C&C question

[Cobra1597]

When in doubt, whip it out.

LOF LMAO..........

You may roll your eyes, but Stonewall is right.

Saluting. It is a courtesy exchanged between members of
the Civil Air Patrol when in military-style uniform as both a
greeting and a symbol of mutual respect. As such, it is never
inappropriate to salute another individual.

Emphasis mine.

You could salute a E-9. It isn't customary to do so. It isn't traditional to do so. It isn't normally done. All that said, it is not technically wrong to do so. Cadet officers may like to ream out that C/AB who salutes a C/SSgt by mistake, but they shouldn't really do that. Should they teach what the custom is? Should they teach the standard practice? Yes, of course.

[afgeo4]

Umm... if it isn't customary to salute enlisted personnel then how can it be a custom?

[Cobra1597]

Umm... if it isn't customary to salute enlisted personnel then how can it be a custom?

It isn't a custom. It still isn't, by our rules, wrong to do so. In addition, the same paragraph I quoted calls it a courtesy, not a custom.

[Short Field]

If you do it fast enough as it is done in the real world, no one can tell who was first or last and no one would really care.

I never saw a situation in the RM where there was any question as to who initiated the salute and who returned it.