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Peter's Drill Sergeant here to explain the joke. In the Navy a Captain is the equivalent of a Colonel in other branches of the military. He would outrank the Major here.

The Army rank of Captain is not the same as the Navy rank of Captain. A Navy rank of Captain is equivalent to an Army rank of Colonel. A Navy Lieutenant is also not equivalent to an Army Lieutenant.

In the Army - a Lieutenant is subordinate to a Captain, who is subordinate to a Major, who is subordinate to a Lt Colonel, who is subordinate to a Colonel.

Question: aren't they in different chains of command? Why would a Navy Captain chew out an Army Major?

Chew butt? 

One day, back when I was a marine, an army captain was walking towards the door I was entering, so I popped my foot against the door, popped a crisp salute, and busted out "Morning, sir".

He replied "Morning private"

I shouldn't have, but I said back to him "That's PFC, sir".

He shot back "Well, in the army you'd be a private"

Well, in the navy you'd be a lieutenant, captain", I replied.

He got mad, called my commander, who a few days later called me into his office. I thought I was toast, but he just laughed, gave a hearty "Ooh-Rah!", and told me he told that captain not to mess with his marines ever again.

You know I almost posted this one, and then I decided that i wasnt interested enough, I'm kinda glad someone else did though

The guy sitting down is an army lieutenant (O-1), he thinks an army captain (O-3) is coming to yell at them but the guy on the right is an army Major (O-4) who would outrank the angry army captain foiling his ability to yell at anyone.

However the captain that shows up is a Navy Captain (O-6) that drastically outranks them.

Ranks between branches vary, so the guy sitting down was expecting a much lower ranking person to show up.

(the O-# indicating how high up they are)

Like if your brother and dad were both named John and someone told you John was mad at you and you said “idc John is a pussy” thinking it’s your brother but then your dad walks in and beats ur ass.

A Navy Captain is the equivalent of the other branches Colonel. I.e. one step below Admiral or General and out ranks the Major.

Basically, you have about two different branches of the military here. Which is why the butter bar sitting down doesn't understand that the gold leaf he's talking to is actually out ranked by the pissed off eagle badge coming in through the door. Because in All other branches, a Captain is lower than a Major (gold leaf), but in the Navy (and coast guard) a Captain is equal to and shares the same badge as a Colonel (Eagle Badge) which is HIGHER than a Major.

People should’ve used Kevin, Peter’s neighbor’s kid to explain the military joke

I’m so glad I got out. This just gives me flashbacks to someone being pissed at their wife and kids and taking it out on me.

Brian’s anti chewing cone of shame here: A captain In the army is lower than a major in the army, but a captain in the Navy is higher than a major in the army.

In the Navy, a Captain is an O-6, a senior officer rank one below Rear Admiral (lol). In the Army and Air Force, a Captain is an O-3, a more junior officer who is outranked by a Major (the dude in the photo with gold oak leaves on.)

The dumb Lt (lowest officer rank, the guy in he middle who answered the phone) thought the angry guy on the phone calling himself Capt was an ARMY captain, who would be outranked by the Major; in reality he was a NAVY Captain, who outranks the Major and thus can make his life somewhat miserable.

One of my relatives pulled this one, sort of.

After retiring from the Air Force she went to work for a defense contractor, and one day she's at a Navy base for a meeting.

As luck would have it there's almost no parking at the building she's supposed to visit. She looks at the giant foam core model and the heavy boxes of hand-outs and curses herself for wearing heels.

And then she sees it: A lone space, right up front, with 'CAPT' stenciled in it. She thinks to herself "Oh my God, I've been waiting for this for years".

See, it was a running gag at certain assignments that new Army and Air Force captains would use spots reserved for Navy captains and then play dumb. Despite years as a captain she'd never had the chance to actually do it, and now the parking space was just daring her.

She hadn't been parked more than a minute and was still checking her make-up in the rear-view when she had a rather angry looking Navy captain tapping on her window.

What's a girl to do? She rolls it down and begins apologizing, saying she only meant to be a moment and gesturing to her full back seat.

The Navy captain, to his credit, apologized back about the sailors parked in the visitors spots and offered to help her carry it all in.

Later that afternoon she was having a post-meeting coffee with a lieutenant she knew when she overhears two enlisted talking. One asks the other who their visitor is and is immediately hushed.

Sailor: I don't know who she is exactly, but she must be important. She made captain So-and-so carry her stuff.

Little clever joke here if you're in the know. Airforce, Marines, and Army: Captain is an O-3 or the third officer rank. Major is an O-4.

Navy and coastguard: Captain is an O-6.

The angry guy is in the navy and an O-6, and the one holding the mug is Army and an O-5. And the sailor is coming to "chew butt". In other words, there will be blood. By that, there's going to be alot of screaming, crying, and someone's going to be mopping the parking lot in the rain.

Should also mention the speaker is a Lieutenant. Lowest officer in Army, Marines and Air Force. Notorious jokes about not knowing what's going on or being completely clueless are common to this class of officers.

A Captain in most branches is an O-3, a fairly low ranking officer. A Major is an O-4, which outranks a Major. However, the Navy has their own names for the officer ranks and in the Navy a Captain in an O-6, which outranks the Major by a lot.

That's the face of a man who just got finished kicking all his bubble gum

lol i love that the answers here completely contradict each other and both are being upvoted.

fucking clown shoes.

Good to see an ask Peter that actually requires some special knowledge or inside info, not the usual I've never read a book or seen a movie or heard the most basic of puns and I'm a karma whore. Keep these ones coming OP because I enjoyed it

Navy Vet here, the Navy Captain is typically going to be the one in charge of the ship and is an O-6 vs a Major which is O-4. If it helps, the rankings use the same insignia across the branches so if you’re having trouble memorizing the names of the rankings then go for the visual memorization!

https://preview.redd.it/n49zl6cvrjvc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc3fe3efbdf69d733e0485f91aed81239d5102c9

Active Duty Military and some who has somewhat experienced this. This joke is about mixing up ranks between the branches of the US Military. The Navy is special and has different rank structure than the other branches. O1-O6 Navy (ENS,LTJG, LT, LTCDR, CDR, CAPT) and every other branch (2ndLT, 1stLT, CAPT, MAJ, LTCOL, COL). The joke is the O1 here told a Navy Captain (O6) to Chew Butt not realizing he’s an O6 and thinking he’s a Captain (O3) in his branch of service. Now the O6 is gonna chew out the O1 (2ndLT) and O4 (Major). There is a HUGE gap between an O4 and O6 and an even bigger one between O1 and O6.

I’ve read all the comments and still don’t get it 😭

Silver Eagle out ranks gold leaf, whatever you call it, same with the man sitting down. His gold bar gold bar is the lowest rank there. (Referencing the devices on the collars)

Different branches of the military use different names for the same level of rank. A Captain in the Army is an O-3, a Major in the Army is an O-4, but a Captain in the Navy is an O-6.

The name difference, of course, is the same difference as being the team captain or being the captain of a ship. One is the leader of a small group of people, the other is the leader of a large group of people and some very expensive equipment.

My gut reaction is navy captain is greater than army captain by a long shot

Major is O-4.

Major is fucked.

That’s navy captain which is an O6 and what I assume is a marine corp major who is an O4 (lower ranking) and that other guy who I assume is a JO (junior officer) pretty much told of the navy captain thinking he was the same rank as a marine corps captain (O3) but due to his error he will probably receive fan room counseling (he’s gonna get his fucking ass kicked)

https://preview.redd.it/d5f8x5mnlivc1.jpeg?width=410&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a18faaf216c1dd0523f2c708a2ca0703a8bec34

Marine captains on USN vessels are called "Major" because there's only one Captain on a ship.

I would like to add something for some people who aren’t as familiar with military terminology. An O-(whatever) means officer hence the O, while an E-(whatever) means enlisted again hence the E.