First Salute Silver Dollar

[Renegade One]

I totally get the idea, the sentiment, and the desire to "carry on the tradition". That said, spending much more than a buck on a "gimme" for your first salute at whatever milestone seems...weird. $58.95 (including shipping) would certainly put it way beyond weird for me.

Nothing wrong with a new, crisp dollar bill folded and passed via a handshake. It's the thought that counts.

And isn't the treasury on the verge of issuing a whole big heap of dollar coins shortly anyway? Buy a roll of them at first issue and at face value...you'll be set for life.

 

[Silhouette]

About any coin shop will have something nice. My son received his first salute from his younger brother so I wanted to get them both something nice to use. I ended up buying 2 shiny new Marine Corps Silver Dollars from a coin collector. It's easy to make jarheads happy.

Two sons in the military? Wow! I hope I can find something cool/unique like that for my fellow Marines, but you're right, I think they will be happy no matter what.

 

[KBayDog]

I totally get the idea, the sentiment, and the desire to "carry on the tradition". That said, spending much more than a buck on a "gimme" for your first salute at whatever milestone seems...weird. $58.95 (including shipping) would certainly put it way beyond weird for me.

Nothing wrong with a new, crisp dollar bill folded and passed via a handshake. It's the thought that counts.

And isn't the treasury on the verge of issuing a whole big heap of dollar coins shortly anyway? Buy a roll of them at first issue and at face value...you'll be set for life.

Silhouette, R1 is spot-on. Don't spend more than $1 on a token of remembrance of your first salute!

Trust me, you're going to wish you had saved some of that money when you finally commission, and your unit becomes the trusted stewards of your hard-earned money. $58.95 (+ shipping) is a waste of money for your first salute, but $25/month (YMMV) for officer "dues" is a much, much more sound use of your coin. (Of course, the books for the mess will never be open for your inspection, but it's cool. Oh, sure - paying the dues is voluntary. However, if you don't pay them, you simply have to explain 'why' to the front office (read: The guys who hold your career in their hands). Somehow, someway this is NOT extortion. Just don't ask how...)

Anyway, even with the several hundred dollars a year you pay in "dues," somehow all of your mandatory fun will still take the form of out of pocket expenses that are a great, great value. The Ball? Yes, you'll drop a few hundred bones for those tickets...and uniforms...and babysitters...etc. Dining Ins/Outs/Mess Nights? Ditto. Same goes for Christmas Parties (tradition!!!), Hails and Bails (tradition!!!), etc. Iin fact, anytime anyone gets a wild hair and determines that there needs to be some sort of [dinner/ball game/picnic/etc], you will pay, you will be there, and you will have fun.

When it finally comes time to depart the pattern, what do you get for the money you've selflessly, dutifully donated to the mess all of those years? Well, odds are you'll get...wait for it...a matted, framed picture/patch of your unit, complete with (WOW!) clever little sayings/signatures of the rest of the guys who have also selflessly paid their "dues."

The fact that the value of the matted frame is far less than the cost of even a single month of your dues...and the fact that you've no-doubt paid out of pocket for the privilege of attending your own hail and bail...is immaterial. It's the thought that counts, right?

 

[BusyBee604]

That said, spending much more than a buck on a "gimme" for your first salute at whatever milestone seems...weird.

Weird.....? Not any more, the ol' folded 'uncirculated' buck has gone the way of AWGs. That'd be like slipping a 'Captain Marvel magic ring' on your new fiancee's finger when she says yea!

Nothing wrong with a new, crisp dollar bill folded and passed via a handshake.

R1....really? As the little birdie said, "cheep..cheep....cheep". That's why the Jo-Sans & LBFMs preferred VA pukes over VF types!
BzB

 

[Harrier Dude]

R1....really? As the little birdie said, "cheep..cheep....cheep". That's why the Jo-Sans & LBFMs preferred VA pukes over VF types!
BzB

Far be it from me to stop an Attack Pilot from bashing a fighter pilots male secretary, but I'll stick up for R1 on this. Although none of the guys that I graduated AOCS with used a dollar bill for our first salutes (as well as all the other ones I've done since then) we used just "regular old" silver dollars. These weren't really silver, we just got them from the bank.

I think the most I paid was for my last promotion, and that wasn't much. Maybe $10 or so.

It is indeed the thought that counts.

 

[ea6bflyr]

Silhouette, R1 is spot-on. Don't spend more than $1 on a token of remembrance of your first salute!

Trust me, you're going to wish you had saved some of that money when you finally commission, and your unit becomes the trusted stewards of your hard-earned money. $58.95 (+ shipping) is a waste of money for your first salute, but $25/month (YMMV) for officer "dues" is a much, much more sound use of your coin. (Of course, the books for the mess will never be open for your inspection, but it's cool. Oh, sure - paying the dues is voluntary. However, if you don't pay them, you simply have to explain 'why' to the front office (read: The guys who hold your career in their hands). Somehow, someway this is NOT extortion. Just don't ask how...)

Anyway, even with the several hundred dollars a year you pay in "dues," somehow all of your mandatory fun will still take the form of out of pocket expenses that are a great, great value. The Ball? Yes, you'll drop a few hundred bones for those tickets...and uniforms...and babysitters...etc. Dining Ins/Outs/Mess Nights? Ditto. Same goes for Christmas Parties (tradition!!!), Hails and Bails (tradition!!!), etc. Iin fact, anytime anyone gets a wild hair and determines that there needs to be some sort of [dinner/ball game/picnic/etc], you will pay, you will be there, and you will have fun.

When it finally comes time to depart the pattern, what do you get for the money you've selflessly, dutifully donated to the mess all of those years? Well, odds are you'll get...wait for it...a matted, framed picture/patch of your unit, complete with (WOW!) clever little sayings/signatures of the rest of the guys who have also selflessly paid their "dues."

The fact that the value of the matted frame is far less than the cost of even a single month of your dues...and the fact that you've no-doubt paid out of pocket for the privilege of attending your own hail and bail...is immaterial. It's the thought that counts, right?

You forgot the $200-$900 'welcome to the squadron' buy-in....to help pay for your farewell gift and assorted patches, mugs, t-shirts, and slick colored shit-hot flight suit...and COs departing gift.

 

[ea6bflyr]

If the person that you are rendering your first salute to is someone you've known for a long time (family, friend, shipmate, etc) then go the extra mile and buy them a nice coin. If it's the GYSGT that mentored you through OCS, then a standard Eisenhower dollar should fit the bill.

-ea6bflyr

 

[KBayDog]

You forgot the $200-$900 'welcome to the squadron' buy-in....to help pay for your farewell gift and assorted patches, mugs, t-shirts, and slick colored shit-hot flight suit...and COs departing gift.

Ah, yes, how could I forget - the individual "Squadron Stimulus Package."

 

[BusyBee604]

Far be it from me to stop an Attack Pilot from bashing a fighter pilots male secretary, but I'll stick up for R1 on this. Although none of the guys that I graduated AOCS with used a dollar bill for our first salutes (as well as all the other ones I've done since then) we used just "regular old" silver dollars. These weren't really silver, we just got them from the bank.

Meh, in order to cement my rep as a lunatic MK-2 Mod-1 Attack puke, I spent my career as a profligate "big spender", especially in Westpac. I always believed in "'trickle down" economics...e.g., from the DisbursingO... trickling down through me, to MamaSan & her troops. Though in retirement, I now live in a '47 Studebaker, and panhandle on Buena Vista & Broadway, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Incidently, those old late 19th century uncirc. pseudo-silver dollars they used in low-stakes craps/blackjack/1--arm bandits in Reno & Vegas back in the '50-60s... are now nearly all in the hands of coin dealers & collectors, quite rare & valuable.

Oh yes, it is the thought that counts...NOT!
BzB

 

[HAL Pilot]

I keep reading references to giving dollars to multiple people. When did this start? There is only one first salute. We had a ceremony with our DI where he gave us our first salute unless you specifically asked for it to be from someone else. One first salute, one coin. End of story.

 

[Harrier Dude]

I keep reading references to giving dollars to multiple people. When did this start? There is only one first salute. We had a ceremony with our DI where he gave us our first salute unless you specifically asked for it to be from someone else. One first salute, one coin. End of story.

I'm not sure if "it" ever started. It's just something that I decided to do when I made 1stLt and had an extra silver dollar laying around, and kept it going.

No big deal. When I made Captain there were two Marines walking out of the seven day store. The first gaffed me off, but the second one saluted smartly and said,"Good afternoon, sir".

I stopped him and said,"Good afternoon. By the way, I just got promoted this morning, and you're the first person with whom I've exchanged salutes. Every time I get promoted I give the first person to salute me a silver dollar, so here you go. Have a great day"

He seemed pretty happy about it, and his buddy the gaffer was chagrined and disappointed.

Like I said, it's no big deal. Just something I thought was kind of fun. It's nobody's "tradition" but mine, I guess.

 

[Renegade One]

I'm not sure if "it" ever started. It's just something that I decided to do when I made 1stLt and had an extra silver dollar laying around, and kept it going... It's nobody's "tradition" but mine, I guess.

Nice, and well-played.

 

[ryan1234]

This is what the Air Force uses:

I think you dropped this:

 

[Silhouette]

Silhouette, R1 is spot-on. Don't spend more than $1 on a token of remembrance of your first salute!

Trust me, you're going to wish you had saved some of that money when you finally commission, and your unit becomes the trusted stewards of your hard-earned money. $58.95 (+ shipping) is a waste of money for your first salute, but $25/month (YMMV) for officer "dues" is a much, much more sound use of your coin. (Of course, the books for the mess will never be open for your inspection, but it's cool. Oh, sure - paying the dues is voluntary. However, if you don't pay them, you simply have to explain 'why' to the front office (read: The guys who hold your career in their hands). Somehow, someway this is NOT extortion. Just don't ask how...)

Anyway, even with the several hundred dollars a year you pay in "dues," somehow all of your mandatory fun will still take the form of out of pocket expenses that are a great, great value. The Ball? Yes, you'll drop a few hundred bones for those tickets...and uniforms...and babysitters...etc. Dining Ins/Outs/Mess Nights? Ditto. Same goes for Christmas Parties (tradition!!!), Hails and Bails (tradition!!!), etc. Iin fact, anytime anyone gets a wild hair and determines that there needs to be some sort of [dinner/ball game/picnic/etc], you will pay, you will be there, and you will have fun.

When it finally comes time to depart the pattern, what do you get for the money you've selflessly, dutifully donated to the mess all of those years? Well, odds are you'll get...wait for it...a matted, framed picture/patch of your unit, complete with (WOW!) clever little sayings/signatures of the rest of the guys who have also selflessly paid their "dues."

The fact that the value of the matted frame is far less than the cost of even a single month of your dues...and the fact that you've no-doubt paid out of pocket for the privilege of attending your own hail and bail...is immaterial. It's the thought that counts, right?

Holy cow, can I afford to be an officer? Seriously, though, I guess when you make more you pay more. I wondered why the officers always seemed to go to not-officially-mando fun events... This explains a lot.