Female form of address for officers'

[Jo Zebedee]

Although, originally I took that attitude, that it was up to me, in the future, but I did get many comments that the structure/roles/titles weren't right and it pulled some readers out of it.

 

[ctg]

And anyway, this is SF set in the future with aliens so things could be very different. Bowler, use the terms you want to use. (Except "mam"...)

Actually, I disagree on one occasion. Use "Mam" to give a flavour to the character, but make it so that it comes in the right place and adds up to the context.

 

[Bowler1]

I think I'll stick close to current models. The armies of the world seem to have been operating this way for sometime and I guess will do so going forward into my fictional future.

For some reason and on this thread the use of - ma'am - feels correct when addressing, Judge. So - Yes, ma'am.

In Dublin we use the term 'Mammy' when talking to our Mothers. So after a little reflection, writing 'Mam', would have me picturing my Mummy all the time. That won't work for me, not in the middle of a gory battle scene.

 

[Ursa major]

(Except "mam"...)

Particularly if she's your mother.

 

[ctg]

Particularly if she's your mother.

"Yes, Mam." Jane blinked her eyes and looked innocently Mister Bear. "You got such a dirty thoughts, soldier."

 

[Bowler1]

"Yes, Mam." Jane blinked her eyes and looked innocently Mister Bear. "You got such a dirty thoughts, soldier."

That made me laugh, I have to admit it worried me that it did!

 

[Gumboot]

I can't think of my drill sergeant as anything but ma'am*. see frightened us so much that everyone would slip with the sir. If you fumbled and tried to recover she would yell at you more, you just said "sir" or "ma'am" with confidence it seemed not to matter. I rather would have a 6'-5", muscle building, drill sergeant than her any day. She was flat out mean, We kinda thought she had to compensate for her size and sex. **

* Anytime I get frustrated about arguing with my wife, I think about being yelled at for 6+ weeks, from a 5 foot petite women I could not stand, and think "Life is good."

**When a drill sergeant says, "I don't want to hear, I don't know. Make up anything. Say a freaking pink elephant did it," Don't actually say "a pink elephant did it."

Calling a Drill Sergeant "Sir" or "Ma'am" is a good way to really piss them off. They should be referred to as "Sergeant" or "Staff" if they're a Staff Sergeant.

"Sir? Do you see anything on this uniform indicating an officer? What does three up and three down mean to you, Airman?"

 

[Vertigo]

Ah that's the difference between American and British (and I'm guessing New Zealand) armed forces. The Americans, I believe, do use sir to sergeants whereas we aren't supposed to unless they are a warrant officer and senior to us (and so far as I was concerned us included very junior second lieutenants! ).

 

[Gumboot]

Ah that's the difference between American and British (and I'm guessing New Zealand) armed forces. The Americans, I believe, do use sir to sergeants whereas we aren't supposed to unless they are a warrant officer and senior to us (and so far as I was concerned us included very junior second lieutenants! ).

The only instance in the US Military where a Sergeant should be addressed as "sir" or "ma'am" is a USMC recruit addressing a USMC Drill Instructor.

Otherwise it's the same as Commonwealth armed forces.

ETA. I should add, I was presuming Arkose wasn't talking about the Marines because "Drill Sergeant" is a US Army term, in the Marines they're called "Drill Instructors" - calling them a "Drill Sergeant" is seen as highly offensive, akin to calling a Marine a "soldier".

 

[Ursa major]

As an aside, is the male form of a dress for officers called a kilt...?

 

[TomS]

In the United States Army, drill sergeants are addressed as "Drill Sergeant". I got so used to saying it that for the one time the First Sergeant spoke to me, I said "Drill Sergeant" I had to dig a foxhole in the Texas sand for that one. That is, after I was made to do push ups while he chewed me out. While I was doing push ups, I said it again. That's when it was decided that I had to fill the fox hole back up with the sand from another poor soul next to me. I eased the time by singing all of "Dark Side of the Moon" from start to finish.