Question regarding honorifics (retired Army)

TexasBama · Sep 9, 2014

I am sending a letter to a city whose administrator is a retired Sergeant Major.

I'm pretty sure the heading will be Sergeant Major XX XXX, U.S.A., Ret.

On the letter body would it be:

Dear Sergeant XXX:

or Dear Sergeant Major XXX:

Help!!

BamaBrass · Sep 9, 2014

I'm pretty sure it would be

Dear Sergeant Major XXX

You may want to add (retired) after the Sergeant Major though.

dvldog · Sep 9, 2014

Not sure "dear" and sergeant major go together.

jabcmb · Sep 9, 2014

BamaBrass said:
I'm pretty sure it would be

Dear Sergeant Major XXX

You may want to add (retired) after the Sergeant Major though.

This, except I would not put "Ret." in the salutation, only the address. No big deal either way, the SGM will note that you cared to do it right.

Tidewater · Sep 9, 2014

TexasBama said:
I am sending a letter to a city whose administrator is a retired Sergeant Major.

I'm pretty sure the heading will be Sergeant Major XX XXX, U.S.A., Ret.

On the letter body would it be:

Dear Sergeant XXX:

or Dear Sergeant Major XXX:

Help!!

I would write the address as you described, then use the salutation:

Sergeant Major:

Roll Tide.

Respectfully,

Texas Bama

_____________
That may not be correct etiquette, but I'm not sure "Dear" and "Sergeant Major" go together. Most of them are crusty old hard-bitten cusses.
I am assuming that you are referencing his retired rank out of honor for his long service and his retired rank has nothing to do with the business at hand.
Calling him just "Sergeant" would be insulting, since it would mean what used to be called "Buck Sergeant," or E-5. The rank is "Sergeant Major."

PacadermaTideUs · Sep 9, 2014

I agree with TW. "Sergeant Major" by itself (no "retired"). "Dear" is acceptable but just sounds weird.

http://www.formsofaddress.info/Retired_Officer.html

http://www.ehow.com/way_5366236_etiquette-rules-addressing-retired-military.html

Bama Reb · Sep 9, 2014

You're sending the letter to a city administrator, not an active duty soldier. Address it to him using his present office, not a past military rank.

I would address it to him in his present capacity, then start the letter with "Dear Sir".

willie52 · Sep 10, 2014

Bama Reb said:
You're sending the letter to a city administrator, not an active duty soldier. Address it to him using his present office, not a past military rank.

I would address it to him in his present capacity, then start the letter with "Dear Sir".

BINGO - this is the right answer in my opinion.

I am retired and work with other retired members of the military as a civilian. On this specific instance the civilian address would be used. If it is an occasion in which his rank would be recognized (e.g. veteran's ceremony) then the use of his rank would be okay. The term of address would be Sergeant Major or written SGM. Guess you could call him Top and watch him smile. The rational is even though some when they retire regret leaving the service and are stressed out about it most need to move on to the next phase in our lives. Don't get me wrong, it's a memory that's hard to describe to a person who has never been in but it bothers me for someone to use my military rank, I'm not in anymore, I'm a civilian.

PacadermaTideUs · Sep 10, 2014

willie52 said:
BINGO - this is the right answer in my opinion.

I am retired and work with other retired members of the military as a civilian. On this specific instance the civilian address would be used. If it is an occasion in which his rank would be recognized (e.g. veteran's ceremony) then the use of his rank would be okay. The term of address would be Sergeant Major or written SGM. Guess you could call him Top and watch him smile. The rational is even though some when they retire regret leaving the service and are stressed out about it most need to move on to the next phase in our lives. Don't get me wrong, it's a memory that's hard to describe to a person who has never been in but it bothers me for someone to use my military rank, I'm not in anymore, I'm a civilian.

I can relate: I'm kind of the same way,and prefer Mr. There are others however, who never really retire and prefer using their retired rank until the day they die. I suppose it's up to the individual. If you don't know their preference, probably best to default to Mr. If you see however that he signs his correspondence with his rank, that's a good indication of his preference.

TIDE-HSV · Sep 10, 2014

willie52 said:
BINGO - this is the right answer in my opinion.

I am retired and work with other retired members of the military as a civilian. On this specific instance the civilian address would be used. If it is an occasion in which his rank would be recognized (e.g. veteran's ceremony) then the use of his rank would be okay. The term of address would be Sergeant Major or written SGM. Guess you could call him Top and watch him smile. The rational is even though some when they retire regret leaving the service and are stressed out about it most need to move on to the next phase in our lives. Don't get me wrong, it's a memory that's hard to describe to a person who has never been in but it bothers me for someone to use my military rank, I'm not in anymore, I'm a civilian.

This is the correct answer. I couldn't count the number of retired military I've dealt with over the years here. Even Gen. John Zierdt (retired), made it clear to me that he was now just "John." (The road was named after him, for those of you living in Madison...)

Silverback · Sep 10, 2014

I agree with addressing him in his current capacity. I prefer Mr from everyone but it is often very difficult for those thay served with me to call me Mr.

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