Quick grammar question

[tanithryudo]

So I'm writing Stargate, and there's a lot of military people, which involves a lot of military forms of address, and I can't seem to keep it consistent. I tried searching google, but I keep getting conflicting answers. So, how does the rules of capitalization work?

Eg.
"Reporting for duty, sir!" said the cadet. - is the "sir" supposed to be capitalized?

"He's reporting for duty, General," said the aide. - is the "General" part supposed to be capitalized?

"Did the colonel say we could shoot?" said the guard. - I'm guessing the "colonel" in this case is not capitalized, right?

Comments

[cashew.insanejournal.com]

Hrm, I think "sir" isn't capitalized unless used as a title of address, such as "Sir Lancelot". So usually it's "Yes, sir" or "Sir, yes, sir!" etc.

Military ranks are used the same way titles are used, that is capitalized when used in with a name ("General Patton", "Colonel Sanders") or when used as a direct address ("You are dismissed, Lieutenant"), but not capitalized when used as a description ("I think the captain just lost it.")

Capitalization rules from Grammar Book. (http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp)

[ossian.insanejournal.com]

In the first example, sir is not capitalized unless you are opening the sentence with it, or using it as part of an honorific.

Second example: ''General'' part is correctly capitalized as it is being used in lieu of a name (a subordinate officer is not supposed to address his superior or commanding officer by his first name).

Third example: No capitalization in this context.