As far as I know (ex-U.S. Navy) all the U.S. armed forces salute the same way. Upper arm parallel with the ground, wrist and forearm locked straight, tip of the middle finger touching the eyebrow, and hand tilted down at a 45° angle.
I can only speak for the US and all of our services use the same salute.
There are quite a few rules but basically enlisted salute officers first when covered (wearing a hat), and outside. Of course officers salute senior officers.
In the US military, the differences are relatively minor. Each service branch posts regulations concerning when and how salutes are done.
For example: The USN does not salute indoors (unless while wearing a hat, in the performance of a formal ceremony or duty), while the Army does require indoor/coverless salutes.
Google tells me that the USN regulations are articulated in Article 1013 of the US Navy Regulations.
(Then there is a little variation based on individuals, some folks are just plain sloppy or whatever. In the USN, the hand/wrist/arm is supposed to be straight, all in line from the elbow to the brim/brow. Some folks seem to get away with a more “limp” style…)
Just to clarify, commissioned officers are supposed to get saluted while non-commissioned officers like sergeants aren’t. That means that a 22 year old lieutenant gets a salute while a 30 year old drill sergeant does not. In reality, many enlisted people over-salute because it is better to salute the wrong person rather than miss one completely. Officers have to be able to read rank designations on uniforms very quickly and discretely to identify higher ranking officers as well as follow the rest of the rules.
For the British forces the RAF and the Army use essentially the same salute, “…display an open hand, positioned such that the finger tips almost, but not quite, touch the hat band.”, bringing the arm longest way up and taking it shortest way down.
The Royal Navy salute “differs in that the palm of the hand faces down towards the shoulder.” According to the site I found this “dates back to the days of sailing ships, when tar and pitch were used to seal the timber from seawater. To protect their hands, officer wore white gloves and it was considered most undignified to present a dirty palm in the salute so the hand was turned through 90 degrees.”
The general rule is that all non-commissioned ranks salute those holding a commission from the Sovereign and junior officers salute those that are senior, the salute honours the commission not the individual. Officers return salutes on behalf of the Sovereign.
In the British forces you never salute with your head uncovered.
Just to add on to what has been said, from the perspective of the U.S. Navy…
Commissioned officers and warrant officers get saluted by junior personnel (officers and enlisted). Salutes are only exchanged when in uniform and covered (i.e. wearing a hat, which are usually worn only outside or inside if under arms).
The junior person initiates the salute and holds it until the salute is returned. The salute is initiated at six paces distance or at the closest point of approach and is accompanied by a greeting (e.g. “Good morning, Sir (Ma’am).”) The senior then returns the salute.
If a junior person is overtaking a senior officer, the junior salutes and says, “By your leave, Sir (Ma’am).” The senior then returns the salute and replies, “Very well,” or “Carry on.”
On a ship, you only salute senior officers when first meeting them for the day. On subs, you don’t ever salute belowdecks.
An anecdote–when I was a junior officer at Nuclear Power School, I tried to avoid having to walk through the campus during class breaks, because you would have to walk by a hundred or more sailors, every one of which who would be obligated to salute me. This got old fast. :smack: If you passed by a group of sailors in formation, on the other hand, only the leader of the formation was obligated to salute.
If I recall correctly, the same was true for large groups of officers. You’d salute the first and last, not every officer in a group of 20 walking together someplace.
Not so, unless the officers are in formation. If you’re junior to the officers, you have to salute every one of them. You may as well just keep your arm up until you pass them.
Conversely, if you’re a senior officer and you walk by a gaggle of junior personnel not in formation, every one of them is obligated to salute you. (That’s what happened to me in my previous anecdote. I just kept my arm up returning salutes.)
If any group is in formation (i.e. in ranks responding to drill commands), the leader of the formation takes care of the saluting for the whole group.
That’s not true. The Army doesn’t salute inside unless in ceremony (such as taking over a formation) or specific task (such as reporting to a commander) requires it.
Outside, we’re always under cover unless we’re in a specificly designated break/smoking area known as a “No Hat/No Salute Area”.
Also, I’d like to clarify that officers aren’t required to return a salute. It’s just seen as kinda disrespectful and dickish not to. Usually, the thought is “What, I’m doing what I’m supposed to, paying this guy respect and he’s not even going to acknowledge me? What an ass!”. 'Course, you can’t say this out loud
I think the distinction the poster was trying to make is that if–for ceremonial or other reasons–the Navy personeel would salute indoors, they would be wearing headgear.
The Army, on the other hand, will salute indoors even if uncovered. Examples of this are: boards, handing over formations, reporting, etc.
Also, I’d like to clarify that you are totally full of shit. I hear this some times and I have no idea where it comes from. You need to go back and read AR 600-25 and FM 3-21.5!! The Salute is an exchange between personnel. It is not a one-sided thing.
AR 600-25 para 1-5(b) says:
(Emphasis added)
Sure it might be easy to get confused. Some parts of those manuals say only
“The Salute is initiated by the subordinate at the appropriate time (six paces) and terminated upon acknowledgment.”
However, FM3-21.4 Appendix A-2 makes very clear what it considers “acknowledgment”.
“The salute is held until the report is completed and the salute has been returned by the officer.”
The only person who is required to be saluted but is not required to return it, is the President of the United States. Regulations specifically say that military personnel render the salute to the President. It also specifically says that civilian personnel are not required to salute the military. So, technically, the President does not need to return a salute. But an officer does.
It’s more than dickish, it is a violation of Army Regulations. If an officer doesn’t notice the salute, that’s one thing. But if I saw an officer intentionally NOT return a salute, I would call his ass on it!
In th UK military you are required to salut when seeing a comissioned officer. Ther officer must return the salute. Im almost 100% sure this comes under Queens Regulations for the armed forces. This is because the the salute itself is not given to the officer but to the commision they hold.
Also as said before, Navy salute differently to the Army and RAF. The RAF and Army have the same salute as the RAF was originally part of the Army.
Hmmm. I wonder which would take precedence if we elected a President who was also an officer – in the Reserves, say. Officer saluting President, I imagine, and s/he is not obligated to salute back.
I can imagine the new President’s reflexes being awry, though, if a Colonel suddenly starts getting saluted by Generals.