Do Starfleet personnel ever salute each other?

Question

The organisation of Starfleet is somewhere between military and civilian: Captain Picard and Gene Roddenberry both describe it as being non-military, but in some ways it has a very militarised structure, with military-looking uniforms and ranks, a strictly stratified command structure, and so on.

This is one of the main ways Star Trek differs from its fellow cult sci-fi TV show Doctor Who. In the latter, the main character is strongly against soldiers and any sort of military organisation. One of the most common ways he expresses his dislike is in not wanting people to salute him.

So when I started watching Star Trek, having heard about its much more militarised nature as opposed to Doctor Who, I was expecting a lot of saluting between the Starfleet officers. But so far (12 episodes into TNG) I haven't seen a single salute. Is this always going to be the case?

Do Starfleet crewmembers and officers ever salute each other?

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/5/52/Spock_performing_Vulcan_salute.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090320072701&path-prefix=en — Valorum, Apr 12 '16 at 13:54
@Richard I'd forgotten that! Not a Starfleet thing or even a human thing though, right? It's not surprising that there are some alien races who perform salutes. — Rand al'Thor, Apr 12 '16 at 13:58
My answer here seems to answer this question. Roddenberry was very explicit that Starfleet officers don't salute each other. — Valorum, Apr 12 '16 at 13:58
also starfleet is very similar to the US navy, in structure, in which they dont salute while aboard their vessels, and as a counterpoint, the militaristic mirror universe, they do salute. — Himarm, Apr 12 '16 at 14:00
though, to be fair, starfleet has standing at attention, and at ease, which are by definition also a form of salute. — Himarm, Apr 12 '16 at 14:05
If they had to salute each other all the time, they'd have far less time to walk down corridors. In Doctor Who, on the other hand, the characters usually run down corridors, so not only do they have time to salute, but they have time for the Doctor to complain about it! — John Sensebe, Apr 12 '16 at 14:05
The answer to this question is going to be a long essay on the following: (1) Gene Roddenberry explicitly didn't want it to be too militaristic (2) example of exceptional salutes, such as the Vulcan salute, other aliens, and alternate universes (3) Standing at attention during various formal scenarios (3) MACOs from Enterprise? — ThePopMachine, Apr 12 '16 at 14:23
@ThePopMachine I look forward to receiving such an essay :-) It's interesting to pick apart the ideas behind a show like Star Trek. — Rand al'Thor, Apr 12 '16 at 14:24
@Richard, that's a cultural greeting though really, rather than a military salute. E.g. like the namaste hand gesture in India — anotherdave, Apr 12 '16 at 18:40
As far as I can remember, there are multiple calls of "Captain on the Bridge" in both TOS and TNG, which is a form of salute. — anotherdave, Apr 12 '16 at 18:49
@anotherdave - Interstingly, the scripts occasionally call for someone to salute. Invariably, they stand to attention, shake hands or just nod. It's likely that there's someone consciously removing those instances from the finalised shooting scripts. — Valorum, Apr 12 '16 at 23:32
@N_Soong It wasn't specifically a Data question, so this time I didn't feel bad about not waiting for you to be awake :-) (Btw, I just watched Datalore this evening - your favourite episode?) — Rand al'Thor, Apr 12 '16 at 23:43
@Randal'Thor no worries ! No; my favourite is 'Brothers' in season 4, but Datalore is pretty good! — Often Right, Apr 13 '16 at 00:17

score 50 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:43

50

Starfleet personnel don't salute each other, even on formal occasions.

Although Starfleet can be characterised as maintaining certain military traditions (ranks, standing to attention, chain of command) they don't hold with all that silly saluting. Gene Roddenberry in his "writer's bible' made that abundantly clear to scriptwriters and for the most part, this view has held sway throughout the various shows.

In practice this means that our armaments and militarism have been de-emphasized over the previous series and very much de-emphasized over the movies. We will not see saluting. We may hear the word "sir", but it is extended as the same kind of courtesy used by junior and senior officers on civilian airliners.

That being said, there are some (very few) instances where we do see some saluting. When it occurs, it's invariably intended ironically or when captains are showing respect to alien cultures.

_{^{Star Trek V}}

_{^{Deleted Scene - TOS: Balance of Terror}}

_^Sarek

_{^{TNG: The Naked Now}}

Interestingly, the various movie scripts do refer to personnel saluting each other (and the Federation flag) but in each case, this has been replaced by the person either standing to attention or simply having the scene cut entirely. I think we can put this down to writing error that was picked up during production.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:43

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answered Apr 12 '16 at 14:24

Valorum

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Source for the last image, for completeness's sake? – Rand al'Thor Apr 12 '16 at 17:28
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It is The Naked Now... Season 1(?), when Crusher and Picard are discussing finding an antidote to the sickness spreading on the ship. The sickness causes lack of self control. – RomaH Apr 12 '16 at 18:21
@RomaH - Beat me to it. I've just found it – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 18:24
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Is the Sarek one a military salute? Looks like the Vulcan "live long and prosper" hand greeting. – Dronz Apr 12 '16 at 18:26
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@Dronz - It's arguable. There are multiple uses of the vulcan salute in formal contexts but only ever by vulcans and/or humans to vulcans. – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 18:30
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The Starfleet counterparts in the Mirror Universe salute in both The Original Series (2) and Enterprise, probably in DS9 too, although I had trouble finding pictures of it. Granted, this is a different type of salute than the forehead salute, but if the Vulcan salute counts, then this should too. – Thunderforge Apr 12 '16 at 21:05
@Thunderforge - They salute in "Yesterday's Enterprise" too. I've not counted alternative universes. – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 21:09
The last one looks rather in jest. – feelinferrety Apr 12 '16 at 21:42
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@feelinferrety As I understand it, that's the point. As Richard said, "intended ironically or when captains are showing respect to alien cultures". – Rand al'Thor Apr 12 '16 at 21:50
@Randal'Thor Derp, I glossed over that line. – feelinferrety Apr 12 '16 at 21:51
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A better question is what is on Kirks t-shirt? – Apr 12 '16 at 23:16
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@LegoStormtroopr - "Go climb a rock" – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 23:30
@Dronz it looks more like Picard is about to swat a mosquito on Sarek's neck. – terdon Apr 13 '16 at 14:32
@terdon Maybe it's a Federation-approved pacifistic mosquito warning shot, leaving a gap between the middle fingers like that. – Dronz Apr 13 '16 at 16:47
Worth noting (since the question says Star Trek, not Starfleet specifically) that Klingons do salute due to their specific military culture. – Apr 14 '16 at 13:34
@lunchmeat317 - You're not wrong. Since OP is referring to the Enterprise, it seems more likely he means "Starfleet". I've edited the question to reflect that. – Valorum Apr 14 '16 at 14:04

score 25 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

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Infrequently. Despite what most people think about the military, as an former military member, we don't actually spend a whole lot of time saluting each other.

In boot camp, we are trained and conditioned to salute anything that moves. The expression was: "Recruit, if it moves, salute it. If it doesn't, paint it." This structural adherence was to socialize the recruit into understanding their place in the overall social structure of the military. You are always subordinate to SOMEONE.

However, once you leave Boot, you find there is less and less saluting. Meeting new officers under specified conditions, morning reveille (only if you are outside in the public with a nearby flag) a new command, meeting for the first time, disciplinary hearings, there is an opening salute to the interaction, usually the obligatory: "Reporting for duty" or "reporting as ordered," or some such and then that's it.

Only the most strict commanding officers will insist on everyone saluting every time they meet.

Star Trek has taken that same structure and for the most part, people obey a particular discipline. In the regimented moments, passing in review, new command, funerals, the crew is at attention, hands at sides, heads up. Federation members rarely slouch, even when they are just hanging out. Personal pride and professional appearance are very much a Starfleet thing. They know HOW to salute, they just rarely, if ever do it in day to day life, especially aboard ship. As a member of the Navy, I can assure you, if you had to salute every time you passed a senior officer on a ship, you would take twice as long to get anywhere or get anything done.

They have obviously had the same kind of drilling we have on Earth, the same kind of discipline but with an understanding such salutes are either unnecessary, don't provide anything significant or undesirable.

The Federation may teach salutes for alien cultures, however, as an act of diplomacy or historical reference. Alien cultures however, may not have achieved that kind of understanding or may find salutes, particularly in militaristic cultures an acknowledgement of their rank or allegiance.

As an aside, military units on field ops rarely salute anyone. Saluting has the habit of indicating who is in charge of an operation. Since everyone is expected to know everyone else, there is no need for saluting. Proper respect is paid with "sir" and everyone keeps it moving. During live military operations, a salute can give away a commanding officer who might be promptly shot by a sniper (or perhaps in today's military, drone bombed) removing vital intelligence from the theater of war.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

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answered Apr 12 '16 at 14:50

Thaddeus Howze

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I have to disagree. Starfleet personnel don't just not salute on board ship, they don't salute period, even when they're at Starfleet command or when at formal ceremonies. When they do, it's usually done in an ironic way. – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 14:57
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You are free to disagree. I am extrapolating from my own experience as a military person. There are some things I expect even an enlightened military environment might do but having looked at military training over the history of the world, I would suspect even if they barely do it in the Fleet, recruits would be trained to salute for the reasons I stated above. – Thaddeus Howze Apr 12 '16 at 15:20
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Military organisations around the world teach all sorts of things that are deeply uncommon to other military organisations. I fail to see why that wouldn't be the case with Starfleet. – Valorum Apr 12 '16 at 15:29
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This answer seems to me to be valuable speculation on why we might not see much saluting in Star Trek, but it's not any more valid than other speculations, and the quote from Gene Roddenberry himself is of course the best evidence of the real reason behind it. Still, fascinating information worth a +1. – Todd Wilcox Apr 12 '16 at 15:34
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"Only the most strict commanding officers will insist on everyone saluting every time they meet." Utter and complete hogwash. Unless the Army has changed greatly since I got out, any time you are outside and encounter an officer, you salute them. Period. – Kevin Apr 12 '16 at 16:23
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while interesting US military info is here - there is precious little fact as it relates to Star Trek. I think this answer is speculation at best and wildly misses the mark at worst. As an example: one needs just look at Riker and how he openly and often blatantly fraternizes with subordinates to see that comparing Starfleet to current military is a fool's errand. – NKCampbell Apr 12 '16 at 16:35
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The Army may insist on it but the Navy did not. It would depend on where we were at the time, @Kevin. – Thaddeus Howze Apr 12 '16 at 16:55
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The part I find most humorous is the contention about the habits of a faux military organization, created by a real military officer, who decided things might be different in the future but because there is little more than fragments on his perspective, people get bent out of shape over it. Honestly, the question cannot effectively be answered, unless we were able to go to the future and ask. Otherwise, being upset over it is less than ideal. – Thaddeus Howze Apr 12 '16 at 16:57
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@Kevin "Utter and complete hogwash" is a rather rude thing to say, especially to a man who, like you, is speaking from personal experience in the military. – Rand al'Thor Apr 12 '16 at 21:51
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Fragment though it may be, "we will not see saluting" written by the creator of the franchise in a guide to writing Star Trek episodes seems pretty conclusive as to why they rarely salute. And the question at hand is not even "why?", it's "do they ever?" which of course has a definite answer that has been essentially provided. – Todd Wilcox Apr 13 '16 at 04:06
@Randal'Thor Trust me,compared to how we normally talk to each other, that was the epitome of civility. – Kevin Apr 13 '16 at 04:24
@ThaddeusHowze those "fragments" are the established facts. Other answers draw on the established facts. This answer is interesting, draws on your experience, and contradicts all of the facts we have. – hobbs Apr 13 '16 at 22:03

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 13 '16 at 19:26

Somewhere on my large shelf of books is one from approximately the time of The Motion Picture which has a lot of cast and writer interviews about the show. It includes a section where Gene Roddenberry is explaining that the culture of Starfleet sees all individuals as social equals, even if they are of different ranks in the command structure. As such, salutes are never required. Nor is standing when an officer enters the room, or any other such military traditions. Which is not to say that it's forbidden, just that it's a personal choice on the part of the performer, not a requirement.

I honestly can't think of all that many places in any of the series or movies where any kind of salute is offered. The ones that do occur tend to be either ironic, or a sign of deep, personal respect. There are a few places where young, eager-to-please officers jump to their feet, but it's very much a culture where such things are optional and most people opt not to.

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 13 '16 at 20:54

In the U.S. services of naval tradition (USMC, Navy, Coast Guard) you do not (except for very specific circumstances) salute indoors or while actively in the field, and never without a cover (hat) on.

The nature of Star Trek means that 99.9% of the time they will be indoors or in the field (since when traveling about space in a spaceship you'd either be in the spaceship or actively in the field on a planet). Not to mention the dress of the typical uniforms they wear does not have a cover anyway (probably due to the fact that on a ship you are always indoors, and naval services do not wear covers indoors...so covers probably just stopped being normal at all for most crew).

So even if Starfleet protocol were supposed to be highly based on U.S. naval service tradition you still might not ever see much saluting on the show. And given that information it seems reasonable to assume that saluting has probably fallen into nearly solely a ceremonial/historical role in the Starfleet universe.

It's not that you don't see much, it's that you don't see any — Valorum, Nov 06 '22 at 10:43

Do Starfleet personnel ever salute each other?

Do Starfleet crewmembers and officers ever salute each other?

4 Answers4

Starfleet personnel don't salute each other, even on formal occasions.

Infrequently. Despite what most people think about the military, as an former military member, we don't actually spend a whole lot of time saluting each other.