Final edit B5 commisioned ranks and positions

As far as I can tell based on watching episodes, the chain of command works (in terms of positions) as follows:

General
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant
so orders have to go through the commander to get to the lieutenant

I'm making an educated guess that ranks below general, based on episodes "Survivors" and "Spider in the Web" are:
Major
Captain
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Sergeant
Lieutenant
as a partial list of Psi Corps ranks is given in "Spider in the Web" (those underlined), bearing in mind that sometimes to avoid confusion Lieutenant Commander is just Lieutenant (as in most navies), Sergeant is First Lieutenant and Lieutenant is Second Lieutenant (as in most armies)

Also, junior officers always seem to be referred to as lieutenant and, other than Major Ed Ryan, current and former starship commanders are always referred to as captain. Majors Ryan and Kemmer ( "Survivors") are described as aides to a general; the rank could be a position but this seems unlikely.
It would be easy to assume something along the lines of using staff ranks for army (i.e., Brigadier General to Five Star General) for the admiralty and navy ranks for all other commissioned officers (Captain down to ensign) but this is contradicted by the use of characters having the rank of colonel.

Garibaldi confirms the existence of admirals even though they are never seen but perhaps in the field they are referred to as either general or captain.

Update:  It does seem that Earth Force officers hold two ranks simultaneously. Corwin is referred to as a Second Lieutenant in season two but he is promoted from Lieutenant (junior grade) to full Lieutenant. Takeshima is described as both a Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Commander.
I can't say that major is a position given to a general's aide because of the character Major Krantz.
I think this can be clarified if we consider Earth Force to be two organisations: the space navy and off-world security. The position of captain exists in title only.

So for the navy*:
Admiral (one to five star)
then
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Major*
Lieutenant
Lieutenant (junior grade)
Ensign

 

and infantry/security:
General (one to five star)
then
Colonel
Major
Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Sergeant
Lieutenant

I think it best if we assume that in general the latter ranks are generally used. Therefore a former star ship captain, Lochley, can be promoted to Colonel and a Colonel can outrank a Commander.

*The only discrepancy could be in the first series, which implies that the ranking systems used refer to that used by the Royal Air Force and most Armies, hence "Major" Kemmer.

From series two the following system could be used for the main ranks, with naval terminology only used aboard warships
General etc.
Colonel
=Captain (Navy)

Lieutenant Colonel
=Commander/(either rank referred to as) Major (with comparison to separate branches of the service)

Commander
=Lieutenant Commander (Navy)

Lieutenant Commander
=Lieutenant (Navy)

First Lieutenant
=Lieutenant (junior grade) (Navy)
(or Gunnery Sergeant in some cases)

Second Lieutenant=Ensign (Navy)
(or Pilot Officer, especially in series one referring to Sinclair's Earth Force career)


 

Jack Sparks

Thought I'd post a review of "The Last Days of Jack Sparks".....on Legal Sméagol. Ha ha.
#JackSparks
Just finished named novel, couldn't help thinking of the following lyrics. Really sums the novel up, no spoilers, but the book ends up being a supernatural odyssey of self-harm and time-travelling ghosts. Or is it?

Some television programmes and video games more scientifically realistic than Star Trek:


in no particular order....Space: Above and Beyond
Babylon 5
Pokémon (seriously!)
Doctor Who
Stargate:SG-1

Star Wars

For the record I hope for the three or more new Star Wars films Disney provides new characters and adds to the story.

However I wonder, tho a lot of fans may be pissed off by this, what if they had a Yuuzhan Vong/Courtship of Princess Leia arc? Basically they'd reference or introduce the Yuuzhan Vong as invading the galaxy but the first film will mainly be a version of "The Courtship of Princess Leia", albeit Leia is a fully trained Jedi, it's 40 years later to account for the actors aging, and she never married or had children with Han Solo. Han could be say a Grand Admiral or a Senator, or even the President of the New Republic/Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

The next one, well I had the idea of doing a Yoda movie where basically his home planet/people are all (or were all cos it'd be set 900 odd years earlier) brainwashed by the Yuuzhan Vong and he ends up destroying them to save the rest of the galaxy. Or summat.

Third one: The Boba Fett movie, ending with his activities during the Yuuzhan Vong war.

Though to be honest I think they should have new characters and enemies.

Copyright me 2013

Babylon 5: The Sinclair Years 
2258
Week 52: Shadows assassinate President Santiago

2259
Week 26: Major Krantz joins the Rangers and sends his Second to Babylon 5 to recruit and train some of the Lurkers. Garibaldi is made aware of this and is sworn to secrecy, Ivanova finds out anyway but does not reveal this until the rest of the command staff are made aware of the Rangers and Shadows

Week 42: Delenn takes command of the Rangers after dissolving the Grey Council and orders the design and construction of the White Star fleet

Week 52: Fall of Narn; Kosh reveals himself to save Sinclair from a Centauri assassin

2260 
Week One:  Shadows begin attacking League worlds

Week Eleven: Garibaldi recieves a communique from Talia Winters on Mars

Week Twelve: Ivanova recieves a distress signal from a future Babylon 5

Week Thirteen: All civilian and military communications to Babylon 5 from Earth cease

Week Fourteen: No more transports arrive at Babylon 5 from the Solar System

Week Fifteen: EarthForce considers Babylon 5 station destroyed

Week Sixteen: Garibaldi and Lyta Alexander arrive at Mars. It's a trap conceived by Psi Corps. Garibaldi is captured, Lyta barely escapes back to Babylon 5.

Week Seventeen: Sinclair and Zathras take Babylon 4 back one thousand years. Before this he tells Sinclair he is the One Who Was, he tells Delenn she is the One Who Is and he tells Ivanova she is the One Who Will Be

Week Thirty:  Marcus Cole arrives at Babylon 5 in White Star One. He informs Delenn that the Warrior Caste has seceded from the Minbari Federation. Lieutenant-Commander Ivanova, Zack Allan, Lyta Alexander and Doctor Franklin are told about the Rangers and the Shadows. Zack takes over Security in Garibaldi's absence. Ivanova promotes herself to Commander and takes over overall control of Babylon 5.

Week Thirty-Two: With the aid of the Mars Resistance and the Rangers who smuggle them to Mars, Lyta and Franklin successfully rescue Talia.

Week Thirty-Three: Kosh restores Talia's original personality  

Week Forty: The beginnings of a Telepath Colony on Babylon 5. Lurkers and others are recruited by security and maintenance with the absence of new recruits from Earth.

Week Fifty : Citizen G'kar is captured on Narn and brought to Centauri Prime.

Week  Fifty-Two:  Telepath War Round One: Psi Cops via their dupes seize control of a dozen Earth warships, several outposts and all colonies beyond Mars, including Io.

2261
Week One:  Clark isolates Earth and Mars from the rest of the Earth Alliance and declares Martial Law 

Week Two: Lyta returns to Mars to organise resistance against the Psi Corps

Week Four: The Drakh begin to attack League Worlds randomly using Centauri Prime as a base

Week Fifteen: The EAS Agamenmon, under the command of John Sheridan, recieves a distress signal apparently from Babylon 4.

Week Thirty-Five: Fall of Centauri Prime. Shadows install Londo Mollari as puppet Emperor. Unknown to Mollari they establish a base on Centauri Prime.

Week Forty: Garibaldi returns to Babylon 5

Week Fifty-One: Minbari renegades begin attacking Earth Alliance outposts

Week Fifty-Two: Realising his mistake but unable to challenge the Shadows or Morden directly, Londo arranges for G'kar to escape back to Babylon 5 to warn Ivanova about the Shadows. In return he ends the occupation of Narn.

2262
Week One: Garibaldi takes over Ivanova's role in Command and Control.

Week Ten: Telepath War Round  Two; Garibaldi betrays Ivanova by allowing a covert team of Psi Cops aboard to destroy the Telepath Colony. Shadows, who came alongside the Psi Corps insertion, murder Kosh. Vorlons retaliate by attacking planets associated with the Shadows or hiding Shadow vessels.

Week Eleven: Ambassador G'kar donates 300 Narns to help with station security. Lyta returns to Babylon 5.

Weeks Twenty to Thirty: Telepath War Round Three;  Open conflict between ships loyal to Clark or the Psi Corps and those opposing

Week Forty : Vorlons reveal their Planet Killers

Week Forty-One: Ivanova and Delenn order the Rangers to seek out the remaining First Ones.

Week Forty-Four: Lyta removes the Psi Corps conditioning from Garibaldi

Week Forty-Two: Telepath War Round Four; Psi Corps military and research bases on Earth and Mars are destroyed.

Week Forty-Five: Valen returns to Minbar and unites the castes. Delenn sets up new Interstellar Alliance;  Minbari Federation, Epsilon 3, Narn Regime and Babylon 5 are founding members. The former League worlds join later.

Week Forty-Seven: Earth anti-Clark forces join with Minbari Warrior Caste forces in destroying Vorlon Planet Killer

Week Forty-Eight: First Ones destroy second Planet Killer.

Week Fifty: Agamenmon tows Babylon 4 to the Epsilon system; Ivanova takes over Rangers for President Delenn using the station as a base. Other races are permitted to join the Rangers.

Week Fifty-One: Sinclair-Valen resumes command of Babylon 5 just as the Shadow Death Cloud approaches the Epsilon System.

2263
Week One: To end the Shadow War once and for all Lyta destroys Z'ha'dum by turning its defenses against itself, after commandeering a White Star for the purpose. Drall dismantles the Death Cloud after the Shadows shut it down.

Week Two: Garibaldi, Franklin and Talia kidnap President Clark; being smuggled in and out of EarthDome by General Hague. The connections between Clark, the Psi Corps and the Shadows are revealed in public.

Week Four: First Ones convince Vorlons to leave galaxy; beginning of Third Age of Mankind

Week Thirty: The reconstituted Earth Senate removes bans on telepaths serving in the military and dismantles the resettlement camps for rouge telepaths. There are still stiff penalties against unauthorised scans.

Weeks Thirty to Forty: Sporadic attacks by Clark loyalists against Alliance members

Week Forty: Shadow tech illegally held by elements of the Earth Alliance is confiscated and destroyed.

Week Fifty: The Earth Alliance joins the Interstellar Alliance

2264
John Sheridan elected President of the Earth Alliance

2265
The Psi Corps is officially disbanded and all dupes reprogrammed by order of the EA Senate but Lyta Alexander is exiled from the Earth Alliance along with other resistance leaders. Eventually a small group of followers settle on Vorlon after dismantling the local jumpgate to avoid retaliation.

2272
G'kar elected Interstellar Alliance President

2278
Mollari and G'kar kill each other to avoid Shadow retribution. On Mollari's death, 100 fusion bombs connected to Mollari's central nervous system as a dead man's switch, detonate destroying all remaining Shadow vessels and thralls. Vir Cotto crowned Emperor. Execution of Morden. Centauri Republic joins IA.

STAR TREK 25

The Federation and Star Trek in the Twenty-Fifth Century, a work of fan fiction.

100 years after the climax of the Dominion War, Will Riker is still alive and begins his million-year contest with Q and Abdel.

Q is Picard's nemesis, admittedly very much based on/ripped off of Mr Mxyplik [sic] and Batmite (of DC fame). Riker finds out that Q manipulated the Borg into their repeat attempts to assimilate Humanity, due to the Q Continuum's belief that Mankind will overtake them in evolutionary development (admittedly this takes off Childhood's End but the Borg being manipulated is my idea).

Cardassia Prime is still under joint Federation and Klingon occupation, with (the) Cardassians able to become Federation citizens only through joining Starfleet or other government organisations.

This is a Federation that is showing more of its dark side.

Many Federation citizens are openly expressing their wishes to join the Borg Collective, now that its Queen has been overthrown after a failed attempt to assimilate now-Admiral Riker.

Many 'Borgies' are arrested, charged with treason and sent to Federation penal colonies. Protesting at this, many Federation planets and colonies secede while others bar their citizens from joining Starfleet.

Starfleet itself is now generally concerned with carrying out anti-smuggling operations and arms embargoes.

A descendant of Ambassador Spock is now the Praetor of the newly-formed Vulcan-Romulan-Reman Alliance, which is now part of the Federation. However, the Romulan fleet is still intact and Remans are barred from being Federation citizens unless they join Starfleet.

Starfleet officers often trade places with their Romulan counterparts while Vulcans can be officers in both militaries and all starships now have 'Armour' (i.e. from the risible 'Voyager' finale) and cloaking technology and can thus effectively be shielded while cloaked.

A 'Dominion Remant' still exists with the Founders themselves joining the UFP as a single citizen entity. Many Jem'hadar provide security for both the Federation and the Remnant, which itself is run by a Council of the leaders of its various protectorates, the Vorta having returned to a primitive state and the Jem'hadar being cured of their Ketrasel White addiction (although warriors often carry a supply as sustenance in emergency).

Starfleet has possession of a Queen-era Borg cube, its crew defecting during the Queen's final months, and access to Transwarp. All Starships have a Data as emergency science and engineering head and a 'Zimmerman' as emergency medical head.

The Klingon Empire now includes several former Cardassian and Federation colonies. The Empire is now much more democratic with all members becoming citizens at age 18, although Warriors/the Nobility become citizens at 13 and can inherit property and become officers in the Klingon Defence Forces. Conversely, the Federation mostly consists of autocratic/class-ridden regimes like that on Betazed and others in the Star Trek franchise/canon.

Copyright Neil Thurogood 2012

Ideas and justifications.

1.What if Riker still had the powers of Q, and the Borg are aware of this, but had to refrain from using them for fear of retarding Mankind's development? He does teleport however and remains eternally middle-aged and disease-free.

2.Ideal super-villain: an immortal Human who wishes to die but constantly endangers others trying to end his own life; being 'Abdel' aka the Biblical Adam (you can tell from a lack of a belly-button and his hermaphrodism).

3.Realistically, wouldn't some people want to be Borg as opposed to forceful assimilation especially if suffering from a terminal disease or just old age?

4.Humanity evolves back into amphibians (as implied in 'Voyager') leaving Riker, Abdel and Data as the last Humans.

5.Riker solves the Q-Abdel problem a million years from now by luring him to an uninhabited planet and finally using his powers to destroy them both, thus freeing Humanity and the wider galaxy.

6.Several other fictional universes coalesce into the previous two scenarios, e.g. Watchmen, Space:Above and Beyond, Forever War/Forever Free, Babylon 5 and The X-Files.

Copyright Neil Thurogood 2012

Babylon 5 questions and answers part six.

53.Thought I'd take a shot at estimating the enlisted and non-commissioned ranks,
generally speaking assuming they are based on those currently used by the United States Marines Corps and include the Warrant Officer grades used by the US Army. Those of the Royal Air Force and USAF are also included.

I've placed the Warrant Officer grades (those used by the US Army) ahead of the enlisted ranks somewhat in line with the system used by the British Army (which uses two Warrant Officer grades above the rank of Staff Sergeant) on the basis that these positions would be based on a combination of experience, certain skills (specifically pilot in most cases) and the duty to command enlisted and commissioned personnel from multiple branches of the service. Evidently, Warrant Officers in EarthForce are situated between/below the Commissioned ranks. Based on Navy terminology (e.g. Command Chief Petty Officer), with reference to in-show references to 'sector' and using the term 'Master Sergeant' where appropriate to maintain consistency, a good guestimate is as follows:

Fleet Master Sergeant>Colonel
Force Master Sergeant>Lieutenant Colonel
Sector Master Sergeant>Commander
CWO5>Major
CWO4>Lieutenant
CWO3>Second Lieutenant
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO2)>Ensign
Warrant Officer (WO1)

GROPOS/EarthForce Marines Corps:

CWO5=Command Sergeant Major
CWO4=Sergeant Major
CWO3=Master Gunnery Sergeant
CWO2=Master Sergeant
WO1=Gunnery Sergeant

E4=Staff Sergeant
E3=Sergeant
E2=Private First Class
E1=Private

Navy (outposts/bases):

CWO5=Command Master Sergeant
CWO4=Chief Master Sergeant
CWO3=Senior Master Sergeant
CWO2=Master Sergeant
WO1=Technical Sergeant

E4=Staff Sergeant
E3=Senior Technician
E2=Leading Technician
E1=Technician basic

Air Crew/Starfury support staff:

CWO5=Command Master Sergeant
CWO4=Chief Master Sergeant
CWO3=Senior Master Sergeant
CWO2=Master Sergeant
WO1=Technical Sergeant

E4=Staff Sergeant
E3=Senior Crewman
E2=Leading Crewman
E1=Crewman

Warship/Cruiser:

CWO5=Chief Master Sergeant
CWO4=Master Gunnery Sergeant
CWO3=Gunnery Sergeant
CWO2=Master Sergeant
WO1=Technical Sergeant

E4=Corporal
E3=Specialist
E2=Crewman First Class
E1=Crewman

Non-commissioned Flight Corps:

CWO5=Chief Flight Master Sergeant
CWO4=Senior Flight Master Sergeant
CWO3=Flight Master Sergeant
CWO2=Flight Sergeant
WO1=Staff Sergeant

E4=Corporal
E3=Specialist
E2=Crewman First Class
E1=Crewman

Security:

CWO5=Chief Warrant Officer
CWO4=Chief Warrant Officer
CWO3=Chief Warrant Officer
CWO2=Chief Warrant Officer
WO1=Warrant Officer

E4=Staff Sergeant
E3=Sergeant
E2=Private First Class
E1=Private

54.A note; RAF enlisted ranks: Master Aircrew
Warrant Officer, Flight Sergeant Aircrew,
Flight Sergeant, Chief Technician,
Corporal
Senior Aircraftman
Leading Aircraftman
Aircraftman

USAF: three First Sergeant grades above Staff Sergeant

Along similar lines, perhaps the following grade system can be used as an alternative unified rank and grade system:

CWO4=Command Chief Warrant Officer
CWO3=Senior Chief Warrant Officer
CWO2=Master Chief Warrant Officer
CWO1=Chief Warrant Officer

E9=First Sergeant
E8=Warrant Officer
E7=Master Sergeant
E6=Staff Sergeant
E5=Sergeant
E4=Corporal
E3=Specialist
E2=Private First Class
E1=Private