How to Address Rear Admiral (Selects) and other "Selects"

[pilot_man]

The Army sees this whole thing differently. They are very quick to identify themselves as promotable (same as select). It caught me off guard at first, but whatever.

 

[Deleted member 24525]

Yeah even at the Admiral level, maybe other admirals and captains will say it, and when you’re kissing ass or getting a letter of recommendation you’ll say it, but otherwise it’s a pretty douche nozzle move. Been on several staffs and the only guy that did it was an AF guy who got copious amounts of shit for it from the other service flag selectees. (Except for the army general (p)

 

[sparky]

I've found "Dude" works pretty well for Flags of over-inflated ego and those insisting on (sel). YMMV. It's also effective with retired FOGOs who need reminded they're now in my house in CIVLANT.

Great to be separated, so good at what I do as to be very challenging to replace, and so old if CNO or some Flag takes issue or tries to get me back under UCMJ, I'll sic AARP on 'em.

 

[Spekkio]

I have seen more often than not that officers selected for O6 and above sign emails as (sel) vice current rank. Caught me as obnoxious at first and playing 'me too' with the CPO tradition, but seems to be in vogue. And no, that doesn't mean that you can sign an email as LT (sel) as an Ensign without facing a lot of ridicule.

 

[Deleted member 24525]

I address them as “hey motherfucker!...yeah that’s right, I’m talking to you!”
Haven’t received a good response from that one yet...don’t know why.

 

[bubblehead]

I have seen more often than not that officers selected for O6 and above sign emails as (sel) vice current rank. Caught me as obnoxious at first and playing 'me too' with the CPO tradition, but seems to be in vogue. And no, that doesn't mean that you can sign an email as LT (sel) as an Ensign without facing a lot of ridicule.

It's stupid as is addressing someone as "Chief Select." It screams insecure.

 

[Hair Warrior]

The Army sees this whole thing differently. They are very quick to identify themselves as promotable (same as select). It caught me off guard at first, but whatever.

The difference is that the word “promotable” is said after their current rank, not in conjunction with a future rank. “Captain promotable” is still a CPT. So it minimizes the pretense because 99% of people don’t bother saying the word “promotable” in my limited Joint experience.

 

[robav8r]

The difference is that the word “promotable” is said after their current rank, not in conjunction with a future rank. “Captain promotable” is still a CPT. So it minimizes the pretense because 99% of people don’t bother saying the word “promotable” in my limited Joint experience.

Concur . . . . .

 

[Jim123]

The Army does this better than us by modifying your current rank instead of the rank that you're not yet wearing- which is to say that signing your name as CPT(P) is only slightly less silly than LCDR(sel).

 

[bubblehead]

The Army does this better than us by modifying your current rank instead of the rank that you're not yet wearing- which is to say that signing your name as CPT(P) is only slightly less silly than LCDR(sel).

It's all stupid.

 

[nittany03]

It’s silly on a different (equal) level, in my (also limited) Joint experience. Are they really “promotable?” No. They’re “to be promoted later, according to a list.” It’s not like too many people in the chop chain would have the authority to unilaterally go “Boom. You’re promoted because I said so,” just because they’re allegedly “promotable.”

 

[HAL Pilot]

Back in the day this wasn’t a thing in the Navy because we just frocked everyone. Then the other services cried like fucking babies so we pussies out and stopped frocking instead of just telling them to pound sand.

Same reason we started putting rank on the shoulders of our flight suits. Same reason the Marines started putting on name strips and “Marines” on their utilities (but at least they had some intestinal fortitude and said no to rank on bags). Same reason RADM lower half went from wearing 2 stars to 1 star.

 

[LFCFan]

Back in the day this wasn’t a thing in the Navy because we just frocked everyone. Then the other services cried like fucking babies so we pussies out and stopped frocking instead of just telling them to pound sand.

Same reason we started putting rank on the shoulders of our flight suits. Same reason the Marines started putting on name strips and “Marines” on their utilities (but at least they had some intestinal fortitude and said no to rank on bags). Same reason RADM lower half went from wearing 2 stars to 1 star.

Funny thing is that the Navy didn't have admirals until around the Civil War, which changed because we got tired of always being outranked by the Army (as well as the awkward interactions with other countries who had admirals)...I guess the shoe was on the other foot.

Also, why was there consternation about adding rank to flight suits? This isn't the first time I've heard someone on here complain about it.

 

[AIRMMCPORET]

It's stupid as is addressing someone as "Chief Select." It screams insecure.

Chief Selets are very insecure, but that’s not why they are addressed that way.

They are no longer welcome in the First class mess, and are not Chiefs yet, and slugs is not PC anymore.

 

[Flash]

Same reason RADM lower half went from wearing 2 stars to 1 star.

Rear Admiral (Lower Half), RDML nowadays, didn't exist in the US Navy until we made the one-star rank permanent in the 80's and after the name changed a few times. Before then for most of the 20th century the one-star flag rank was only a temporary wartime rank with the title Commodore, Arleigh Burke was one in WWII. But almost everyone else promoted to flag rank in the Navy pinned two stars and were simply Rear Admirals with no qualifier.

Also, why was there consternation about adding rank to flight suits? This isn't the first time I've heard someone on here complain about it.

I never understood that one either.