3. Never smoke or have coffee cups and soda cans
or bottles on the quarterdeck.
4. Never cross or walk on the quarterdeck except
when necessary.
5. Don’t lounge on or in the vicinity of the
quarterdeck.
6. When on the quarterdeck, salute whenever the
quarterdeck watch salutes (as during a gun
salute).
Shore stations, as well as ships, have areas
designated as the quarterdeck. The same rules apply in
all cases.
A messing compartment is where enlisted
personnel eat; the wardroom is where officers eat. If
you enter any of these areas while a meal is in progress,
you must uncover.
Officers’ country is the part of the ship where
officers have their staterooms and wardrooms; CPO
country is where the chief petty officers have their
living spaces and mess. You must avoid entering these
areas except on official business. Never use their
passageways as thoroughfares or shortcuts. If you enter
the wardroom or any compartment or office of an officer
or a CPO, you must remove your hat, unless you are on
watch and wearing the duty belt. Always knock before
entering an officer’s or a chief petty officer’s room.
IN A BOAT
The basic rule in Navy etiquette, as in civilian
etiquette, is to make way for a senior. Thus the rule for
entering boats, airplanes, and vehicles is seniors in last
and out first. (Enlisted personnel board a boat first,
leaving room, of course, for officers.) The reason is that
the captain should not have to wait in a boat for a less
senior person to amble down the accommodation
ladder. When the destination is reached, the senior is
allowed to disembark first as a mark of respect from
juniors.
In general, seniors take the seats farthest aft. If
officers are present, enlisted personnel should not sit in
the stern seats unless invited to do so. Enlisted personnel
maintain silence as long as officers are in the boat. (For
reasons of safety, personnel should never become noisy
or boisterous in a boat regardless of the hour, condition
of the sea, or who is present.)
The boat coxswain salutes all officers entering or
leaving the boat. Enlisted personnel seated well forward
do not rise when officers enter or leave the stern seats.
Personnel in the after section, however, rise and salute
when an officer enters or leaves. (Although it is
customary to stand when saluting, this formality is
dispensed with if the safety of the boat crew would be
endangered.) When boat awnings are spread, enlisted
personnel remain seated at attention while saluting;
they do not rise under these circumstances.
A boat assumes rank according to the rank of the
highest grade officer embarked in the boat. The
coxswain and senior officer in each boat salute, with the
person in the junior boat saluting first. Other crew
members stand at attention; passengers sit at attention.
The rules of etiquette for personnel aboard airplanes
and other vehicles are the same as for boats.
Boats passing a ship during colors must lie to, or
proceed at the slowest safe speed. The boat officer, or in
his or her absence, the coxswain, stands (if safe to do so)
and salutes. Other persons in the boat remain seated or
standing, but do not salute.
ADDRESSING AND INTRODUCING NAVAL
PERSONNEL
Custom, tradition, and social change determine
how members of the naval service are introduced.
Although tradition and military customs generally hold
true, there are some differences in methods of
addressing and introducing military personnel,
depending on whether you are in civilian or military
circles.
The proper forms of addressing and introducing
naval personnel are summarized in table 9-1. Except as
provided in the paragraphs that follow, all officers in the
naval service are addressed or introduced with the titles
of their grades preceding their surnames.
Officers of the Medical or Dental Corps, and
officers of the Medical Service Corps having a doctoral
degree, may be addressed as “doctor.” Likewise, an
officer of the Chaplain Corps may be addressed as
“chaplain.” However, if a doctor or chaplain prefers to
9-16
Student Notes:
