# What happened to "Sir Yes Sir" in Boot Camps? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2025, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239 "2025-06-29T01:55:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/21 "2025-06-29T17:58:04Z")
“Don’t call me sir – my parents were married!” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/22 "2025-06-29T18:10:24Z")
Dagnabbit, you beat me to it by minutes! \< _shakes little fist and stomps little feet_ \> ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/23 "2025-06-29T18:38:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > It just seems strange to me that a sergeant is teaching recruits how to follow orders, while at the same time implying that the people who will be giving the orders are a bunch of lazy bums. Orders probably issued via memo by someone who will not be physically executing the orders alongside the servicemembers. Not lazy bums, but different work loads. Physical vs Academic/Administrative. It’s a reminder that the NCO sweats and bleeds along will his/her soldiers. A CEO, for instance, is not lazy, but is not physically working like the person on the factory floor. Outside of war, and specific occupational specialties, there is a very obvious line between who is doing the physically demanding work and who is not. And even then, you won’t often see someone above LT getting dirty or sweaty. Platoon leaders and company executive officers, surely. But not a MAJ in the the staff section. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/24 "2025-06-29T18:48:04Z")
I went through Great Lakes in 2001 and no one called any of the RDCs sir. Just “petty officer,” “senior chief,” and if you were feeling brave you could call our salty-ass BM1 RDC “boats” but you don’t know if he would smirk or if you’d get dropped. I never saw anyone get dressed down for throwing out a “sir” though. (Except for me. During battlestations.) I was on compartment watch when battlestations started, and the battlestations team came in just wearing PT gear with their insignia pinned to their ballcaps. I couldn’t see a damn thing and wasn’t gonna shine a flashlight in dude’s face, so had to do that whole watchstanding spiel 3 times. First with a “sir” (try again) then a “petty officer” (try again) before he thrust his ballcap in my face and I saw the anchors. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/25 "2025-06-29T23:04:46Z")
When I went to Air Force basic in the late 80’s, it was all yes sir and yes ma’am. There was this one butch female that often got called sir, and let me tell you, you didn’t want to do that. As for the lack of officers, there were plywood cut outs of various ranks that would be placed around the building. If you encountered one of these that was an officer, you were to salute it as if it was real. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2025, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/26 "2025-07-01T05:50:45Z")
> [@pirviii](#): > > As for the lack of officers, there were plywood cut outs of various ranks that would be placed around the building. If you encountered one of these that was an officer, you were to salute it as if it was real. A lack of officers didn’t seem to be a concern in the Army. I remember the captain who was the company commander in my basic training unit. He must have had a XO somewhere but I don’t remember them. It didn’t seem to be a problem. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2025, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/27 "2025-07-01T08:17:31Z")
We had the full complement of officers - company commander, XO, platoon commanders - as well as all the requisite sergeants and squad leaders. The officers taught us, the sergeants shouted at us, and at the end we all deployed together as a company. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/28 "2025-07-01T20:09:22Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > We had the full complement of officers - company commander, XO, platoon commanders - as well as all the requisite sergeants and squad leaders. The officers taught us, the sergeants shouted at us, and at the end we all deployed together as a company. It’s certainly not that way in the U.S. Army. You have probably seen enough threads here to know MOS means your specific job. In the Army we have Basic Training which is exactly as the name implies and AIT which is advanced individual training which is where you learn your job. The main combat arms MOS like infantry and armor do what I’m pretty sure is still called OSUT which stands for one station unit training. If you are in one of those MOS the training is combined. Basic Training is a phase of the overall training. Once they are complete OSUT they are a qualified infantry soldier or armor crewman. For other jobs it is broken up. Basic Training is done in one location and AIT is done somewhere else. I did BT in Fort Knox Kentucky and then was put on a bus to go to Fort Rucker Alabama. Regardless of which path everyone is sent to different units as the needs of the Army dictate. There were two guys I was close with that I went through BT and AIT that were on the same base in Germany but that was just a coincidence. In Basic Training all the instructors are Drill Sergeants. In AIT that remains the case for most. My MOS was pretty unique. In AIT we mostly had Drill Sergeants for PT and other continuation of basic skills. Most classroom instruction was done by NCOs who were not Drill Sergeants. Half the time we were at the flighline with warrant officer flight instructors. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/29 "2025-07-01T20:11:10Z")
Hell I think the only officers I ever even _saw_ in boot camp were the doctor and the dentist. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/30 "2025-07-02T02:58:21Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > you won’t often see someone above LT getting dirty or sweaty One joke I remember: Two enlisted guys were having trouble moving a large something up a stairs. An officer went by, and the desperate men asked him if he would help. “Sure”, the officer said. “What would you like me to do - supervise, or delegate?” First time I heard “Don’t call me sir, I work for a living” was Richard Jaeckel in the 1988 tv series Supercarrier. Was it ever not a cliche? ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/31 "2025-07-02T03:08:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Was it ever not a cliche? When Christ was a corporal. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/32 "2025-07-02T03:16:29Z")
> [@TheTyrant](#): > > Hell I think the only officers I ever even _saw_ in boot camp were the doctor and the dentist. Let me guess: the doctor prescribed you Motrin, and the dentist pulled your wisdom teeth? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/33 "2025-07-02T03:21:16Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > A lack of officers didn’t seem to be a concern in the Army. I remember the captain who was the company commander in my basic training unit. I’m not currently in a training company, but it is TRADOC. I have 220 permanent party in my company, and we’re only assigned two officers–a commander and an executive officer. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/34 "2025-07-02T07:33:45Z")
From what I understand, for an officer to advance up the ranks in the Israeli military, they have to spend roughly one third of their time in a command position, one third of their time in a staff position, and one third of their time in a teaching position. An officer who doesn’t train won’t have a career, which is why officers are deeply involved in every level of training in the IDF. In basic training, it was my lieutenant who taught me how to hold a rifle, and it was my sergeant who shouted at me for holding it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/35 "2025-07-02T10:49:57Z")
> [@TheTyrant](#): > > Hell I think the only officers I ever even _saw_ in boot camp were the doctor and the dentist. Ditto. I suppose I could have seen a chaplain on Sundays if I were so inclined. ---
**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:** [July 2, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/36 "2025-07-02T15:10:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > From what I understand, for an officer to advance up the ranks in the Israeli military, they have to spend roughly one third of their time in a command position, one third of their time in a staff position, and one third of their time in a teaching position. An officer who doesn’t train won’t have a career, which is why officers are deeply involved in every level of training in the IDF. In basic training, it was my lieutenant who taught me how to hold a rifle, and it was my sergeant who shouted at me for holding it wrong. That is a much better model than the U.S. has. A schoolhouse assignment for a NCO is good for the career. It shows a well rounded background for future promotion boards. For an officer, getting their command time in a training unit rather than a line unit is a career killer. Later in my career I was going through the armor officer basic course. Our company commander was extremely arrogant. Details aren’t important but he made it clear he thought he was destined for great things and hated being stuck where he was in what he thought was a dead end. He resigned halfway through our class and took a job with a defense contractor. He was replaced by a captain that had been relieved for cause from a line company. Even as junior officers most of our instruction came from NCOs. Being an instructor at West Point is a completely different thing. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/37 "2025-07-02T15:47:40Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Let me guess: the doctor prescribed you Motrin, and the dentist pulled your wisdom teeth? Haha, it was Great Lakes in Jan/Feb and I think I came down with full-on bronchitis at least 3 times… so I got Motrin _and_ a Z-pak. (I dunno why–as far as I know bronchitis is generally caused by a virus and not bacteria–but hey I was just a dumb recruit, you give me a pill, I take it.) And yeah, _four_ wisdom teeth. It was pretty brutal. Painless, mind you–but that _sound_ of rending and tearing haunted me for a while. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/38 "2025-07-03T10:13:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > In basic training, it was my lieutenant who taught me how to hold a rifle, and it was my sergeant who shouted at me for holding it wrong. Kind of like the Marines. (Language warning) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mu51rszgotI/hqdefault.jpg "The Pacific - Gunny Dominates Lieutenant") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu51rszgotI) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/39 "2025-07-03T18:34:02Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > For an officer, getting their command time in a training unit rather than a line unit is a career killer. > > [Snip] > > He was replaced by a captain that had been relieved for cause from a line company. Even as junior officers most of our instruction came from NCOs. That sounds brilliant. “You totally fucked up. We will do something to keep you from ever causing any more harm. You go train all the new recruits.” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239/40 "2025-07-03T18:35:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > For an officer, getting their command time in a training unit rather than a line unit is a career killer. Later in my career I was going through the armor officer basic course. Our company commander was extremely arrogant. Details aren’t important but he made it clear he thought he was destined for great things and hated being stuck where he was in what he thought was a dead end. He resigned halfway through our class and took a job with a defense contractor. He was replaced by a captain that had been relieved for cause from a line company. Even as junior officers most of our instruction came from NCOs. Reminds me of the old adage: _Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-sir-yes-sir-in-boot-camps/1020239.md?page=3)