12.  Salute properly and smartly. Avoid saluting in a casual or perfunctory manner. A sharp salute is a mark of a sharp Sailor. WHOM  TO  SALUTE.—Enlisted  personnel salute  all  officers,  and  officers  salute  their  seniors. Salutes are returned by persons saluted except when they  are  uncovered—the  person  saluted  should acknowledge the salute with an appropriate greeting or a nod of the head. Salutes are rendered to all of the following officers: Navy. Army. Air Force. Marine Corps. Coast Guard. N a t i o n a l O c e a n i c a n d A t m o s p h e r i c Administration. Public Health Service. Foreign military services. Officers of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Reserves. Officers of the National Guard when they are on active duty. When not on active duty, they rate a salute only when they are in uniform. Civilians who are entitled (rate), by reason of their position, gun salutes, or other honors are also entitled (by  custom)  to  the  hand  salute.  The  President,  as Commander in Chief of the armed forces, is always saluted. Other civilians may be saluted by persons in uniform when appropriate, but the uniform hat or cap must not be raised as a form of salutation. WHEN TO SALUTE.—On occasion, you might be uncertain whether the person approaching you in uniform is an officer, thus rating a salute. The safest course of action is to salute immediately and not wait for the person approaching you to disclose his/her rank. In other words, when in doubt, salute. Figures 9-2 and 9-3 show some examples of when to salute officers. Aboard Ship When boarding a ship that is flying the national ensign, all persons in the naval service must do the following: 1.  Stop  on  reaching  the  upper  platform  on  the accommodation ladder or the shipboard end of the brow, 2.  Face the ensign, 3.  Salute, and 4.  Then salute the officer of the deck (OOD). On leaving the ship, personnel render the salutes in reverse order—first to the OOD and then to the national ensign. These salutes also are rendered aboard foreign men-of-war. You are required to salute all flag officers (officers above the grade of captain), the commanding officer, and visiting officers (senior to the commanding officer) on every occasion of meeting, passing near, or being addressed. On your first daily meeting, you salute all senior officers attached to your ship or station. Many ships consider salutes rendered at quarters sufficient for this first salute of the day. When the progress of a senior officer may be blocked, officers and enlisted personnel clear a path by calling out “Gangway” and stand at attention facing the senior officer until he/she passes. In Boats When a boat is not under way, the person in charge salutes officers that come alongside or pass nearby. If there is no one in charge, all those in the boat render the salute. Boat coxswains salute all officers entering or leaving their boats. (Although it is customary to stand when saluting, if the safety of the boat is endangered by standing,  remain  seated.)  When  boat  awnings  are spread, enlisted personnel sit at attention while saluting; they should not rise. Officers seated in boats rise when rendering salutes to seniors who are entering or leaving. When boats pass each other with embarked officers or officials in view, hand salutes are rendered by the senior officer and coxswain in each boat. Coxswains rise to salute unless it is dangerous or impracticable to do so. 9-4 Student Notes: