“They can smell BS a mile away.” Apparently they can also smell BO.
Keep it simple.
Obama isn’t yet President.
Press reports he’s in Hawaii. If the powers that be are briefing him in preparation for the Presidency, then it isn’t too surprising he’s at a military base in Hawaii, (although if that were the case, it would probably be at FICPAC or twenty other commands on Hawaii other than Kaneohe).
If he’s been working out at Kaneohe, the Marines have probably already received the scuttlebutt to mind their own business until he’e sworn in as President and to less complicate the duties of the Secret Service.
Obama probably just thought he could play George Bush by showing up at a Mess Hall and expect a warm reception. Except it’s like Police Officer Candidate McMurray being assigned to a beat in downtown Richmond CA, while he’s still at the Acadamy, not yet an officer, pops his head in at the basketball court while some ‘Bloods and ‘Crips’ are taken a breather between head bashing Midnight basketball and says, “Hi there fellow citizens, I just wanted to pop in and say Hey!, while I’m in the neighborhood and look forward to working with you hard working fellows during the next four years,...then pops his head back out before the audience really cares to respond.
He doesn’t yet have any authority, nor is he in the chain of command, so the Marines aren’t disrespecting him. They simply are honoring the existing chain of command by not affording him more respect than that his present rank rates.
I suspect they all felt a little bit on pins and needles knowing any response could be perceived for more than what it was.