Do's and Dont's While In Uniform

hey girls I found this and I thought it might be a good refresher for all of us! I know I forget sometimes how to act when he's in uniform!


Do’s and don’ts while in uniform

by Whitney Bailey


The military service etiquette we abide by today is steeped in several hundred years of U.S. history. Many rules change over time as the military updates codes of conduct to reflect new attitudes and etiquette. However, some traditions still exist that may seem a bit antiquated (or even unfair) to you, the spouse.

When reviewing the list below, keep in mind that maintenance of these rules allows service members to project professionalism. These rules apply to your service member anytime he is in uniform, but many also apply to you when you are you attending a military function or in public with your uniformed hubby.

Do:

Walk on your husband’s left side so he can salute others.

Refer to your spouse by his first name or nickname, or as “my husband.” Do not refer to your husband as “Capt. Smith” or “the Captain.”

Stand at a public function or ceremony when the senior officer enters and is announced. This applies to everyone in attendance.

Offer your husband an umbrella in the rain, but only if it’s black. He’s not allowed to carry any other color.

Push the baby carriage or stroller so your spouse doesn’t have to. It’s considered “unmilitary” to do so while in uniform.

Help your spouse carry any packages or bundles to make it easier for him to salute. (Are you wondering if a man made up these rules so that wives would have to do all the heavy lifting?)

Don’t:

Show public displays of affection, except at homecomings and goodbyes. This includes kissing and holding hands.

Offer your spouse a piece of gum. It is not “military” for him to chew it. The same goes for smoking while in uniform.

Allow him to put his hands in his pockets unless he is placing or retrieving an item.

Refer to your husband’s orders as “our orders” unless you are a service member yourself.

Offer him food or drink while he’s walking. He should not be eating, drinking or using a cell phone while walking in uniform.

Refer to others in the service as “sir” or “ma’am,” even if your spouse does. Refer to them by their rank and last name (“Capt. Smith”).

Allow your child to wear your spouse’s uniform for Halloween. Uniforms bearing insignia, badges and tabs should be worn only by authorized personnel.

thanks this is very helpful for me since i have not been with dh in uniform yet and i am scared how to be when he is home for good. ;)

hehe well good! i hope it helps you out :)

This is helpful. TFS!

useful info, thanks for sharing :)

TFS

Im gonna call bs on A LOT OF THIS.

My husband hugs me when he says goodbye when I visit him on duty.(Somehow I think some stuck up officer wife made these rules...)

Like hell he wont push the stroller! I see husbands in their lovely Army digi pushing the stroller at the Commissary,while their wives also in digi Army camo pick out food.

I refer to my husband's friends by their first name,but when I have to deal with the a$$holes at the gate that wont let me in...like hell I wont refer to him as A03.

Thats all I have problems with.

Only a few things,but I think this bs applies to high ranking officers cause honestly no one cares if my husband carries a bottle of soda around the ship.

And hate to say it,Im pregnant so someone is allowed to kiss my a$$ if they think Im carrying his seabag so he can salute some tool :D

I'm going to have to call BS on the smoking one too, I've seen most of the nukes smoke while in uniform, both at the graduations and while out and in their dress whites.

Yeah...do they mean at ceremonies only? My husband smokes all the time in his utilities in his car,in front of the McDonalds by the ship,in the smoke pit,etc.

His ship actually did the predeployment meeting in the hanger bay on a day when pets and old people shouldn't be outside it was so hot.They only offered horribly watered down gatorade,and cookies.They expected me to sit through this bs for 4 hours? I knew half of this crap anyways! They weren't telling me anything new.I was livid...so we left early but he had to ask permission,explain I was preggo and couldnt take the heat,and then still go to an informal muster for his division.It was so effing insane.

Theonly time I've ever been with my husband while he was in uniform was bootcamp graduation weekend and he insisted on pushing the stroller the entire time. There were no PDAs though. I couldn't even hug or kiss him hello or goodbye. That really sucked and hurt.

They are a good guideline of what is and isn't expected when a svc menber is in uniform. The talking on the cellphone thing is usually held when walking, they are not authorized to speak on the phone while walking around base etc. I worked in a Naval Hospital so when I speak to an officer I still call them sir or ma'am, and I am sure they are not going to complain bc most officers get their kicks by being addressed like that by everyone. Not entirely bad guidelines, but as always it depends on where you are at, and who you are around. :)

My dad is an officer in the Army and my dad is a stickler with the rules sometimes and i remember when i was sick he wouldnt even help me into the hospital when he was in uniform... A$$hole lol.. but he can hang all over his new whores, ughhh... sorry off subject..

i remember when i would go to see Brandon on the weekends when he was at corps school in great lakes whenever i would drop him off sunday nights he would give me one peck a small hug and then he would kiss my forehead at the quarter deck at the barracks and their were always officers around and they never said crap.

A lot of this seems insane, especially the fact that you can't even get a small kiss after he's been gone for 2 months at boot camp graduation. But I really don't think it would be a problem, as long as you keep yourself conducted. I wouldn't be suprised if they decided to revise some of these a little bit, because I felt like I was reading something from the 1800s. I can understand if they don't want couples playing tonsil hockey, I don't want to see that either.

Thanks for sharing this though.

wow so much controversy! lol i think the whole stroller thing is just so that they will have a free hand to salute if need be...as far as the pda at boot camp graduation, the only thing my dh felt comfortable doing was giving me a hug and i snuck in a real quick kiss but thats it, no making out or anything. and i think it said that in the rules, pda is allowed and homecomings and farewells i think.

yes you are allowed to show a little pda at homecomings and farewells but you still cant just freain make out right there... which i just think looks tacky anyways.. wait till you get in the car or get home! I understand the long kiss when they just get back from deployment, but im talking about rubbin all up on each other makin out!! Nobody wants to see it, lol

haha yah, no one wants to see that

i hate when i see people doing that.. it drives me crazy... man its like get a room

yeah i agree making out in public is tacky andthat is something you should do at home. as well as the rubbing up on each other andsomethings they need to have their hands free,.

yah i dont like it at all and then when they do it in uniform its like come on!

my husband said most of the rules you listed, rachel, are true but a couple of them were just semantics.....like the stroller one and the seabag one. the thing about the black umbrella is true because they can't wear anything with color besides their uniform. they are allowed to smoke, eat, drink, chew gum, and talk on the cell phone as long as they aren't walking. and they have designated smoke pits on the boat that they are SUPPOSED to smoke at but not everyone follows the rules, hence why bad things (uss george washington) happen on the boat. hugging/kissing is allowed, like it listed, when they just graduated boot camp or leave for/come back from deployment. and some of it depends which type of boat you're on and how laid-back the people on the boat are. but, anyway...thanks again for the info. some of it was stuff that i didn't know, that is actually rules we need to follow as spouses.