I have a retired Sgt Major here who insists on every former military person, regardless of rank at separation/retirement address him as such. He's the Maintenance Dept supervisor.
I did a similar thing to what Albie does. I'll call you Sgt Major when you start calling me Lieutenant Commander/Sir. "BUT I'M A SGT MAJOR". "Then you should have no problems following the order of a Commissioned Officer" and I walked out of the office.
Put a stop to that crap real quick.