Well, that's one way to solve a problem.about 15 years ago one of the LCDR's a senior guy, in our department rec'd an email from a department YN and he put R instead or V/R, instead of talking to him about the error he lost his shit on the YN3, bad for the LCDR and good for the YN3 the Dept head heard it, so the the LCDR rec'd a 1 on 1 with the Dept Head.
When I was a brand new ENS, I was walking along the sidewalk on base when some old guy in uniform was coming the other way. I squinted to figure out his rank symbol and I was being a little slow in the head. The old guy didn't miss a beat and he initiaded a smart salute about six paces away, give or take. I saluted back, then noticed his eagles... and learning occurred. Well played sir, wherever you are these days. You didn't even have to say a thing and I still remember that lesson.