Traditions
By CSM Robert A. Winzenried
These days, one hardly needs to perform a detailed document search to discover rise in careerism, accompanied by a decline in cohesion and professionalism. To counter this in our military services we have long-established traditions of customs and courtesies.
“Customs” are an act or ceremony stemming from a tradition, “Courtesies” is written guidance and together these two ensure proper respect for the chain of command and build a foundation for self-discipline that is important in times of crisis.
Military customs and courtesies are a vital part of our services and they are not a one-way street. Enlisted personnel must be courteous to officers, and officers are expected to return the courtesy. Enlisted personnel show military courtesy to their officers because they respect the position of responsibility held by the officer. Officers, on the other hand, respect their personnel because they know the responsibility the personnel have in carrying out orders.
Another way to view this subject is; military courtesy is basically no different from common courtesy in civilian life, just good manners and politeness in dealing with other people. The experience of life has proven that courteous behavior is essential and fosters good human relations. The distinction between civilian courtesy and military courtesy is that, military courtesies were developed in a military atmosphere and have become customs and traditions of our countries uniformed services.
So, what’s the bottom line…Military courtesy is the respect shown to each other by members of a profession and without this basis of mutual respect, there would be no military courtesy, and disharmony will result.