As can be seen clearly in Act of Contrition, Galactica's combat ability is as limited by her manpower as her mechanical resources. The following is a list of Galactica's current and former Viper pilots, Raptor pilots, and ECOs.
Active[edit]
Vipers[edit]
- Capt. Lee "Apollo" Adama - CAG
- Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
- George "Catman" Birch - briefly promoted from Lieutenant to Captain and CAG after Lee Adama's defection. Current rank unknown. (Home, Part I)
- Lt. Symes - senior pilot after Capt. Lee Adama and Lt. Kara Thrace (Fragged)
- Mueller - Described as a "malcontent" by William Adama. May have been one of the four callsigns above. (Home, Part I)
- "Joker" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
- "Stinger" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
- "Hyper" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
- "Greenback" - Seen on whiteboard in Act of Contrition after the accident.
- Cadet Brendan "Hot Dog" Constanza
- Cadet Louanne "Kat" Katraine
- Three other nuggets
- 11 others (at most). 7 according to scifi.com
Others: As of the Mini-Series, Starbuck informs Cmdr. William Adama that "there are 20 of us climbing the walls down in the Ready Room". This is excluding the 20 members of Ripper's wing already sortied, and Apollo, on escort detail, and probably doesn't include ECOs.
In the mini-series, three Mark VII Vipers are seen in formation inside the ragtag fleet before they hooked up with Galactica. These could have been left behind with the non-FTL capable ships, or could have been carried to Ragnar in other ships as Apollo was.
After the accident in Act of Contrition, Capt. Adama states to Lt. Thrace that there are 21 pilots remaining, by which he probably refers only to the Viper pilots. (If this number includes Raptor pilots and ECOs as well, then it is contradicted by the survival of 2 Raptor ECO's by the time of Fragged, two episodes after an 18-Viper strong sortie in Scattered, at a time when there would have been at most 19 total survivors.) It is difficult to imagine that Sergeant Hadrian made the same distinction when she referred to the thirteen killed and seven injured in the incident, since the most notable victim was actually a Raptor, not a Viper pilot.
Of the 11 present for funeral services, at least one (Crashdown) and possibly two (unidentified #4?) are known to be ECOs. Racetrack and the fourth ECO are clearly not present. Another one (Boomer) and possibly two (unidentified #5 or #7?) are known to be Raptor pilots. This leaves 7, at most 9 Viper pilots depicted in this scene. Adding the 7 injured pilots, we have a total of 14-16 accounted for, meaning 5-7 surviving and uninjured pilots must not have been present for some reason (perhaps performing a Combat Air Patrol). 8 nuggets were then recruited to fill out the ranks, including Kat, Hot Dog and Chuckles, bringing the total to 29.
File:Nuggetextra1.jpg | File:Nuggetextra2.jpg | File:Nuggetextra3.jpg | File:Nuggetextra4.jpg | File:Nuggetextra5.jpg |
Unidentified nuggets from Act of Contrition. #3 (Stepchild) and one other were killed in The Hand of God. |
In The Hand of God, a total of 19 Vipers and 2 Raptors are deployed. Starbuck is inactive at this time due to her knee injury. Fireball, Chuckles, Stepchild and one unidentified pilot are killed in this operation, leaving the total at 25. According to scifi.com, three nuggets are killed and four vipers detroyed in this operation, so we must assume that Stepchild and the unidentified death were among their number.
In Scattered, Galactica fields 18 Vipers. If no other pilots than Flyboy were killed in Valley of Darkness, and with Joe Palladino in the brig, this means Galactica has at most 23 pilots available for duty.
Raptors[edit]
- Lieutenant Amit, pilot of Raptor 1 in Fragged, and pilot for Birch during refuelling operation in Home, Part I
- One other (at least, see Note)
Others: Galactica is able to field six raptors simultaneously in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II. The crews of Raptor 1 and Raptor 3 are accounted for. Boomer then pilots a raptor to the Cylon Basestar in orbit of Kobol, while three Raptors are sent to board Colonial One. These three probably did not need ECOs, given the target's lack of defensive options, but they certainly required pilots.
Note: Apollo is able to fly a Raptor (Resistance), and may have piloted one of the boarding party in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II. This would (awkwardly) mean that he flew himself back to Galactica while under arrest.
ECOs[edit]
- Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson
- Lt. JG. Karl "Helo" Agathon - seen wearing viper wings in Flight of the Phoenix
- Unidentified ECO of Raptor 1 in Fragged.
Note: The survival of two specialist ECOs by the time of Fragged means Apollo's headcount of surviving pilots in Act of Contrition could not have included them.
Others[edit]
Present at funeral services in Act of Contrition are 11 pilots and ECOs, including Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Crashdown. The next ready room scene is in Resistance, and features 20 people in addition to Apollo. Still present from the previous episode are:
- File:Contritionextra2.jpg
- File:Contritionextra6.jpg
- File:Contritionextra3.jpg - Several possible matches?
Note: Cmdr. William "Husker" Adama flew a Viper Mk. II during the Cylon War, and can also pilot a Raptor (as seen in Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down). Col. Saul Tigh was also a Viper pilot of the same vintage, but there is less to suggest he has retained any sort of flight status.
Inactive[edit]
Vipers[edit]
- Lt. Joe "Hammerhead" Palladino - In the brig (Final Cut)
Raptors[edit]
- Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Caprica Copy) - currently incarcerated on Galactica (technically the Caprica-Boomer was never a member of the Colonial Fleet, but she knows how to fly a Raptor).
Deceased[edit]
Twelve (12) others - dead Act of Contrition
Vipers[edit]
- Capt. Jackson "Ripper" Spencer - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
- Lt. "Jolly" Anders - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
- Eighteen (18) other Viper Mk. VII pilots - KIA Mini-Series (First sortie)
- One Mk. II pilot - KIA Mini-Series (Second sortie)
- Seven Mk. II pilots - KIA Mini-Series (Third sortie)
- One Mk. VII pilot - KIA Mini-Series (Third sortie)
- "Fireball" - KIA The Hand of God
- Unidentified Viper pilot (a nugget) - KIA The Hand of God
- Cadet "Stepchild" - KIA The Hand of God
- Cadet "Chuckles" Perry - KIA The Hand of God
- "Flyboy" - KIA Valley of Darkness
Raptors[edit]
- Lt. JG Dwight "Flat Top" Saunders - Dead Act of Contrition
- Unidentified pilot of Raptor 3. - KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
- "Karma" - May be either Unidentified Uninjured Pilot #5 or #7 above. - KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
- Lt. JG Sharon "Boomer" Valerii (Galactica Copy) - Dead Resistance
ECOs[edit]
- Unidentified ECO of Raptor 3. May be the same person as Unidentified Uninjured Pilot #4 above. KIA Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
- Lt. "Crashdown" - KIA Fragged
Status Unknown[edit]
n.b. the majority of these are mentioned-only characters or extras.
Vipers[edit]
- T-Bone - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
- Wedge - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
- Winger - Part of Apollo's squadron in 33, deleted scene. 13 unidentified pilots killed since.
- Beehive - Apollo's wingman in Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down. 1 unidentified Viper pilot killed since (a nugget).
Raptors[edit]
- Stubbs - A Raptor pilot in The Hand of God. 1 unidentified Raptor pilot killed since.
Others[edit]
Present at funeral services in Act of Contrition are 11 pilots and ECOs, including Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer and Crashdown. The next ready room scene is in Resistance, and features 20 people in addition to Apollo. Not present from the previous episode are:
- File:Contritionextra1.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing
- File:Contritionextra4.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been the unidentified ECO of Raptor 3 (), KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
- File:Contritionextra5.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been Karma, KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
- File:Contritionextra7.jpg - Not present at Apollo's briefing. May have been Karma, KIA in Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part I
In the intervening time, one unidentified Viper pilot, one unidentified Raptor pilot, and one unidentified ECO were killed.