You are preparing for a Navy Ceremony and need to know where to look for guidance. This article is for you.
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Start
US Navy Regulations Chapters 9 and 12 the controlling foundation, but there’s more.
This is the next stop. It gives protocol guidance for Navy official/social events, change of command and retirement ceremonies, seating, invitations, honors support, and ceremonial planning. It will not override Navy Regulations, but it helps interpret how honors fit into actual events. The current DoN issuances page lists OPNAVINST 1710.12 as the Navy’s Social Usage and Protocol Handbook.
This matters because side boys are normally a shipboard/quarterdeck function, and the SORM addresses watchstanding and shipboard organization. Search results from the official DON issuance identify a specific section, 4.23.3 Side Boys, stating that when required, the prescribed number of side boys shall be on deck, in uniform of the day, and mustered. (Navy Secretary)
3. The applicable command instruction or local protocol SOP.
This is where many mistakes happen. Navy Regulations may tell you what is authorized; local instructions often tell you who coordinates it, where the side is tended, who pipes, where side boys form, what uniform is prescribed, and whether the event is shipboard, pier-side, or ashore. A Sailor should ask for the command’s protocol instruction, quarterdeck SOP, retirement/change-of-command checklist, or honors SOP.
4. NTP 13(B), Flags, Pennants, and Customs, if available to them.
It is older, but it has historically been a Navy customs and ceremonies reference. I would treat it as useful background unless the command has a current controlled version or cites it directly. It should not be used to contradict Navy Regulations or current OPNAV guidance. (USHistory)
The Navy training material describes side honors as honors rendered to officers and officials boarding and departing a ship as part of an official visit, consisting of “the proper number of side boys and piping the side.” It also says side boys should remain in dress uniform near the quarterdeck, ready to fall in, and that they form two ranks at the gangway while the Boatswain’s Mate pipes “Over the Side.”
The main doctrinal points
Side boys are for scheduled visits, normally not casual arrivals; the side is piped when side boys are paraded, not as a standalone flourish; side boys are normally paraded from 0800 to sunset, not on Sundays, and not during meals, drills, evolutions, or overhaul periods except for certain civil officials or foreign officers; the number is always even, from two to eight, depending on the person being honored.
Ceremonies Ashore
Navy Regulations Chapter 12 says that at a naval station, the same honors as for an official visit to a ship may be rendered only insofar as practicable and appropriate, but manning the rail, piping the side, and parading side boys are not considered appropriate for a naval station visit unless the senior officer present determines such honors would serve a beneficial purpose. That is the key limiter for ashore ceremonies.
My Practical Answer
- Navy Regulations Chapters 9 and 12 are the starting authority.
- Check OPNAVINST 1710.12 for protocol application
- Check OPNAVINST 3120.32D/SORM for quarterdeck and side-boy procedures
- Check the command’s local protocol or quarterdeck SOP
- Check any event-specific retirement/change-of-command guidance
The major question is not merely ‘does the VIP rate side boys?’ but ‘is this an official visit or formal occasion, is it shipboard or ashore, and has the senior officer present authorized the honors?’