Regs, Maniac, and so forth

F

Fenris

Spaceman
Just a nitpick, but does it strike anyone else as unrealistic that Maniac would still be a major in the cockpit by 2681? He would have either been promoted to a desk job or kicked out for excessive time in grade by then.
 
Indeed. Funny how someone with a high kill score doesnt move up in rank, maybe its the way he presents himself, pushy, arrogant and impatient. He didnt have alot of patience with Casy and the "plebs" on the Midway!

RFBurns
 
It's like captain kirk said: (yea i know that this isn't star trek) Never let them promote you to admiral.

If you get promoted to high, you no fly....
 
Well they gave him a squad, and let him oversee the design of the morningstar [or did he I can't remember very well, it's been a long time since I played secret ops].The morningstar was flawed and in a very short time he lost everyone in his unit. Then sometime later when his promotion finally came through, he was fighting with the border worlds.
 
Originally posted by RFBurns
Indeed. Funny how someone with a high kill score doesnt move up in rank, maybe its the way he presents himself, pushy, arrogant and impatient. He didnt have alot of patience with Casy and the "plebs" on the Midway!

RFBurns
Click to expand...

There's a lot more to rank than a high kill score. Here
in DC, I've worked with and known a number of commissioned officers, and this is my impression: Knowing
how to score kills is fine if you want to be a second
lieutenant. However, if you want to be promoted past
about O-3 you need a fair amount of ability as a
staff officer, leadership skill, management skill,
organizational skill, and the ability to make the bureaucracy work for you. At higher ranks, knowledge of
how marines, fighters, helicopters, tanks and logistics
interact to contribute to the effort is necessary to make
intelligent battle plans, and to make best use of all
resources. If you have allies, political skills are
necessary since your allies may not necessarily have the
same goals in mind that you do. Good connections don't hurt at all of course.

Maniac has none of these things. So it's not surprising
to me that he got promoted until he reached the point
where staff work and organizational ability start to
become really important, and then was never promoted
again. He had reached his level of competence.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Edited by pendell on 03-02-2001 at 17:40]
 
Originally posted by Dekkar
The morningstar was flawed ...
Click to expand...

Dumb question: How was the Morningstar flawed? I believe
you, because I've heard it before. But still, when I flew
it, it seemed like a sweet ship! I assume that it,
like the Bearcat, had some hidden flaw that prevented it from becoming a production fighter. What were those flaws?

Respectfully,

Brian P.
 
Why do people always talk about the Morningstar not becoming a production fighter? It *did* become a production fighter -- read your Academy manual. The version we flew in SO2 had a flawed jump drive.

As for Maniac being dismissed for excessive time in grade -- it'd be a tough move, PR wise... he's the only surviving veteran of the Kilrah strike and Confed's highest ranking active ace pilot.
 
In the WC4 novel, there is a reference to the previous CAG of the Lexington being dismissed just after being passed over for Colonel three times. How many times in fifteen years has Marshall been passed over for Colonel? If PR was the reason, he should have been put into a high-profile, but basically harmless, staff position. In the military, it is up or out, no exceptions.
 
Originally posted by pendell
Originally posted by RFBurns
Indeed. Funny how someone with a high kill score doesnt move up in rank, maybe its the way he presents himself, pushy, arrogant and impatient. He didnt have alot of patience with Casy and the "plebs" on the Midway!

RFBurns
Click to expand...

There's a lot more to rank than a high kill score. Here
in DC, I've worked with and known a number of commissioned officers, and this is my impression: Knowing
how to score kills is fine if you want to be a second
lieutenant. However, if you want to be promoted past
about O-3 you need a fair amount of ability as a
staff officer, leadership skill, management skill,
organizational skill, and the ability to make the bureaucracy work for you. At higher ranks, knowledge of
how marines, fighters, helicopters, tanks and logistics
interact to contribute to the effort is necessary to make
intelligent battle plans, and to make best use of all
resources. If you have allies, political skills are
necessary since your allies may not necessarily have the
same goals in mind that you do. Good connections don't hurt at all of course.

Maniac has none of these things. So it's not surprising
to me that he got promoted until he reached the point
where staff work and organizational ability start to
become really important, and then was never promoted
again. He had reached his level of competence.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Edited by pendell on 03-02-2001 at 17:40]
Click to expand...

That was what I was pointing out, it wasnt just his kill score that the brass was looking at. His attitude had alot to do with him not moving up in ranks.

RFBurns
 
The problem with promoting Maniac above Major (which *technically* did happen, mind you) is that he'd have to command something if he were to continue being an active roster pilot.
 
The first time wasn't in combat -- he commanded several test squadrons -- and the second time was really a wing.
 
he has been squadron commander many times. Gold Squadron in WC3, before blair got their he was also the assistant wing commander. He also commanded the moriningstar squadron and I am sure he commanded come squadron in WC4 as well.He also commanded the wing of Black Widows after hawk died in WCP. He has had alot of command experience, it is just that he isn't any good at it. :)
 
Originally posted by pendell [B
Dumb question: How was the Morningstar flawed? I believe
you, because I've heard it before. But still, when I flew
it, it seemed like a sweet ship! I assume that it,
like the Bearcat, had some hidden flaw that prevented it from becoming a production fighter. [/B]
Click to expand...

Now that I think of it, I actually heard that the Morningstar evolved into the Stilleto from Privateer! Hmm...does this mean that (A Confed produced both Morningstar and the Stiletto (B The Morningstar was replaced by the Stiletto, (C The Morningstar was put into production, but as the Stiletto

As for the Bearcat, I don't recall it having any major flaws that kept it from going into production...wasn't it already being mass-produced in WCIV? Anyway, just because we never see the Bearcat again doesn't mean that it had a fatal flaw that kept it from full service. Many ships are one-shot ponies (or something like that :)) - we see them once and never again. What happened to the Crossbow, the Phantom, and yes, the Stiletto? Maybe the Bearcat just suffered the fate of the original WWII Bearcat - developed too late for the war, it languised in peacetime service.

Or am I missing something here?
 
Bob, the bearcat wasn't being mass produced. As far as we know there was only that one facility producing them on a limited basis.
 
Originally posted by Bob McDob
I actually heard that the Morningstar evolved into the Stilleto from Privateer! Hmm...does this mean that (A Confed produced both Morningstar and the Stiletto (B The Morningstar was replaced by the Stiletto, (C The Morningstar was put into production, but as the Stiletto
Click to expand...

lol, that's what i sugested a long Long time ago on the OLD cic cz, amazing that still with you
 
Originally posted by Napoleon
Bob, the bearcat wasn't being mass produced. As far as we know there was only that one facility producing them on a limited basis.
Click to expand...

Where do you people get these things? The Bearcat, too, was an active service fighter. And who the heck decided that the Morningstar and the Stiletto are the same? They have significantly different spaceframes, different stats, different names and completely opposite roles (light fighter versus fighter-bomber).
 
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