These wierd Navy salutes... I still can't get used to them.

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"The other Gareth"

Navy?



I'll have you know kind Sir that I was taught to salute in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

...and we'll never get used to your cockamamie salutes...

Meh... It all evolved from the British Royal Navy!

You know I'm an airforce man, and we don't Salute like that. That's a Naval Salute!

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"The other Gareth"

Oooh... now when filming the parade and colony sweep we need to do a scene with Pete or somebody dressed like a USCM version of Benny Hill being chased by Aliens and Predators, sped up to "Whacky Sax" of course.

We now return you to your thread in progress.

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We need access to lots of doors in the same corridor...and some basic cuts in edit...

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"The other Gareth"

And girls scantily clad and/or in lingerie.

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All joking aside...

WDI when you salute does your palm face forward? Just curious.

Way I was taught was elbow raised so your upper arm is parallel with the floor (which is actually pretty difficult in that USMC tunic), palm facing downward, wrist completely straight, and tip of your finger meeting your eyebrow (our headdress was a wedge or garrison cap- so there was no brim).

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Yes.
Army and RAF are:

Palm facing forward. Forefinger 1" behind and to the right of the right eye.
"Up the long way, and down the short way" i.e.
Bring the hand up and out in an arc to the right of the body into position. Then when coming back down, straight downwards to the side.

Timing "Up, 2, 3, Down" (for a salute to the front)

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"The other Gareth"

Yeah same timing for us (unless you are waiting for an officer to return a salute, finish walking by etc- far as I remember at least).

Our's is straight up and straight down- hand following the side of your body as closely as possible without actually touching it.

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Just like the Royal Navy

Ours is always the same timing's. The officer should return the saulte a moment after you initiate it (and consequently come down a moment after you).
However I have seen officers forget to return the salute and suddenyl remember, going up after the lower rank has alread finished.
I've also had an officer effectivly salute me once by starting befor I did.

Officers! Thank god for NCO's to guide them..

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"The other Gareth"

This is actually pretty interesting!

We have to wait for the officer to start bringing their arm down before we complete a salute- basically we are supposed to complete ours' a split second after the officer's.



Amen to that!

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

There's a reason we call officers Numtpies...

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"The other Gareth"

For reference, the French salute the same way - palm forward. Although during my brief stay in the Navy they never really insisted on precisely where the fingers were supposed to meet the head/headgear, or the speed or length of the salute...

That's (or that was, I suppose) the problem with a conscript army. When you get a new batch of draftees every ten month, you're probably just happy they can recognize an officer from a janitor most of the time!

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Thanks to Dom, I have my first piece of Class C uniform on the way. Does anyone know where I can get a Marine Garrison Cap? Since I am not an officer I thought this would be better.
Seems all I can find on e-PAY is Army and Air Force.

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A12/TQ1.0.22137E1
PVT. Schmaus, Christopher J.
2nd Batt 6th Regt
USS Tahoma

Ok, incomplete uniform and not-too-good picture, sorry, but I figured I'd show what I managed to get ready in time for the party last week:

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You should have it shortly actually...

Jerome, you'll need to re-orient your cap badge... the "planet" should be on the bottom with the eagle falling downards. Just like on the patch.

Hey Ssgt. B,

All you have to do is rotate your hand slightly so that your palm can't be seen from the front. Otherwise good to go.

Semper Fi! Don

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One shot, One kill.

Hey Dom, thanks - I realised that shortly after I finished putting the whole thing on, but that was WAAAY last minute, with the birthday boy on his way already, so I just went with it.

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Thanks again for your help Dom. I did get a notice that they were on the way.

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A12/TQ1.0.22137E1
PVT. Schmaus, Christopher J.
2nd Batt 6th Regt
USS Tahoma

Must have been the low angle I had the camera set at.

Either that or I'm a little rusty after not having to formally salute anyone/anything for over 18 years.

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I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Okay Russ.... Harvest this;


Mole is slightly incorrect (sorry hon).

Pisscutter is the slang term used to describe the Garrison Cap with the deep valley down the middle, ie the one in the pic she posted.

There are a couple of Scottish regiments who have/still do (assuming they haven't been disbanded) wear something similar. However, they call it a Glengarry and it has some kind of tail on it.

A Forage Cap is more the style posted by Kevin, without the valley. Occasionally these can be seen worn by RAF officers and the Thunderbirds puppets. They usually call it a Chip Bag as it resembles the paper bags in which you could buy chips (chunky British version of French Fries).

The Royal Marines take a Headover (neck roll) and fold it up to make a Chip Bag and they are typically featured in dramatic publicity shots, wearing them while covered in cam cream and sneaking up on someone with a Fairburn Sykes knife.

Well, befor we are put back on the rails I'll just add...

The term Forrage Cap is only a colloquialism. The correct name is "Field Service Cap". Chip bag or kebab holder is the common name.
They are a standard optional item for all RAF personnel, not just officers though they are most common with officers and non commissioned aircrew.
They do have a "valley" though it's not as deep as the Glengarry.

I can't speak of the current options for wearing of Field Service Caps in the British Army I'm afraid.

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"The other Gareth"

Really??!!

Never seen anyone but the Ruperts wearing them and even then, only occasionally. Only ever known it as a Forage Cap, too.

Oh well.....

Along vaguely similar lines - I recall the Marines in Full Metal Jacket wearing Forage Caps during their Pass-Out parade. Could that reasonably mean it's a proper Vietnam Era USCM kit item, then?


Someone mentioned UK dress trews - From what I recall, they're a pretty dark green - *Almost* Forest Green or Bottle Green, as used on official FITA archery club shoots.

We simply called them Barrack Trousers - Nifty link here:
http://www.the-outdoor.co.uk/shopscr83.html

Yep, we are all entitled to them.
Aside from officers as I say they are most common with aircew because they are easier than an SD hat, fold up nice and flat into flying suit pockets, but they can be seen all over.
I've got one myself though I don't use it much.

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"The other Gareth"