Talk:Military Ranks (RDM)/Archive3

Isn't Cally referred to as a Specialist at some point? --Redwall 21:32, 29 August 2005 (EDT)

Definitely. There's a time when the Chief tells the "Specialist" to go do something. -QuintusCinna.

Well, that just fracks up the whole thing then. Not only do we have Cally in the wrong place and we're missing a rank, but it's an Army/Air Force rank for a Fleet member. :( (On the plus side, Specialists are E-4s though IIRC.) --Redwall 21:38, 29 August 2005 (EDT)

Let's be open with the Chief's use of "specialist". It might have been relative to her MOS, though I doubt it. Such as tech specialist, deck specialist, things of that sort. In the military we often called them specialists too, though I do believe, just like you, that the chief was meaning it in the context of rank. --QuintusCinna

Abbreviations

Here is the list of abbreviations I wrote for the ranks here. The enlisted ranks for Marines are still a little rough though, the "all caps" ranks are in the US Army style, others use lower case, eg Master Sergeant: MSG, MSgt.

Officer
O-11 Fleet Admiral No abbrev., FAdm could work
O-10 Admiral Adm
O-9 Vice Admiral VAdm
O-8 Rear Admiral RAdm
O-7 Commander Cdr
O-6 Colonel Col
O-5 Major Maj
O-4 Captain Capt
O-3 Lieutenant Lt
O-2 Lieutenant Junior Grade LtJG
O-1 Ensign Ens

Enlisted
E-9 Master Chief Petty Officer MCPO
E-8 Senior Chief Petty Officer SCPO
E-7 Chief Petty Officer CPO
E-6 Petty Officer 1st Class PO1
E-5 Petty Officer 2nd Class PO2
E-4 Petty Officer 3rd Class PO3
E-3 Crewman CN (based on US Navy Seaman SN)
E-2 Crewman Apprentice CA ("")
E-1 Crewman Recruit CR ("")

Marine
E-9 Sergeant Major SGM
E-8 Senior Master Sergeant/Master Sergeant SMSgt/MSG
E-7 Master Sergeant/Sergeant 1st Class MSG/SFC
E-6 Staff Sergeant SSG
E-5 Sergeant SGT
E-4 Corporal CPL
E-3 Private 1st Class PFC
E-2 Private 2nd Class PV2
E-1 Private Recruit PVR
--Talos 22:33, 14 September 2005 (EDT)

I went ahead and formatted your post, Talos, so that it was easier to read. I don't think I broke anything, did I? Anyway, I think the all-caps ranks look loud. I know that's kind of an artifact of the internet, but still... I'd rather just cap the first letter of a word from an abbreviation. Thus "PFC" is fine because each of those are the first letter of a word. On the other hand, I'd rather "Sgt." than "SGT". Also, "Cpt." and "Cmdr." are more intuitive to me, but I don't know if I made those up or where they came from. --Day 03:03, 15 September 2005 (EDT)

Thanks for the formatting, that's how it was whem I typed it in notepad. I see how that works now. Like I said, the reason they are all caps is that it is based on the Army enlisted structure. I didn't go with the Marine Corps structure because it's missing the two ranks unique to the MC, Lance Corporal and Gunnery Sergeant. Here is a link about the US Military ranks: [1]. There is a link on top to the enlisted ranks. What is interesting is the way the US Navy O-6 rank's head is turned compared to the others. Also, Capt and Cdr are how the USN abbreviates Captain and Commander. --Talos 07:00, 15 September 2005 (EDT)

I wanted to add something else, the CAPS are only used in forms, charts, etc. When written with the name it is normal case, so Hadrian,... Rank: SGT, but ...Sgt. Hadrian. I can't believe I forgot this. I must be slipping. --Talos 14:42, 15 September 2005 (EDT)

Adama ≠ Fleet Admrial

Following was moved from User talk:Joe.Beaudoin by Joe Beaudoin at 21:45, 17 October 2005 (EDT).

Noticed something while browsing and thought I might mention it...

On the page for Military Ranks (RDM), the supposition is that the rank of Commander (i.e. Cdr. Adama) is equivalent to a US Navy Rear Admiral. In my extensive reading, I have found that there are a few reasons why Commander is not equal to a Rear Admiral or Commodore.

Battlestar Groups are roughly analogous to Carrier Battle Groups, the current major organizational format for the US Navy. CBGs are commanded as an entire body by a Rear Admiral Lower Half, while the carrier itself is commanded by a Captain (O-6). It is possible that, while the vessel was in lay-up at the Scorpion Ship Yards, the Pegasus was part of a functioning BSG. This would explain why Adm. Nelena Cain is in command of the Pegasus. Meanwhile, the Galactica was quite alone at the beginning of the mini-series, and on the verge of decommissioning and conversion. Adama's rank could be considered analogous to an O-6 since the Rear Admiral LH in charge of BSG-75 would have moved to another BSG while Commander (Captain) Adama took the Galactica into retirement. In a footnote in an earlier draft of the page, it was stated that since Adama had the authority to assume command of the fleet (Miniseries), he would have to carry flag rank. This was likely a plot device, and it was never necessary to justify it, since no other Colonial Fleet vessel survived (excepting Pegasus, which was most likely already gone). In the modern US Navy, it would be highly improbable for the Admiral in charge of a CBG to assume command of the entire Navy.

S. Price

I expect this would be more useful on Talk:Military Ranks (RDM) than on Joe's talk page. --Peter Farago 21:24, 17 October 2005 (EDT)

How Many Admirals

Although Nagala and Cain are both referred to as simply "admiral", I don't think that's presents strong evidence for them all being of the same rank, distinguished only by seniority. In the real world, both a one-star and four-star Admiral are referred to as simply "Admiral", unless a precise distinction must be made - not the case in the heat of combat, when Nagala's identity and rank would have been quite well known anyway. Furthermore, RDM's comment that Cain was only one promotion up from Commander strongly indicates that there were additional ranks above her.

The methodology of this page to date has been to identify BSG universe ranks with their (rough) NATO-equivalents. This seems sensible to me, since no precise overview of the BSG rank system has been given yet, and it makes sense to evaluate new information with regard to an existing military structure with which the show's creators are familiar. --Peter Farago 15:39, 7 December 2005 (EST)

I agree. I can't imagine a "promotion date" hierarchy working very well for establishing seniority between fleet commanders. I don't know how common inter-fleet operations would be, but there would be a lot more friction if equal ranked admirals were issuing orders to each other. While a twelve-admiral "quorum of twelve" would be a very democratic and fair sounding concept, military thinking tends to prefer hierarchy to committee, especially in cases where decision need to be made quickly. I wonder if Cain's insignia might provide any insight into the ranks (and whether there might be higher ones). --Steelviper 16:28, 7 December 2005 (EST)

We never see Cain referred to as a "rear admiral" either. Looking at the insignia on the page, there's only one Admiral insignia anyway—there is absolutely no evidence anywhere that rear admirals and vice admirals even exist in Battlestar Galactica. Moore himself only mentions one grade of "admiral" in his blog entry. So essentially what's happening is that people are making things up and pretending it's in the canon just to make Colonial Fleet correspond perfectly with the US Navy.

In response to "I can't imagine a "promotion date" hierarchy working very well for establishing seniority between fleet commanders.", the fact is, the real military uses that hierarchy consciously. For instance, the seven US generals and admirals promoted to five star rank in 1944 were deliberately promoted on consecutive days—Leahy in the 15th, Marshall on the 16th, King on the 17th, MacArthur on the 18th, Nimitz on the 19th, Eisenhower on the 20th, and Arnold on the 21st of December—to allow for such a hierarchy.

More importantly, Colonial Fleet was probably a small and shrinking military force anyway, largely because they had nothing to do—the colonies were united and there was no foreign threat for over 40 years. Furthermore, there can't have possibly been that many ships in the fleet anyway, if Galactica and Pegasus were the only survivors. Four grades of admiral exist are necessary when you're the United States Navy and you have 300 ships. We have no evidence Colonial Fleet was that large. Philwelch 22:17, 7 December 2005 (EST)

1.) I can't speak for the source on those insignia myself - did User:Winterfell every say where he found them?

2.) We know there were at least 120 battlestars, next to the US Navy's 12 aircraft carriers, so I have difficulty with that argument.

At which point? The Cylon war was 40 years ago. Philwelch 22:56, 7 December 2005 (EST)

At the time of the Cylon Attack. When Adama tells Starbuck that 30 battlestars have been destroyed, she replies in shock that "that's a quarter of the fleet!". --Peter Farago 23:15, 7 December 2005 (EST)

OK. Philwelch 23:36, 7 December 2005 (EST)

3.) I don't think we're pretending anything is in Canon here, and if it looks that way to you, I don't mind making a clearer distinction. The fact is simply that we don't know much about the Colonial Navy, and that comparing the ranks observed on the show to the ranks of a well-documented force is an instructive exercise. --Peter Farago 22:28, 7 December 2005 (EST)

Your clarifications look good to me, Philwelch. --Peter Farago 22:34, 7 December 2005 (EST)

I don't know if it means anything but in Pegasus, the DRADIS screen after they identify the Pegasus has two stars next to the Peggie's symbol. Maybe she's a two-star admiral. --Talos 22:17, 25 December 2005 (EST)

Here's what I mean. Note the stars (they are more blob-like here but are stars) next to the Pegasus on the right and how the identically targeted Galactica has none. Also, note that the Pegasus can ID the Gal's Vipers but the Galactica doesn't show the four Pegasus Viper's callsigns. --Talos 15:54, 28 December 2005 (EST)

DRADIS displays, Galactica and Pegasus (Pegasus)

Veering off topic, but Kat is apparently flying "Viper 24" in that scene. Have we seen two-digit numbers used for Vipers elsewhere? --Peter Farago 16:08, 28 December 2005 (EST)

Not that I know of. I was wondering about this earlier, maybe the two digit number is shorthand eg. her Viper is 5624NC or something. --Talos 18:34, 28 December 2005 (EST)

I'm assuming this is a moot point here now, but I'll chime in anyway. Of the 120 or so Battlestars that were commissioned at the time of the attacks on the colonies, I'd say we're missing some information to make an educated guess as to who commands what. Starbuck mentioned 'fleet', so I'm working under the assumption that the word 'Battlestar' is used to describe a military ship in general, rather than a specific type of ship (Sort of like the USS in US Navy ships) . That said, I'm guessing there are also more than two classes of Battlestar (Mercury class and whatever class Galactica belongs to can't be the only two),and they're somehow organized into a type of numbered fleet command structure. An Admiral would command the numbered fleet, Commanders would command the smaller support craft and so on down the line. Above the numbered fleets is someone like Admiral Nagala from the mini, who commands the ENTIRE fleet and directly supervises the numbered fleet admirals. In Galactica's case, she was being prepared for decommissioning anyway, so she didn't fall under a numbered fleet, instead reporting directly to Fleet Headquarters on Picon in the mini. I know it's a bit long winded, but hopefully that sort of explains why there aren't 120 or so admirals in the fleet running around giving orders...:) Joemc72 15:07, 18 January 2006 (EST)

I think you're misunderstanding things. A battlestar is a type of ship. It's like saying destroyer, or aircraft carrier, though, so there can be different classes of battlestar. The name comes from what role it's intended to play in combat (a combination, actually, but a carrier being one of those roles). I believe our understanding is that a Battlestar Group (BSG) was a battlestar and its accompanying support fleet, very similar to the US Navy's Carrier Groups. So an admiral would probably actually be in charge of a few BSGs (with a Commander like Adama being in charge of his BSG alone) and you might have an admiral above that controling a group of lower admirals (think CINCLANT or CINCPAC) and you might not... Then you've got Nagala at the top telling everyone what to do. Anyway... a battlestar is not just any combat ship, a BSG is not a group of battlestars (but a group of ships with a battlestar in lead), and, no, all my ranting doesn't get us any closer or farther from the question of how many Admirals the COlonial Fleet had before the Attack. --Day 15:44, 18 January 2006 (EST)

I think you and I just both said the same thing! And I wholeheartedly agree, we're no closer to a solution...Joemc72 15:51, 18 January 2006 (EST)

Insignia

I'd advocate getting rid of the conjectural insignia. It would be nice if we could find actual screen captures to use instead of Winterfell's (admittedly nice looking) drawings, for credibility's sake. --Peter Farago 18:22, 11 December 2005 (EST)

The conjectural ones, yes. The ones that seem to correspond with screen captures we do have, I think it's safe to keep. Is there anyone here with HD captures of the episodes? If so that would help greatly. Philwelch 18:53, 11 December 2005 (EST)

You know what I think? We should have both. I really appriciate the clarity of the illustrations. Let us have both, side-by-side, so that readers may verify the accuracy, but also clearly see what the insigniae are. --Day 21:12, 11 December 2005 (EST)

Speaking of this, Major on down in the officers insignia are very hard to see. Can we get versions with more contrast or better colors or something?--Redwall 22:25, 11 December 2005 (EST)