Re: [OT] A variety of terminology/history questions

Allow me to answer the couple of these I know. Hopefully my credentials
are 
sufficient:-)

> 1) USMC (or US military in general): What ranks are accorded the title
> "sir"? This seems like an odd question except that I think the US
> military differs notably from British traditions here. IIRC, in
Canadian
> tradition, an officer (carrying a commission from the Queen) is called
> "sir". Non-commissioned members are not. Generally, if you call a
> Sergeant "sir" here, you get a lecture about how he works for a living
> and not on his knees. There are certain rare occasions where it might
be
> okay to call a Canadian NCO "Sir" (I believe some officers holding a
> Warrant from the Queen find this acceptable) but there aren't many
> cases. From a lot of the Hollywood products I've seen, I've seen
people
> calling NCO D.I.s and other senior non-coms in US forces "sir". What
> actually is the US tradition in this regard?
> 

Officers are commissioned and are called "sir" by all junior ranks.
Noncom's 
are addressed by their rank generally. The exception is in the case of 
recruits. While in Boot camp or basic training, all superior ranks are
called 
"sir". DI's would frequently be addressed that way because of their
proximity 
to recruits. 

> 
> 7) (USMC) Does the Marine corps still use Navy Doctors and Corpsmen?
Or
> do they have integral marine medics or life-savers?
> 
> 
Yes, they do. The use of Navy resources as support allows them to
concentrate 
on their primary mission of fighting. They do have support people, but
they 
rely more heavily than most others do on another service (the navy).

And as for the famed antipathy between the Marines and Navy, they are
ground 
pounders. But _by god_ they are _our_ groundpounders. and whenever the
boats 
and choppers head for shore, there isn't a sailor in the fleet who'd let
them 
down. 

By the way, Anyone got any ideas on what wet navies might look like
during 
the time 
represented by DS and SG?

John Rebori ETN2 (Discharged)
USN 1976 - 1982
ex-USS Pegasus PHM-1