Military (Army anyway) Myths Part II

Army families have been in the news a lot lately, for the sad likeLeather and Honor, and the silly sign controversy, and the press just doesn't seem to be able to get any of the stories completely right. So, a few corrections of some details that really aren't all that important. They do make me wonder though. If reporters get the easily researched little details wrong, how well can they do with the bigger more difficult things?

Myth #1-Funerals with full military honors include a "21 gun salute." Wrong, wrong, wrong. Twenty-one gun salutes are reserved for heads of state and are fired from artillery pieces. The three rifle shots fired in unison by seven honor guard members at a military funeral are actually a "volley of musketry," or in more common parlance, a "rifle volley" or "rifle salute." The Washington Post seems to be the only paper to get this right consistently, but with Arlington National Cemetery nearby they should.

Myth #2-A Private is a Private is a Private and a Sergeant is a Sergeant is a Sergeant. It may seem that Sergeant (SGT) and Sergeant First Class (SFC), or Private (PVT) and Private First Class (PFC)are interchangeable. In speaking one would refer to both the SGT and SFC as "Sergeant Smith," and PVT or PFC Smith as Private Smith, but in writing a distinction should be made at least in first reference. The SFC is two pay grades above the SGT and has commensurately greater experience and responsibility. Quote the SFC who is serving as a platoon sergeant on the unit mission and she carries a little more credibility than the SGT. (By the way, platoon sergeant is a job description, not a rank, and Staff Sergeant SSG comes between SGT and SFC. No way am I going to try to explain the other services.)

Myth #3-Everyone serving in the Middle Eastern theater of operations, or simply "in theater," is "deployed." Deployment usually refers to temporary duty away from a unit's home station and is indefinite, but normally not longer than 18-24 months. Many units are based permanently in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Uzbekistan, but the personnel rotate out just as they have been doing for 50+ years in Korea, Japan, and Europe. This is a distinction that does matter, because the establishment of units permanently based in theater predated official pronouncements that this would be a "long war." I think most media outlets missed it.