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Military Ranks (RDM): Difference between revisions

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|  
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| Admiral
| Admiral
| [[Nagala]], [[Corman]] <ref name="adm">'''Admiral''': Corman wears the same admiral insignia as Adama and Cain, but has thick gold piping on his uniform.</ref>
| [[Nagala]], [[Corman]] <ref name="adm">'''Admiral''': Corman wears the same admiral insignia as Adama and Cain, but has thick gold piping on his work uniform.  Given that all other ranks have unique rank insignia, that all senior officer ranks have unique work uniform piping, and that there is no way to tell apart a Rear Admiral from a full Admiral when in dress uniforms (dress uniforms have no piping) it can be speculated that, as has been the case with the ranks of Ensign and Lieutenant Junior Grade, the producers simply decided to use the same insignia for both types of Admiral to reduce prop costs since they will probably never have a Rear Admiral and a full Admiral in dress uniforms in the same shot.  This would explain why a Commander has a set of silver bars while both admiral ranks have a set of silver bars and two sets of gold bars.  It is likely that in reality Rear Admirals would only have one set of gold bars and that only full admirals would have two..</ref>
|-
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| Vice Admiral
| None
|  
|  
| Vice Admiral
| Vice Admiral
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|-  
|-  
| Rear Admiral <ref name="ra">'''Rear Admiral''':
| Rear Admiral <ref name="ra">'''Rear Admiral''':
*In the [[Pegasus (Extended Version)|Extended Version]] of the episode "Pegasus", Adama states "Fleet promoted her to rear admiral over half of the commanders on the list." This could also indicate that commander is not a flag rank in the BSG universe.
*In the [[Pegasus (Extended Version)|Extended Version]] of the episode "Pegasus", Adama states "Fleet promoted her to rear admiral over half of the commanders on the list." This could also indicate that commander is not a flag rank in the BSG universe, however it is more likely that this simply indicates that the Pegasus is the flagship of the group and is commanded by a Rear Admiral.  It's possible that if the fleet was under the command of a Commander (for example if the Admiral died and nobody was promoted to Admiral to replace him or her), that a single star would be shown on Dradis, and likewise if a full Admiral was commanding a battlestar group (for example when Admiral Nagala took personal command of the fleet aboard Battlestar Atlantia following the destruction of Picon Fleet Headquarters in the mini-series), that three stars would be shown.
*A [[:Image:GalPegDradis.JPG|screen capture]] of ''Galactica'''s Dradis shows two stars next to ''Pegasus''. It is speculated that this denotes [[Helena Cain|Cain]] as a two-star admiral.
*A [[:Image:GalPegDradis.JPG|screen capture]] of ''Galactica'''s Dradis shows two stars next to ''Pegasus''. It is speculated that this denotes [[Helena Cain|Cain]] as a two-star admiral.
*When Adama is promoted to admiral in "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]" his new rank insignia are identical to Cain's. They also have two gold bars on the sides, which could be similar to today's two stars of a rear admiral, upper half.
*When Adama is promoted to admiral in "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]" his new rank insignia are identical to Cain's. They also have two gold bars on the sides, which could be similar to today's two stars of a rear admiral, upper half.
*Cain seems to command both her battlestar and its [[Battlestar Group]]. In modern practice, a captain commands only the ship, while a rear admiral is in charge of the Carrier Strike Group.
*Cain seems to command both her battlestar and its [[Battlestar Group]]. In modern practice, a captain commands only the ship, while a rear admiral is in charge of the Carrier Strike Group.
*While Cain wears the traditional Rear Admiral work uniform with gold piping over silver piping, Adama continues to wear his Commander work uniform with red piping over gold piping after his promotion to admiral.  This was most likely done so that the producers didn't have to create a new set of uniforms for him, but could be explained within the plot line as simply being a neccessity caused by the inavailability of Rear Admiral work uniforms on Galactica following the attacks on the colonies.
</ref>
</ref>
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|-
|-
| Commander <ref name="commander">'''Commander:'''  
| Commander <ref name="commander">'''Commander:'''  
*The rank of commander is somewhat unclear and also encompasses duties of both modern admirals and captains. While there are some arguments to be made to equate it with rear admiral, lower half, ''Battlestar Wiki'' chooses to equate it with captain, because this comes closest to describing the command structure on ''Galactica'' with Adama as CO and Tigh as XO.
*The rank of commander is somewhat unclear and also encompasses duties of both modern admirals and captains. The best indications point to it being an intermediate rank between that of Captain and Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy.  The term "Battlestar Group" in the BSG universe has two different meanings.  Formally, a Battlestar Group consists of multiple battlestars and are generally under the overall command of a Rear Admiral, these are the battlestar groups referred to by the BSG numbers at the bottom of each battlestar's seal.  However, the term can also be used to describe a single battlestar and it's support ships when said battlestar is operating on it's own.  In this case the whole group is generally under the command of a Commander who also commands the group's battlestar.  Thus the difference between a U.S. Navy Captain, a Colonial Commander and a Rear Admiral is that a U.S. Navy Captain's command is generally limited to one ship while a Colonial Commander is in charge of a single large capital ship (a battlestar) as well as any support vessels that accompany it and a Rear Admiral commands multiple large capital warships.
*In "[[Resurrection Ship, Part II]]", Roslin states "that someone who commands more than one ship is called an admiral". While she is simplifying matters, this also points to where the Colonials draw the distinction between a commander and an admiral.
*It is also possible that in addition to serving as XOs on battlestars, officer's with the rank of Colonel may also command smaller support vessels attached to battlestars.  That would explain why a Colonel is considered a senior officer while a Major is not even though battlestar XOs tend to be assigned as Majors and then promoted to Colonel only after completion of their first tour of duty as an XO.  This justifies equating the rank of Colonel in the Colonial Fleet with that of Captain in the U.S. Navy.
</ref>
</ref>
|  
|  
| Captain
| None
| [[William Adama]] (Miniseries-Season 2.5)
| [[William Adama]] (Miniseries-Season 2.5)
|-
|-
| Colonel
| Colonel
|  
|  
| Commander
| Captain
| [[Saul Tigh]], [[Jack Fisk]], [[Jurgen Belzen]]
| [[Saul Tigh]], [[Jack Fisk]], [[Jurgen Belzen]]
|-
|-
| Major
| Major
|  
|  
| Lieutenant Commander
| Commander
| [[Jackson Spencer]], [[Cottle|Doctor Cottle]], [[Kendra Shaw]], [[Lee Adama]] (Season 3+)
| [[Jackson Spencer]], [[Cottle|Doctor Cottle]], [[Kendra Shaw]], [[Lee Adama]] (Season 3+)
|-
|-
| Captain
| Captain
|  
|  
| N/A
| Lieutenant Commander
| [[Lee Adama]] (Miniseries-Season 2.5), [[Kara Thrace]] (Season 2.5+), [[Aaron Kelly]], [[Karl Agathon]] (Season 3+)
| [[Lee Adama]] (Miniseries-Season 2.5), [[Kara Thrace]] (Season 2.5+), [[Aaron Kelly]], [[Karl Agathon]] (Season 3+)
|-
|-
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| Petty Officer 2nd Class  
| Petty Officer 2nd Class  
| [[Anastasia Dualla]] (Miniseries-Season 2), [[Cally Henderson]] (Season 3+)
| [[Anastasia Dualla]] (Miniseries-Season 2), [[Cally Henderson]] (Season 3+)
|-
| Petty Officer 3rd Class <ref name="SCPO and PO3">The rank of petty officer, 3rd class is not included in Ron Moore's official statement on Colonial military ranks, but is included here to harmonize fleet and marine ranks since the marine rank of corporal does exist.</ref> || Corporal
| Petty Officer 3rd Class
| [[Venner]] ([[Marines|CMC]])
|-
|-
| class="infoboxheader" colspan="3" align=center style="font-size:95%;" | '''JUNIOR ENLISTED'''
| class="infoboxheader" colspan="3" align=center style="font-size:95%;" | '''JUNIOR ENLISTED'''
|-
|-
| Crewman Specialist<ref>The end credits for "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]" and "[[Revelations]]" list [[Anthony Figurski]] as "specialist, 3rd class". This indicates that there are three subdivisions for this rank. However, the exact rank of other specialists is unclear. Furthermore, only a single rank insignia for specialist has been established so far.</ref> || Lance Corporal
| Crewman Specialist<ref>The end credits for "[[Flight of the Phoenix]]" and "[[Revelations]]" list [[Anthony Figurski]] as "specialist, 3rd class". This indicates that there are three subdivisions for this rank. However, the exact rank of other specialists is unclear. Furthermore, only a single rank insignia for specialist has been established so far.</ref> || Corporal
| Seaman  
| Seaman  
| [[Cally Henderson]] (Miniseries-Season 3), [[Socinus]], [[Prosna]]
| [[Cally Henderson]] (Miniseries-Season 3), [[Socinus]], [[Prosna]], [[Venner]] ([[Marines|CMC]])
|-
|-
| Deckhand || Private First Class
| Deckhand || Private First Class

Revision as of 22:14, 6 August 2008

This rank structure for the Re-imagined Series is derived from the Original Series ranks as mentioned in Ronald D. Moore's blog.

Rank equivalences

These ranks have been speculatively expanded in order to provide a rough rank equivalence with the United States Navy. Many aspects of the following table are speculative.

The following table exists mainly to improve understanding of Colonial ranks for those familiar with the US military and similarly structured organizations. However, while the Colonial Fleet has many parallels with modern armed forces, it also diverges from them in certain places, for example in the duties of commanders and admirals, or the place of the CAG within the ship's hierarchy. Therefore, the emphasis is on placing the ranks in their most appropriate place within the Battlestar Galactica universe, which is why they don't necessarily match perfectly with modern ranks.

The officer ranks of the Colonial Marine Corps have yet to be established on screen or by official sources and thus are not listed here (see Official Statements). The Marine Corps's enlisted ranks seen so far mirror real world ranks.


COLONIAL FLEET RANK COLONIAL MARINE RANK APPROXIMATE US NAVAL RANK EXAMPLE
FLAG OFFICER
Admiral Admiral Nagala, Corman [1]
None Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral [2] Rear Admiral (upper, lower half) Helena Cain, William Adama (Season 2.5+)
COMMISSIONED OFFICER
Commander [3] None William Adama (Miniseries-Season 2.5)
Colonel Captain Saul Tigh, Jack Fisk, Jurgen Belzen
Major Commander Jackson Spencer, Doctor Cottle, Kendra Shaw, Lee Adama (Season 3+)
Captain Lieutenant Commander Lee Adama (Miniseries-Season 2.5), Kara Thrace (Season 2.5+), Aaron Kelly, Karl Agathon (Season 3+)
Lieutenant Lieutenant Kara Thrace (Miniseries-Season 2.5), Karl Agathon (Season 1-2)[4], Terry Burrell[5] (CMC)
Lieutenant Junior Grade [6] Lieutenant Junior Grade Sharon Valerii, Felix Gaeta, Louanne Katraine (Season 1-2)
Ensign Ensign Davis, Diana Seelix (Season 3+)
SENIOR ENLISTED (NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER)
Master Chief Petty Officer Sergeant Major Master Chief Petty Officer Socrata Thrace (CMC, retired)
Chief Petty Officer Gunnery Sergeant Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol (Miniseries-Season 4), Erin Mathias (CMC)
Petty Officer 1st Class Staff Sergeant Petty Officer 1st Class Hadrian (CMC) [7]
Petty Officer 2nd Class Sergeant Petty Officer 2nd Class Anastasia Dualla (Miniseries-Season 2), Cally Henderson (Season 3+)
JUNIOR ENLISTED
Crewman Specialist[8] Corporal Seaman Cally Henderson (Miniseries-Season 3), Socinus, Prosna, Venner (CMC)
Deckhand Private First Class Seaman Apprentice Scott Kelso (CMC)
Recruit Private Seaman Recruit Sykes, Stewart Jaffee (both CMC)

Note

The main premise behind this table is that there is enough circumstantial evidence to equate the rank of commander with captain, and leave rear admiral as such (see footnotes), albeit combining the American split in lower and upper halves. Additionally, the Battlestar Galactica ranks should be equated with ranks that come close to their role in the series. It is also desirable to oppose the ranks of ensign to lieutenant one to one. This leaves the Battlestar Galactica structure with one rank more than the real world US Navy, which makes it necessary to leave one rank as "not available" (N/A). Whether this is major or captain is random. While one could devise a structure that provides a direct equivalence of each rank with a real world counterpart, it should be kept in mind that the Colonial Fleet is a fictional organization and works similar to but not identical to real world navies. The above table was felt to be a reasonable compromise between documenting the Battlestar Galactica universe by itself and analyzing its rank structure in a real world context.

Insignia

Senior Officers
Admiral [1] Rear Admiral [2] Commander Colonel
Junior Officers
-
Major Captain Lieutenant Lieutenant, j.g./Ensign[9]
Non-Commissioned Officers
Chief Petty Officer Petty Officer, 1st Class [7] Petty Officer, 2nd Class
Enlisted Personnel
Crewman Specialist


These pictures were created by Jim Stevenson a.k.a. "137th Gebirg". Insignia for the other ranks have yet to be shown on screen and thus aren't listed here.

Senior Officers' ranks can also be identified by the color of the piping on their uniforms.

Additional Images


Official Statements

  • In a blog entry on February 19, 2005 Ronald Moore gave a little insight into the rank structure of Battlestar Galactica:

"What is the rank structure? It doesn't seem consistant with the Navy."

The rank structure is derived from the original series. I didn't want to change Commander Adama to Captain Adama or Colonel Tigh to Commander Tigh, so I elected to simply embrace the co-mingled nature of the original rank structure. For our internal purposes, we've decided that the ranks are indeed a mixture of naval and army nomenclature and are basically as follows:
Officers:

  • Admiral
  • Commander
  • Colonel
  • Major
  • Captain
  • Lieutenant
  • Lieutenant (junior grade)
  • Ensign

Enlisted:

  • Master Chief Petty Officer
  • Chief Petty Officer
  • Petty Officer (1st, 2nd Class)
  • Specialist
  • Deck Hand
  • Recruit

Just to complicate matters further, there are also Marines aboard Galactica which conform more closely to the traditional enlisted Marine ranks, with Sergeants, Sergeant-Majors (sic), etc. Unresolved is the question of whether the Marine officers would also adhere to the mixed rank structure (which sounds odd) or if they are strictly army equivalents (which makes no sense given that the "Navy" ranks seem oblivious to there being any such distinction). Aren't you glad you asked?

See Also

External Links

A detailed analysis of Battlestar Galactica's uniform devices by Jim Stevenson. Also the source for this article's images.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Admiral: Corman wears the same admiral insignia as Adama and Cain, but has thick gold piping on his work uniform. Given that all other ranks have unique rank insignia, that all senior officer ranks have unique work uniform piping, and that there is no way to tell apart a Rear Admiral from a full Admiral when in dress uniforms (dress uniforms have no piping) it can be speculated that, as has been the case with the ranks of Ensign and Lieutenant Junior Grade, the producers simply decided to use the same insignia for both types of Admiral to reduce prop costs since they will probably never have a Rear Admiral and a full Admiral in dress uniforms in the same shot. This would explain why a Commander has a set of silver bars while both admiral ranks have a set of silver bars and two sets of gold bars. It is likely that in reality Rear Admirals would only have one set of gold bars and that only full admirals would have two..
  2. 2.0 2.1 Rear Admiral:
    • In the Extended Version of the episode "Pegasus", Adama states "Fleet promoted her to rear admiral over half of the commanders on the list." This could also indicate that commander is not a flag rank in the BSG universe, however it is more likely that this simply indicates that the Pegasus is the flagship of the group and is commanded by a Rear Admiral. It's possible that if the fleet was under the command of a Commander (for example if the Admiral died and nobody was promoted to Admiral to replace him or her), that a single star would be shown on Dradis, and likewise if a full Admiral was commanding a battlestar group (for example when Admiral Nagala took personal command of the fleet aboard Battlestar Atlantia following the destruction of Picon Fleet Headquarters in the mini-series), that three stars would be shown.
    • A screen capture of Galactica's Dradis shows two stars next to Pegasus. It is speculated that this denotes Cain as a two-star admiral.
    • When Adama is promoted to admiral in "Resurrection Ship, Part II" his new rank insignia are identical to Cain's. They also have two gold bars on the sides, which could be similar to today's two stars of a rear admiral, upper half.
    • Cain seems to command both her battlestar and its Battlestar Group. In modern practice, a captain commands only the ship, while a rear admiral is in charge of the Carrier Strike Group.
    • While Cain wears the traditional Rear Admiral work uniform with gold piping over silver piping, Adama continues to wear his Commander work uniform with red piping over gold piping after his promotion to admiral. This was most likely done so that the producers didn't have to create a new set of uniforms for him, but could be explained within the plot line as simply being a neccessity caused by the inavailability of Rear Admiral work uniforms on Galactica following the attacks on the colonies.
  3. Commander:
    • The rank of commander is somewhat unclear and also encompasses duties of both modern admirals and captains. The best indications point to it being an intermediate rank between that of Captain and Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy. The term "Battlestar Group" in the BSG universe has two different meanings. Formally, a Battlestar Group consists of multiple battlestars and are generally under the overall command of a Rear Admiral, these are the battlestar groups referred to by the BSG numbers at the bottom of each battlestar's seal. However, the term can also be used to describe a single battlestar and it's support ships when said battlestar is operating on it's own. In this case the whole group is generally under the command of a Commander who also commands the group's battlestar. Thus the difference between a U.S. Navy Captain, a Colonial Commander and a Rear Admiral is that a U.S. Navy Captain's command is generally limited to one ship while a Colonial Commander is in charge of a single large capital ship (a battlestar) as well as any support vessels that accompany it and a Rear Admiral commands multiple large capital warships.
    • It is also possible that in addition to serving as XOs on battlestars, officer's with the rank of Colonel may also command smaller support vessels attached to battlestars. That would explain why a Colonel is considered a senior officer while a Major is not even though battlestar XOs tend to be assigned as Majors and then promoted to Colonel only after completion of their first tour of duty as an XO. This justifies equating the rank of Colonel in the Colonial Fleet with that of Captain in the U.S. Navy.
  4. Helo states his rank as "lieutenant, junior grade" in "33", but he consistently wears the rank insignia of a lieutenant.
  5. Burrell is a marine lieutenant, but where that aligns with fleet rank is indeterminate (see Official Statements)
  6. The rank of lieutenant, junior grade is sometimes written as "junior lieutenant" (or JRLT in short). For example on Boomer's Raptor nameplate in the Miniseries, and Kara Thrace's disciplinary records in "The Son Also Rises".
  7. 7.0 7.1 In "Litmus" Sergeant Hadrian wears insignia listed here as 'petty officer, 1st class'. While she is a Marine, it is possible that some rank insignia are used in both services.
    Her rank is assumed to be 'staff sergeant' which equates to 'petty officer, 1st class'. Placing her one rank lower or higher would create a conflict with the established insignia of 'petty officer, 2nd class' and 'chief petty officer' respectively.
  8. The end credits for "Flight of the Phoenix" and "Revelations" list Anthony Figurski as "specialist, 3rd class". This indicates that there are three subdivisions for this rank. However, the exact rank of other specialists is unclear. Furthermore, only a single rank insignia for specialist has been established so far.
  9. The use of the lieutenant.j.g insignia for the rank of ensign in episodes like "Scar" and "Dirty Hands" is likely just a costuming necessity. While the costuming department doesn't appear to have produced ensign insignia yet, the Colonial Military would probably use different ones to distinguish the ranks.