Patricia Drake

Dragon1

Rear Admiral
The CAG from Prophecy holds the top space force position on the TCS Midway, yet holds a naval rank with a naval uniform. All of the information I have read on her history indicates that she was a space force fighter pilot prior to taking the Midway assignment. It is also mentioned that she would one day be prime for general's stars. This doesn't make sense. If she was career space force, why would she transfer her commission to the TCN for a space force post on a carrier?
 
Oh, that changes on WC a lot. Blair, unless I'm wrong, used a SF-colored uniform and yet had the navy rank of commodore.
 
As far as we can see, tranfers between branches are quite common... And I'm sure that LOAF has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the SF boss of the Midway is dressed with TCN colors. Maybe that shade of blue went better with her eyes.
 
As far as we can see, tranfers between branches are quite common... And I'm sure that LOAF has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why the SF boss of the Midway is dressed with TCN colors. Maybe that shade of blue went better with her eyes.

She's not the "SF boss" -- she's a *Commander*, which is a Naval rank. A naval officer wearing a naval uniform? Call the continuity police, because Brazil is on the case!

(Seriously, CAG is a job we've never seen before -- apparently it's a naval position on carriers with more than one fighter wing... she coordinates between multiple Wing Commanders and the ship's captain. Switching between SF and Navy seems pretty common, though...)
 
And we won't mention the fact that the flight crew on the Tarawa was at least partially Navy, not Space Forces, will we?
 
Yeah, why is there so much russian stuff besides the britsh, american, european, african and japanese stuff on WC? I wonder too.
 
Ehehehe, BRazil is 3vil.
Well, I meant it's funny that the officer senior to all the 3 SF Wing Commanders is a Navy gall. Usually in the games and books the WC is the SF equivalent to the ship's capt, even if he heeds his commands if necessary. Several times the WC took the ship over when the cptn died or left. So, Now not only we have THREE WCs, but they're subordinated to a Navy officer that's in turn subordinated to the Cap. Things changed in the hirearchy.
 
Edfilho said:
Ehehehe, BRazil is 3vil.
Well, I meant it's funny that the officer senior to all the 3 SF Wing Commanders is a Navy gall. Usually in the games and books the WC is the SF equivalent to the ship's capt, even if he heeds his commands if necessary. Several times the WC took the ship over when the cptn died or left. So, Now not only we have THREE WCs, but they're subordinated to a Navy officer that's in turn subordinated to the Cap. Things changed in the hirearchy.

Actually, aboard the Navy ship, the captain is ALWAYS senior to any other officers aboard due to Navy tradition and the need to maintain a strong command. Even other captains have to be bumped up in rank (to Commodore), and even Admirals have to take the orders of a ship's Captain while the ship is 'afloat' unless they're in overall command of an operation or task force, or else they've 'raised their flag' on that craft. While Blair and Eisen were equal according to the Officer Ranking chart (O6 for both Colonel and Captain), Eisen was in command.. which is why he got to chew Blair out a bit or at least make strong 'suggestions' to him during the WC3 novel when Blair screwed things up with his pilots.

Patricia Drake's rank of Commander made her an O5 - equivalent in rank to a Lieutenant Colonel in the Space Forces, at least according to a 2664-period rank and org chart. However, Stiletto was an acting 1st Lt, and I don't recall if Manley was a full Colonel or a Lieutenant Colonel. In at least one case, and probably two or three, she did outrank her subordinates. Furthermore, her position gave her authority over the other pilots, though she answered to the Captain. The main change here is that we've got a HUGE carrier and that they've abstracted the chain of command just a little to add one more layer - which makes sense since they've got three wings, rather than the one wing we're used to from WC1-4.

The only times we've actually seen the WC take over the ship was when either no other senior officer was available (End Run and WC4) or when the pilot was in the Navy already (End Run). Otherwise, he answers to the Captain's orders... because he is under the Captain, and subordinate to him in all things, due to Navy tradition.
 
Actually, aboard the Navy ship, the captain is ALWAYS senior to any other officers aboard due to Navy tradition and the need to maintain a strong command. Even other captains have to be bumped up in rank (to Commodore), and even Admirals have to take the orders of a ship's Captain while the ship is 'afloat' unless they're in overall command of an operation or task force, or else they've 'raised their flag' on that craft. While Blair and Eisen were equal according to the Officer Ranking chart (O6 for both Colonel and Captain), Eisen was in command.. which is why he got to chew Blair out a bit or at least make strong 'suggestions' to him during the WC3 novel when Blair screwed things up with his pilots.

Yes, I'm aware of all that, but aside the captain's ultimater power, officially the senior SF guy or girl was always a SF officer. Halcyon probably got his orders from command, and the captain got his and so on.

I understand also the need of an extra layer between outside command and the WCs, because the Three wings obviously need to be coordinated.

What I don't really understand is: why is the top SF officer in the Midway on the TCN? Why isn't the CAG a SF officer? She/he could be a colonel.
 
This is getting weirder than the "creepiest female mechanic" thread the other day...

Other than not having the foggiest about American military ranks and trying to pull for calmer discursive waters, the original question still was why she would have made a career change.
And I'd say: Why not - Svetlana changed from SF to Navy; but can you do that only while you're in the Academy? I don't find any more detail about her background, so we can fire up our imagination, and write a fanfic about how she lost her left eye (always seemed a bit cross-eyed to me) and had to quit flying. But then we're back at Mrs. Creepy again....
 
Well, I see no stress or weirdness here. This is one of those typical WCU conversations we've been having since before the CZ. And personally I think there's nothing weird on a WC character changing his/her career, it happens ALL the time.
 
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