quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

Not knowing salute protocol myself, I did some Googling and came cross an interesting post at The Libertarian.

S/he writes:

I don't like Presidents saluting. I didn't like it when Reagan did it it and do not recall anyone including Eisenhower doing it before Reagan. I suppose it is harmless but It reminds me of third world dictatorships and worse. It also adds a link to the military that IMO is dangerous for a US president, especially those that never served and might be reluctant to overrule military decisions when necessary. I may have cracked a tooth or two watching Clinton getting the hang of it.

S/he also quotes a differing opinion from a former Marine:

Presidents have long been saluted, but they began returning salutes relatively recently. Ronald Reagan was thought to be the first, in 1981. He had sought advice on the matter from Gen. Robert Barrow, commandant of the Marine Corps. According to John Kline, then Mr. Reagan’s military aide and today a member of Congress from Minnesota, General Barrow told the president that as commander in chief he could salute anybody he wished. And so it began.

Mr. Reagan’s successors continued the practice, and I continued to be conflicted — believing that when it comes to salutes (and one or two other matters), presidents deserved to be cut some slack, but also feeling a little uneasy about the whole thing.

My ambivalence came to an end last week, when I saw a videotape of the president’s midnight trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he had participated, very early that morning, in the “dignified transfer” of 15 Army soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Administration agents killed that week in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama stood ramrod straight and saluted as six soldiers carried the coffin bearing the body of Sgt. Dale Griffin of Indiana off a C-17 transport aircraft and into a waiting van. His salute, it struck me, was impeccable in every way.

Interesting stuff.

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri

[
How many of those 4 are Marine Corps? Reagan's looks to be Secret Service and Bush I & II's look more like army. Not having served in the military,

quote:

ORIGINAL: mnottertail

Well, military folks are trained in the lore and correct protocols of saluting, the thing is, if the president doesn't salute back, they are stuck there in time saluting forever, which is bad gamboo. 

They are the Commander-in-Chief.  Now I wonder if say Reagan, or Carter or W (who was supposedly vets) were watched everytime they saluted and if they did it according to Hoyle, I never much gave a fuck for the idea to begin with.  But...

quote:


According to Marine Corps regulation MCO P1020.34F of the Marine Corps Uniform Regulations chapter 3, a male Marine is not allowed to carry an umbrella while in uniform. There is no provision in the Marine Corps uniform regulation guidelines that allows a male Marine to carry an umbrella.

quote:

ORIGINAL: FatDomDaddy

Guard Duty... under arms....

It's not about weather or not they are carrying umbrellas, its about a misuse of resources. There is also a provision against personal servitude.

Trust me... It ain't gonna happen again, that should tell you something.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Toysinbabeland

quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice
My ambivalence came to an end last week, when I saw a videotape of the president’s midnight trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he had participated, very early that morning, in the “dignified transfer” of 15 Army soldiers and three Drug Enforcement Administration agents killed that week in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama stood ramrod straight and saluted as six soldiers carried the coffin bearing the body of Sgt. Dale Griffin of Indiana off a C-17 transport aircraft and into a waiting van. His salute, it struck me, was impeccable in every way.

I'm a navy vet and we had slightly different rules about saluting, never salute indoors unless armed and only salute each officer once a day on the ship. I've always wondered why if the President is going to return salutes they don't learn to do it right.

However this action by President Obama smoothes a lot of that over for me. I don't care that he returns salutes and gets fairly sloppy doing it in the routine of the day but he stood and honored men who died at his command which was sorely lacking for a while there.

This is the same intention of any president returning a salute, why shouldn't our president salute the military that protects his life and the lives of the citizens that He serves?
To me if He were in charge is it not a gesture of showing He is pleased (i.e. ” good girl/boy”)? I'm not military, nor was I born in America, so please forgive me for not knowing, theprotocol, it is just a thought.

quote:

ORIGINAL: dcnovice

Benghazi, the IRS's profiling of conservatives (who are not shy about supporting profiling in airports or law enforcement), the AP call records--they're all chump change compared to the true threat to the republic:

Marines holding umbrellas!

The Daily Caller explains:

According to Marine Corps regulation MCO P1020.34F of the Marine Corps Uniform Regulations chapter 3, a male Marine is not allowed to carry an umbrella while in uniform. There is no provision in the Marine Corps uniform regulation guidelines that allows a male Marine to carry an umbrella.

Nevertheless, during a press conference under a light drizzle with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this morning, President Obama allowed the First Head to be protected from the elements by an umbrella held by a male Marine corporal.

Dear God, what will this lawless administration do next?

The regulation you cite is correct.
Another regulation is that marines will obey all lawful orders. Pfc tells a pvt "hold an umbrella over that dumb ass who forgot to bring his".
but:
The pvt may not carry an umbrella for himself but if he can con(vince) any other marine who outranks him to order him to carry the umbrella then they might both proceed from the barracks to the mess hall undampened by the rain..
I do not have a cite for it but I have heard that in the marines they say "where there is a regulation there is an opportunity for a marine to practice the principle of adapt,inovate,overcome."

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

Here I am, trying to agree with you that it's a really dumb thing you've brought us to laugh at, DC, and you have to invoke Bush... I doubt he'd have known either.

I was nobody's candidate for a White House detail when I was in the service, but if the CIC had asked me to hold an umbrella in my right hand, I'd have figured that was an iron-clad 35-10 waiver.