Rank

[Dr EMH]

I'm a new fan to B5 recently ... after completed watching the Shadow War!

But there are some quesitons I need your input :

Does anyone know how the Earth Aliance ranks look in B5 for ...

1. Captain Sharaton
2. Commander Sinclare (did he promote to captain?)
3. Commander Susan Ebana
4. Chief Galiboni
5. Dr Frankin

Why some starship is commanded by a Major? ... shouldn't the Earth Aliance hierachy follows the navy rather than the army?

Navy rank: Ensign, Lt (j.g.), Lt, Lt Cmdr, Cmdr, Captain, Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral, Fleet Admiral.

Army rank: 2nd Lt, Lt, Captain, Major, Lt Col, Colonel, Brigadier Gen, Major Gen, Lt Gen, General, Field Marshall / Gen of the Army.

[orchidas]

Hey Doc, did you ever get your answers yet?

By the way, it's spelled :

1. Captain Sheridon
2. Commander Sinclair (did he promote to captain?)
3. Commander Susan Ivanova
4. Chief Garibaldi
5. Dr Franklin

[TheEdge]

well, don't think i can answer those questions. where's fishyahoo when you need him ?

though i found some web pages related to this. (although anyone with google can do the same)

EarthForce Rank
Earth Alliance Chain of Command

[Dr EMH]

orchidas said:

Hey Doc, did you ever get your answers yet?

By the way, it's spelled :

1. Captain Sheridon
2. Commander Sinclair (did he promote to captain?)
3. Commander Susan Ivanova
4. Chief Garibaldi
5. Dr Franklin

Thanks, Orc. I'm a NEW B5 fan, u see ... hehe ;D

[Dr EMH]

theedge said:

well, don't think i can answer those questions. where's fishyahoo when you need him ?

though i found some web pages related to this...

Thx 4 the info, theedge.

But no answer to: "Why some starship is commanded by a Major? ... shouldn't the Earth Aliance hierachy follows the navy rather than the army?"

fishyahoo ... yoo hoo ... where r u?

[fishyahoo]

Sorry, I don't get it either... gimme some time to look-up books. Does TheEdge's resources answer proper?

[orchidas]

dremh said:

theedge said:

well, don't think i can answer those questions. where's fishyahoo when you need him ?

though i found some web pages related to this...

Thx 4 the info, theedge.

But no answer to: "Why some starship is commanded by a Major? ... shouldn't the Earth Aliance hierachy follows the navy rather than the army?"

fishyahoo ... yoo hoo ... where r u?

But why not? Earth Alliance is the dominating security force, probably an evolution of the US Army, considering the fact the the location is in US. Plus the Earth Alliance seems to be less of the space-faring type, with explorations done by the non-Earth Alliance groups, but more of scientists who do it.

Let me ask you this, Doc - why SHOULD it follow the navy hierachy? Give us your opinion.

Cheers...

[itzchy]

No, he's right.

Earth Alliance's armed forces (EarthForce) does follow the naval chain of command. Case in point: The Lieutenant in C&C (What was his name again?) got promoted to Lieutenant from Lieutenant (j.g.).

The major was in command of the Alexander because GENERAL Hague died, so he was next in the chain of command. FYI, Major of the ground troops is equivalent to a Lt. Commander, makes perfect sense that he's General Hague's XO (executive officer, second in command) the same way Lt. Commander Ivanova was Cmdr. Sinclair's, and then Captain Sheridan's (SHERIDAN, it's ironic how you correct a guy's spelling and end up typing it wrong yourself) XO.

Ships that are Destroyer/Cruiser class in the current military hierarchy here on Earth itself are typically commanded by Captains or above. Earth Alliance follows the naval hierarchy because space forces are given naval terms due to the similarity of the situations (Starships with naval ships, ground forces don't use anything remotely like starships in the sense that there is never a contained command post that is miles from civilisation and expected to function on its own) and the evolution of EarthForce is of the US ARMED FORCES (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) which has different names for their military ranks but essentially follow the same chain of command. Case in point once again, when Dr. Franklin's father invaded the alien planet (forgot the name) he used MARINES. Marines are essentially shock assault troops which invade a hostile shore/planet via transports. The ARMY then moves in to secure the locations, thus freeing the Marines to move on and assault the next objective. Think of the Marines as your assault force, and the Army as your defensive one. It is rather simplistic, and I apologize for that but I really don't feel like typing out what might amount to several hundred pages here. The Navy acts as the support, bringing in supplies, acting as artillery for the Marines when they invade (shore bombing) and I draw the similarity to starships, which does the same thing for the Space Marines.

And if you still don't believe me, look up America's space program. NASA and the Air Force's expeditions to space are commanded by NAVAL officers, as they are the most experienced people in spending time away from civilisation for long periods of time alone or with a small group of people.

Do feel free to PM me if you want more.