Bzzzt. Unless the Captain was paying them, they shouldn't have saluted indoors. A sure indicator that the "NG soldiers" were imposters and probably terrorists.
Rich

To be honest with you, I wasn't sure if it was a salute or a wave. I wasn't really paying attention, I was like, hey, get that wand away from there.

Actually I think you are wrong on the saluting. The NG soldiers are actually armed and in headgear. I seem to remember that in that case they would normally salute. The officer was probably not wearing his lid and would not have saluted someone superior to himself but would return the salute rendered to him. It is a sad indication of being out of service to long that I am blanking out on the rule. I would pull out my officers guide but is currently boxed up.

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Robert

I'm not that much of a Boy Scout but it seems kind of irresponsible to deliberately ignore something like this in times like these. Couldn't that delay others if those who are called do not come forward? Opinions? Comments?

Doakes

At AS, if you fail to respond when your name is called and make it on board anyway they will hunt you down! They come on board and have you bring all your belongings off the a/c to make sure "your papers are in order." If you move seats on board and still don't respond when called then off come your bags, never to be seen again and any return reservation, I assume, would be cancelled. Scary, huh?

At BHM NW has a good routine. If you're selected for an additional search (as my family was on Christmas) you are then the first people to board the aircraft. This has the benefit of enlisting the passengers in the process because there is an immediate benefit to being searched. I've seen NW follow this proceedure on the other occasions I've flown from BHM since Sep 11.

Haven't had this happen but i wouldn't ignore it.

My last flight of 2000 ORD-BWI. We board the plane and wait. A few minutes after scheduled push back a couple of security people come onboard and speak with the captain. The captain tells us they are clearing the security isues and we'll leave in about 5-10 mins. Five mins. later two different security people come onboard and speak with the captain. The captain tells us someone who was selected for secondary screening boarded without reporting for the secondary screen. Now everyone must get off the plane so we can re-do the boarding process. An hour later (first they had to go through the aircraft for security reasons) we start to board again. Most of us were not happy with the offending party whomever he/she was.

I assume this person said this with a smile on their face as this would be an obvious abuse of authority, and the Guardsman could ignore it as an unlawful order.

Isn't it service branch dependent? While the Navy does not salute indoors, I seem to remember seeing Army personnel salute (sans headgear) indoors, but this may have been in the movies. At any rate (slight pun intended) Navy personnel never wear headgear indoors.

Omni:
Don't you hate it when you see them mess up little military details in movies? My pet peeve is the proper way to wear a belt on a Navy uniform.

[This message has been edited by JeffS (edited 01-05-2002).]

Many of the NG folks are very young, have little training in 'civilities' and are bored out of their minds!

In Coast Guard we were told that 'one' did not salute in the house, in the church or in medical areas. Of course that was back when we were still using coal!

Well...not quite.

We always assumed that 'in the house' meant when we were guests in a superior officer's home (fat chance).

As for inappropriate wearing of head gear, makes me crazy.

A couple years ago (prior to the Millenium Dome project) I visited the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich England. Wishing to obtain whatever discounts I could get for a ticket to the museum and gift shop; I pulled out all my ID and membership cards in my wallet. BINGO!

Not only was I given a free ticket on the basis of my serive in the US Coast Guard, I met, greeted ('yes sirred' to pieces) and given a fabulous tour of the galleries. As an American who was wearing khakies and a polo shirt, I nearly died of embarrassment. I wished I was better dressed.

The British certainly do know how to respect men/persons of the sea!

Although the British have a strange way of saluting, think of a cross between a wave and a bird taking off, I appreciatted the gesture.

Everything in that Museum is done right, although the lighting is dim. Just make sure that you avoid the food!

I agree that many security measures are a joke. I've complained about them on flyertalk myself at times in the past few months. However, it does concern me when any of us share information that we've noticed that could help terrorists to avoid detection.

For example: Stating that on a certain airline there is a certain mark that always means you get searched. Terrorists read that, buy ticket, if marked, don't try to get on plane. If not marked, they know they're home free.

I'm not necessarily saying that this exact thing will lead to a problem in itself...but there are a number of things that I've noticed in the past few months.

I'm frustrated with it too....don't get me wrong. But I just don't want to be so specific in my frustrations that it helps people get by the system, as inadequate as the system seems at times.

Edited to Add:

I read somewhere a couple of weeks ago (can't remember if it was an OBL video or a computer hard drive or what) that there was evidence found in Afghanistan that showed Al Qaida stating that they had not been working on biological and chemical weapons....hadn't even thought of it...until they saw in the press how worried about it people in the west were and had it stated in the press how easy it could be to make these things. The statement in the press as to a potential threat turned it into a REAL threat.

[This message has been edited by aflyer (edited 01-05-2002).]

FWIW, in my branch of service, USAF Reserve, salutes are not rendered indoors. The exceptions are during change of command ceremonies and during the presentation of awards and decorations. If memory serves me well, a salute was rendered during a retirement ceremony; it was not returned, as the gentleman was seated as he received the U.S. Flag.

aflyer,

I agree, of course, that we shouldn't advise the terrorists how to bypass security, but the "secret" marks on boarding passes are hardly secret: The Wall Street Journal had a major article about them on November 12, page B1. If the terrorists don't know this by now, they aren't really terrorists!

Bruce

And in all honesty, if a terrorist looks at his or her boarding pass, sees they have been selected for screening, and doesn't get on the flight I'm, then I would feel the profiling has worked so much better then letting one of the security people select them for a secondary search. Remember, the shoe bomber was selected for additional questioning and sscreening, yet was still allowed to go.

Although I haven't ignored a call for a searcg, I actually volunteered the other day. Pax load was extremely light and I was boarding at an intermediate stop along w/ only 2 other pax.

Gate agent said that someone had to be screened, so I volunteered since I didn't have much stuff and already knew the drill.

USAir pulled the male traveling alone' search on me--4 times!

I don't have a problem ignoring such a call==never had the opporuting as USAir put an "S" on all of my tickets. My view is I am paying for a service that includes reliable security and the charades they have us go through are a waste of everyone's time and money.