a switch is pulled. What gives, – does anything-- briefly, in the give and take of every single inter-r… Sep 2014: > [@Asking permission to speak freely - really a thing in current military practice?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asking-permission-to-speak-freely-really-a-thing-in-current-military-practice/698170): > > It’s a recurring scene in Starfleet in the various incarnations of Star Trek. You’ve probably seen it: a subordinate thinks the commanding officer is being an idiot, wants to say what’s really on his mind, and asks, “Permission to speak freely, sir?” Permission is invariably granted, and then the subordinate is able to talk to the C.O. much more bluntly than he would otherwise. Is that a question that would be asked in the contemporary U.S. military, or any others you know of? If not, is th… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-members-of-the-military-ask-for-permission-to-speak-freely/1028177)._