Question about addressing rank

DougBetsy

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My son's next step in the AROTC app process is to schedule an interview with the PMS at a school of his choice. The PMS is a LTC.

So, what does Son use in the greeting of his email request? "Dear LTC Smith?" "Dear Lt. Col. Smith?" "Dear Lieutenant Colonel Smith?" "Dear Col. Smith?"

Then, once they meet in person, how should he address the PMS? Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel?

I'm sorry if these are stupid questions. But, we have NO military personnel in the family. Really, none. (My GF served in WWII, but he died in '88.) All I know about addressing LTC's comes from M*A*S*H* and, IIRC, Radar didn't use "Lt" with Henry Blake even tho that was his real rank. :rolleyes::redface::confused:
 
1. There are actually several good handbooks at various NROTC sites (which is what my D is interested in) which address "customs and courtesies" and which the new mids are required to know/memorize during their week-long indoctrination. I would assume the other branches have similar guides.

2. You address the person you are speaking with as 'Sir." If you are speaking of someone in the third person (such as "I was informed by xxx that this unit has a drill team"), then you don't refer to a Lt. Col as anything other than 'Colonel,", just as you don't address a Lt. Gen. as anything other than "General." Hence, it would be, "I spoke with Col. Smith on the phone when I scheduled this appointment," and "Yes sir, I have played varsity football for four years."
 
A funny story from our son:
He was at our local Navy recruiting station to get his NROTC paperwork submitted, and all the guys there were enlisted. They were giving him a very hard time because he kept calling them "sir", which he couldn't seem to stop doing (ingrained in him by his mother :biggrin:). One told him, "Man, I know, I was raised in Texas too, but if you're gonna be an officer you've got to GET OVER that!"
 
What ROTCDAD said is right.

Also, for an official letter you should write the full rank on the outside. On the inside addressing him as Colonel is fine.
 
For the sea service.....



Call junior officers (O-4 and below) sir or ma'am. Call senior officers (O-5 and O-6) by rank (ie Hello Commander). In general, call flag officers "Admiral".

That does not mean you can't use their full rank.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce Rear Admiral Smith."


"I talked to Lientenant Commander Jones this morning."


Sure, you can call the rear admiral "admiral" especially when address him/her directly. And you can call the Lt. Cmdr. by commander too. Using his full rank is not incorrect.

We call LTJG's who answer the phone as "Lieutenant Brown" as "Phone Lieutenants".

There are also different ways to write ranks, you can spell it completely out (as you would do with a formal letter), you can use AP style guide (like Lt. Cmdr.), or you can write it like the service would (USCG would write LCDR).

Finally, to make it even MORE confusing some services abbriviate ranks differently. Is it Brig. Gen. Jackson? Is it BG Jackson? Is it BGEN Jackson? Who knows!

What you can be happy about is....the Coast Guard and Navy write the officer ranks the same way....


ENS
LTJG
LT
LCDR
CDR
CAPT
RDML
RADM
VADM
ADM
 
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