The military salute is courtesy. If the President as Commander-in-Chief chooses to return a salute rendered by a service member, he should do so courteously. There’s been a bit of brouhaha over the salute returned by President Obama last week while his hand was encumbered with a cup of coffee.
I’ve been somewhat amused by the various attempts by some folks on the left to try to spin some of the adverse comments as purely political grousing.
Now, I realize that many of those spin meisters don’t have any military background, but I’m shocked by how many of them refer to the event has happening as the President debarked from Air Force One.
The Air Force is generally responsible for providing the long-haul transportation of the President. The aircraft normally used are Boeing 747s. The Marine Corps provides helicopter transportation for the President. Air Force One is the call sign of the President’s airplane. Marine Corps One is his helicopter.
UPDATE—Additional hint for militarily confused journalists. If you see Marines at the bottom of the ramp, that’s the helicopter. The big jet will have airman at the bottom of the ramp. The Marines’ uniforms are a darker blue.
it was a grande gesture
A vente would have been better … always the half measures with this one!
… and the “corpse-men” wear white hats …
What color do the seamen wear?
Asking for a friend.
Kinda yellowish-white, especially before showering in a Japanese night club.
Just a guess…
Awww, isn’t that cute? Baghdad Blob passes off the same tired pic of Bush that all the other liberals have tried, but in his stupidity he never bothered to check out why the pic shows Bush rendering a proper, if somewhat awkward looking, salute. I guess being below decks so much, IYKWIMAITYD, old Blob didn’t ever learn how to salute properly, or he is once again just lying to try and make his point.
Shakey wasn’t a real sailor. He was a POG. A pencil pusher. He probably faked hi injury so he can suck the teat for the rest of his life.
Baghdad Blob was a worthless POG Photographer’s Mate…. he probably never rendered a proper salute in his whole worthless life.
The simple mistakes “journalists” make when reporting military matters are indicative of a complete lack of intellectual curiosity and, frankly, in many cases, a lack of intelligence. You can’t report on a subject when you are entirely ignorant of the subject. But that doesn’t stop “modern journalists.” It doesn’t even seem to slow them down.
“Stupid” is forever…
It is even more glaringly so when they report on firearms issues.
Any report on any gear or equipment is likely to be wrong. Basic stuff like calling a Bradley at “tank” happens all the time. The laziness is just inexcusable.
And have you noticed that EVERY ship is a “Battleship?” It is like the US Navy has “Battleships” and that’s it. I don’t recall a report of a CVN called a “battleship” but I haven’t done an exhaustive search…
Remember the picture of foam earplugs “I believe these are rubber bullets, can anyone confirm?”
Admiral QuakesAlot.
Living (unfortunately) proof that not all veterans are honorable.
I’d love for old Bill to explain exactly why Obama’s salute was correct and Bush’s wasn’t. Go ahead Bill, you can do it. Explain it for us dumb lickspittles.
He can’t. He doesn’t know. His “service” was on his knees.
Go to bed, Seaman Slurper.
Whatever, POG.
I can GARUN-DAMN-TEE that I have more time on the sh*tter underway than you have in your entire worthless Photographer’s Mate career.
You have no honor… you have no sense of duty… you are worthy only of scorn.
Any honorable veteran would look at what a dishonorable asshat you are and have nothing but contempt for you (you being a vet only magnifies that contempt).
He loves talking shyte about things for which he knows very little.
You may think you know who I am, Seaman Slurper, but you need to put a whole lot more time in than you did to even approach mine, dummy.
Now poor Bill is having a sad. Does he explain why he thinks it was OK for the Pres to salute like that (and he must because he is certainly defending it) while mocking Bush’s salute. But alas, old Bill won’t answer the simple question asked. Very typical of him. He can’t answer. He has no answer. He will just rage, then ignore, the flush the tweets per his usual plan. Must suck to know you have to keep ignoring or deleting things because you don’t have the smarts to actually answer simple questions.
Just as an FYI, it’s ‘Air Force One’ or ‘Marine One’ only when the Prez is onboard. Once he departs the jets callsign is ‘Air Force 28000 or 29000’ depending on which one he’s flying that day.