I don't understand the confusion, but I was a midshipman when I first saw the film. The two graduates who mean the most to Foley are Mayo and Seegar; Seegar because she wouldn't quit and overcame the one thing holding her back, Mayo because he proved Foley wrong and showed that he was capable of being a leader and a team player. Foley is correct Seegar for calling him "sir" and reminding her to call him by his rank.
The tradition is that a newly commissioned officer presents a silver dollar to the first enlisted person to salute them. It is customary to request a certain person be there to make that salute. In these situations, the Drill Instructor is often the person chosen, but it doesn't have to be them. I chose our Yeoman Chief Petty Officer, at my NROTC unit, mainly because I had known him since my freshman year, where all of the other chiefs were recent arrivals. I would have chosen my brother, but he had not officially enlisted at his point and completed basic training. He would do that after I went off to my first ship. One of my classmates chose her brother, who was an enlisted Marine.
The real hard part was finding a place to get silver dollars, since the Susan B Anthony dollars had replaced the Eisenhower dollar. My dad had one, but it was from the 1920's and actually had silver content and was worth more than a dollar. I was finally able to get one from a nearby bank.
I got to turn the tables on my brother, though. I attended his graduation from Nuclear Power School. He had to salute me when I came up to greet him, after the ceremony. He's two years older than me (with degree), but enlisted instead of applying to a commissioning program (that's what happens when you listen to recruiters and not your midshipman brother, who knows a lie when he hears it). I know it irked him. He later ended up homeported on the same base. I had to go down to his sub to get something from him. He was forced to salute me on the quarterdeck, to the amusement of his peers (especially since he was older than me and many of them). I had a pretty big grin that time. He was a jerk growing up.
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