Why do Ex-Military people still use their rank when they leave the armed services?
Apart from Tinow’s very accurate (except for the pensions bit) if maybe somewhat theoretical answer, it’s usually either because they remain proud of that period of their lives (in the case of those who served as officers in the two world wars, they frequently felt it was the ONLY significant thing they had ever taken part in) or because they feel – often mistakenly these days – that there is some social mileage in the fact of their past rank. There has also been a long history, from the English Civil War onwards at least, of bad lads, who were commissioned during a major war, and traded on their rank in a subsequent shady career as con men, fraudsters, smugglers, tax evaders and dodgy professionals, etc. I’ve noticed that some of the ex-officers I’ve liked best (including my Dad) have NEVER used their former rank.
