General Discussion

haele

(14,842 posts)

7. Military will call civilians "Sir" and "Ma'am " when on duty

Sun Oct 26, 2025, 06:53 PM

Oct 26

Or working in a professional capacity as part of their "good order and discipline" rule.
What they call them while not in uniform, or on leave, is another thing altogether.

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soldierant littlemissmartypants paleotn dflprincess MarineCombatEngineer mwmisses4289 mamajudi

55 replies

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So I ran the Marine Corps Marathon today... [View all] sir pball Oct 26 OP

How anyone in service could support bone spurs is beyond me. spanone Oct 26 #1

I get the gist of this, but am getting my Marines mixed up. usonian Oct 26 #2

Pvt. Pile. Harker Oct 26 #4

Military will call civilians "Sir" and "Ma'am " when on duty haele Oct 26 #7

Part of my mixup. Forgot that. usonian Oct 26 #10

Good luck and good hunting for events. haele Oct 26 #12

Many thanks. usonian Oct 26 #14

Yeah, every Marine I spoke to called me Sir sir pball Oct 27 #25

Sounds like Kegsbreath was there. Or one of his drinking buddies. erronis Oct 26 #3

No, it was very non-militaristic actually. sir pball Oct 27 #20

Thanks. Good words about the personal challenges in a marathon. erronis Oct 27 #29

They like language and terms IronLionZion Oct 26 #5

Yeah but ... DoBW Oct 26 #6

Outstanding Marine! Aviation Pro Oct 26 #8

Thank you! This was my third... sir pball Oct 27 #24

The fact that I've never been in the service, but I still winced immediately when I read "soldier"... Iggo Oct 26 #9

Calling a Marine a soldier is an insult to Marines, active, reserve, discharged or retired, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #50

Ah heard. Iggo Oct 27 #51

Yes, I was just pointing out how your post was spot on. MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #52

Congrats - that bridge at the end is killer TBF Oct 26 #11

The bridge is awful sir pball Oct 27 #21

maga assume that military automatically equals red hatter. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Oct 26 #13

They know who the pretenders are. paleotn Oct 26 #15

LOL, my Dad was a Marine - learned early NEVER call a jarhead "Soldier"! n/t TygrBright Oct 26 #16

You got a medal. Does that mean you won it, or placed? Sogo Oct 26 #17

Every finisher gets a medal. sir pball Oct 27 #22

3% sounds the percentage of questions he had right on his ASVAB. Crowman2009 Oct 26 #18

.... MarineCombatEngineer Oct 26 #19

Unfortunately that's not technically against the rules sir pball Oct 27 #23

You're right, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #32

Sadly I expect sir pball Oct 29 #53

Congrats on your running of the MCM. MarineCombatEngineer Oct 30 #54

Thank you, Marine. sir pball Oct 30 #55

Well USAF aren't soldiers, USN aren't soldiers, USMC aren't soldiers. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #26

The U.S. Army. BannonsLiver Oct 27 #27

So only the army are called soldiers. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #28

The US Army are usually refered to as soldiers, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #31

The Marines wanted to differentiate from the Army? Irish_Dem Oct 27 #33

Each branch of the military has their own jump qualified units, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #34

Oh thanks, wow I did not know this. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #35

The AF Pararescue are considered some of the best trained combat medics in the world, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #36

I will have to go look them up. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #37

Here ya go: MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #38

Thanks I was just reading about it. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #40

Yep, because so many pilots were being shot down behind N. Vietnam lines, AF and Navy. MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #43

Yes I remember when they were getting shot down in greater numbers. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #45

Thank you for this, I knew your dad flew dangerous missions in VN, but this is the first time you MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #46

Oh I must say it was not just my Dad. It was all the men, all the guys were doing dangerous work. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #48

I looked it up. Very interesting. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #39

Yep, these men and women are the Air Force's special forces, like the Army's Delta Force, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #41

Wow thanks, I never knew about them. Irish_Dem Oct 27 #42

Believe it or not, even the Coast Guard have their own special forces. MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #44

Wow wouldn't it be neat to see all of these groups in action? Irish_Dem Oct 27 #47

Great movie, MarineCombatEngineer Oct 27 #49

Congrats on running the MCM! My husband also ran yesterday. I think it's his 4th or 5th time running MCM. Raftergirl Oct 27 #30