In some cases the confusion is because the ranks mean the same thing, but the same thing can mean different things. For instance, a captain is an officer high enough to be entrusted with an independent command. In the navy, the obvious choice of an independent command is a ship, so a navy captain is typically in charge of a ship (with a whole lot of people and firepower on board), so a navy captain is a pretty high rank. In the army, though, an independent command might be a handful of tanks, with much fewer men, firepower, etc., so an army captain isn’t nearly as high-ranking as a navy captain.
When I was an E-3 on a Marine base in Vietnam, I wore an electrician’s striker emblem on my soft cover. The emblem was a telephone pole with a lightning bolt through it. When the light was dim, Marines would always salute me and say “Good morning, Chaplain!” Marines are such lovable idiots. . .
Actually, the looie should be happy that there’s at least one soldier who takes his orders seriously. Guarding a post is boring, and mostly doesn’t call for a brilliant intellect. It DOES call for someone who will perform his duties according to orders.
For all Pyle knew, that lieutenant just got done being courtmartialed and stripped of his rank and position and got kicked out.
I haven’t seen the episode in question.
I saw the episode when I was a kid. I don’t remember it that well. here’s the summary:
131–Gomer the Perfect MP
Gomer is assigned to guard duty at a back gate of the base and refuses to let Carter pass through
So, it’s not quite what I remembered.
And I can tell you that if an untutored civilian government lawyer calls the office of Chief Master Sergeant Smith and asks to speak to Sergeant Smith, the airman who’s answered the phone will politely respond, “I’m sorry, are you calling for the Chief?”
Someday I’d like to see one of these guys move laterally into German academia, so he could be Herr Chief Master Sergeant Doktor Professor Smith.
Army/ Air Force Captains always get salutes by mistake. A Navy Captain is a big deal.
Better to salute when in doubt. You don’t want to screw up.
A Navy Captain is equivalent to a Army or Air Force Colonel. Both are O-6’s.
I believe modern Army ranks are derived more from Renaissance era armies. You don’t see a lot of centurions, legates, and tribunes in modern armies.
You do see legates, but generally they come accompanied with guls and glinns, and are usually dead before the end of the episode.
I don’t understand this statement. How do officers get salutes by mistake?
You’re right. I was thinking of the latin-derived names and got confused. I DO know, however, that the formations and structure of the modern militaries are generally (heh) derived from the Roman Army, post-Marius. I read that. In a book. So you know it’s true.
Back in the '60s when Canada merged the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Airforce into a single “Canadian Forces” they made everyone use the same ranks & uniforms; both derived from the Army. The former naval officers were not happy using army ranks and naval ranks were quickly restored for the “Maritime Command”. No such luck for the “Air Command”; they’re still stuck with army ranks.
A navy Lieutenant doesn’t need to salute a Army or Air Force Captain. They are the same level, O-3. But, Lieutenant’s are conditioned to salute. 
So sometimes the Army guys get one.
It’s a bigger problem with phone calls. A call from a Lieutenant might not get answered ASAP. Then they realize it’s a Navy Lieutenant. That call requires attention much quicker.
I always kept it straight by remembering the Navy has an extra name.
they start with Ensign, LTJG, LT, Lieutenant commander
the other branches start with 2Lt, 1LT, CPT, Major
that throws everything off by 1. A Navy Lieutenant junior grade is the same as a First Lieutenant in the other branches.
The collar insignia are identical, so I really doubt that this happens. I know of incidents where an Air Force captain has identified himself as such on a phone on a Navy base and received VIP treatment, however.
In some countries, not only are the names of the military ranks the same across services, but so are the insignia. Here is a great site for uniform insignia, rank/rate names in the local language, and translation of same into English.
Insignia for officer ranks are identical across all the US services, but enlisted ranks insignia aren’t.
Some but not all for the officers – the pin-on version of the commissioned officers’ insignia is uniform across services, but the Navy/Coast Guard (and USPHS and NOAA) dress uniforms however use the distinctive maritime style of braid insignia (that is used with minor variation by a very large portion of the world’s navies). So a US Coast Guard Commander wears a silver oak leaf on his utility shirt or cap, just like a US Marine Lieut. Colonel (equivalent pay grade), but in dress uniform or Class B’s he’ll be wearing three equal-thickness braids.
One example of what Monty describes is China, or the Israeli Defense Force.
Note that naval vessels come in many sizes, and the guy appointed commanding officer is known as the captain regardless of his rank. Only large ships would have someone of the rank of Captain in this position.
And, if I understand correctly, a ship can even have multiple folks on board with the rank of “captain”. For instance, if it’s a flagship, then the admiral might have captains on his staff. Correct?
I think it is worth pointing out that an Army Captain and a Navy Captain were at one point comparable positions. Around 1500 AD either would be in charge of a more or less discrete independent command in the neighborhood of 50-100 men. There was of course a great deal of variation between countries, but it was generally true.
As ships grew larger and more powerful the crew sizes grew to man them. By the 20th century most tier 1 warships (battleships and latter carriers) usually had crews in excess of 2000 men. And the rank of Naval captain grew to encompass this. New officer positions were created below the rank of Captain, specifically Commander and Ensign, to fill in the gaps.
In the army as units grew they usually got new names and new officer titles. So Army Captains stayed mostly in charge of companies, and the companies stayed roughly the same size. Instead new ranks were created above the captain. Where as in the 1500s you had a general with his captains who reported directly to him. A century or two later the captains’ companies would be organized into regiments with senior captains known as colonels in charge of their fellow captains. And after that the General ranks were split up and codified eventually into the modern parlance of Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General, General of the Army/Field Marshal.