Military Ranks (RDM): Difference between revisions
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== Rank equivalencies == | == Rank equivalencies == | ||
These ranks have been speculatively expanded into the following table in order to provide a rough rank equivalency with the United States Navy. Many aspects of the following table | These ranks have been speculatively expanded into the following table in order to provide a rough rank equivalency with the United States Navy. Many aspects of the following table are speculative.<br> Rank equivalencies in real life are usually established only when two organizations with differing rank structures have to work together and establish who outranks whom. As this obviously isn't happening between [[Colonial Fleet]] and the United States military, the following table exists mainly to improve understanding of Colonial ranks for those familiar with the US military. | ||
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Revision as of 21:46, 19 September 2006
This rank structure for the re-imagined series is derived from the original series ranks as mentioned in Ronald D. Moore's blog.
Rank equivalencies
These ranks have been speculatively expanded into the following table in order to provide a rough rank equivalency with the United States Navy. Many aspects of the following table are speculative.
Rank equivalencies in real life are usually established only when two organizations with differing rank structures have to work together and establish who outranks whom. As this obviously isn't happening between Colonial Fleet and the United States military, the following table exists mainly to improve understanding of Colonial ranks for those familiar with the US military.
Insignia
| Senior Officers | |||
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| Colonel | Commander | Rear Admiral [1] | |
| Junior Officers | |||
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| Lieutenant, JG | Lieutenant | Captain | Major |
| Non-Commissioned Officers | |||
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| Petty Officer, 2nd Class | Petty Officer, 1st Class [5] | Chief Petty Officer | |
| Enlisted Personnel | |||
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| 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.
Notes
- 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, 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
- Uniforms (RDM) - Uniforms of the re-imagined series.
- Military Ranks (TOS) - Ranks of the original series.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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.
- 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 equivalent to today's two stars of a Rear Admiral, Upper Half.
- ↑ Commander: The rank of Commander is somwhat unclear, and may in fact cover several rank positions within the Colonial Fleet.
- Given William Adama's apparent seniority (his ability to assume full command of the fleet on hearing of the death of Nagala) it could be argued has been equated to that of Vice-Admiral - thus making him senior enough to take over the role of Fleet Admiral without objection from other battlestar commanders.
- However, given he is the commanding officer of a vessel, it could also be argued that Adama's rank equates to that of a U.S. Navy Captain.
- Equally, Adama's rank could easily equate to that of Commodore on the grounds that he was potentially the commander of the 75th Battlestar Group (assuming Galactica was the flag ship for BSG 75). For the purposes of this rank table, therefore, it is assumed that "Commander" encompasses both the flag and commanding officer roles, giving Adama an equivalent rank of Rear Admiral (Lower Half).
- An in-universe explanation for Adama easily taking command of the fleet, could be that he assumed Galactica was the only remaining fully functional battlestar after he received reports that the others fell victim to electronic malfunctions.
- ↑ Colonel: The equivalence of the rank of Colonel is highly speculative. Colonel Tigh is referred to as Galactica's Executive officer - which would nominally place him on a par with the US Navy rank of Commander. However, if Commander is equal to the USN rank of Rear Admiral (lower) then Colonel would equate with a US Navy Captain or a US Army Colonel.
- ↑ Helo states his rank as "Lieutenant, Junior Grade" in "33", but he consistantly wears the rank insignia of a full Lieutenant.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 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.
