Rachel's Rank

Sylvester

Vice Admiral
Is it ever officially established that Rachel is a Chief Petty Officer? I know she's referred to as "Chief" but that could be just a slang term for the chief of the deck or the maintenance chief. I say this having never read the Wing Commander 3 novelization so I don't know if it was in there or not.

I think it would make more sense if Rachel was a Chief Warrant Officer, which would totally make sense given her career field and responsibilities. It also would make Blair's relationship with her slightly less problematic from a good order and discipline point of view if she's actually an officer vice an enlisted spacer.
 
Yes, her biography in Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy confirms that she's a Chief Petty Officer (E-4 in WC) and has intentionally refused post-war promotions and offers of comission. Rachel and Blair are actually in completely different services and command structures: she's in the Navy and he's in the Space Force. But Blair's other relationships all seem more problematic (Angel, Flint) since in both cases one person reports to the other. But there's probably also a case where that's just allowed in the distant future space military... possibly a tradition that comes from the tedium of expanding out into the galaxy at extremely slow speeds rather than the 20th century water navy.
 
Yes, her biography in Origin's Official Guide to Wing Commander Prophecy confirms that she's a Chief Petty Officer (E-4 in WC) and has intentionally refused post-war promotions and offers of comission. Rachel and Blair are actually in completely different services and command structures: she's in the Navy and he's in the Space Force. But Blair's other relationships all seem more problematic (Angel, Flint) since in both cases one person reports to the other. But there's probably also a case where that's just allowed in the distant future space military... possibly a tradition that comes from the tedium of expanding out into the galaxy at extremely slow speeds rather than the 20th century water navy.
TBH, I'd only see the Angel relation in WC2 as seriously problematic, and that's assuming they remained in the same chain of command for long after the big kiss. For Flint... the war situation was so extreme I doubt anyone cared really much about such major breaches of military protocol as long as they kept racking in the kills since by the time the court martial proceedings started in earnest for those two, the JAG on Earth would likely be a Kilrathi occupation officer.
 
In regards to the relationship with Angel... In the beginning of that relationship Blair is still technically part of the In System Security Service. He may have been on the Concordia and getting his orders from Angel but he was still part of a separate branch, and Tolwyn had the final say on if Blair would stay onboard or get shipped back to Caernarvon Station. It's not until after the attack on K'Tithrak Mang that Tolwyn restores Blairs rank and privilege's. Immediately after this though Blair gets transferred to the Special Operation Branch to assist with the defense of Ghorah Khar and to help track down the Morningstar prototype that Minx stole for Jazz, and the Society of Mandarins.
 
Being in the Navy, fraternization between an officer and an enlisted is a big no-no. I should also point out that it's squadron personnel that the pilots belong to are the ones that repair and maintain aircraft and not ship's company. Wing Commander does take liberties and lets things slide in some weird way since most humans have spent a great deal of life living in a time when fighting Kilrathi was the norm. It is also kind of weird that you can switch from Space Force to Navy as Blair, Hobbes and Bondarevsky have done. It is rather amazing that Blair can go from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel in like one year out of the Academy.
 
Being in the Navy, fraternization between an officer and an enlisted is a big no-no. I should also point out that it's squadron personnel that the pilots belong to are the ones that repair and maintain aircraft and not ship's company. Wing Commander does take liberties and lets things slide in some weird way since most humans have spent a great deal of life living in a time when fighting Kilrathi was the norm. It is also kind of weird that you can switch from Space Force to Navy as Blair, Hobbes and Bondarevsky have done. It is rather amazing that Blair can go from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel in like one year out of the Academy.
For the last part, that kind of stuff happens now and then in warfare. An example would be Philippe de Hautecloque, who was OF-2 in May 1940. After some close calls, he decides to join the Free French in London, gets promoted OF-3 by de Gaulle in July and is literally told to get half of French Africa to join their side. On his way, he notices that the head of the colonial troops where he's going is an OF-4, so he self-promotes to OF-5 and bluffs his way, which works. The rank is confirmed by de Gaulle in November (two ranks in exchange for half a continent is usually considered a good trade). He ends up OF-8 by the end of the war, but it just shows that this kind of thing, well, can happen, and I'm pretty sure one can find similar stuff in all armies involved at the time: do the job well when everyone else is busy, captured, lost or killed and the de facto responsibilities can become de jure.
 
For the last part, that kind of stuff happens now and then in warfare. An example would be Philippe de Hautecloque, who was OF-2 in May 1940. After some close calls, he decides to join the Free French in London, gets promoted OF-3 by de Gaulle in July and is literally told to get half of French Africa to join their side. On his way, he notices that the head of the colonial troops where he's going is an OF-4, so he self-promotes to OF-5 and bluffs his way, which works. The rank is confirmed by de Gaulle in November (two ranks in exchange for half a continent is usually considered a good trade). He ends up OF-8 by the end of the war, but it just shows that this kind of thing, well, can happen, and I'm pretty sure one can find similar stuff in all armies involved at the time: do the job well when everyone else is busy, captured, lost or killed and the de facto responsibilities can become de jure.
A few American examples from WWII include Marine Colonel William Lee. He was a senior NCO serving at an embassy in China when Pearl Harbor happened. When the Japanese attacked, the Marines posted there became some of the first POWs of the war. Upon his return, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in September 1945. He gradually got promoted and became a Lieutenant Colonel in July 1946. That's a promotion every two months. And it wasn't a token promotion for retirement purposes either. He held the rank for the next few years until he retired a full Colonel in 1950.

Actor James Stewart is another example. He enlisted in February 1941 and received his commission in January 1942. And he didn't just serve for publicity purposes. He was a bomber pilot over Europe and became deputy commander of the 2nd Bombardment Wing. He made Colonel in March 1945.

On a side note, the National Archives has been scanning the personnel files of "Persons of Exceptional Prominence". They include Generals, Medal of Honor recipients, and celebrities who served (like Stewart) as well as a few infamous people. They are actually pretty interesting to read. There's just something fascinating about the mundane bureaucracy that was going on at the same time as the war. The files also made me wonder how they were able to keep up with the paperwork of millions of soldiers, sailors and marines without the help of computers.
 
There's just something fascinating about the mundane bureaucracy that was going on at the same time as the war. The files also made me wonder how they were able to keep up with the paperwork of millions of soldiers, sailors and marines without the help of computers.
Yep, that's how you end up legally registering a bear as a soldier.
 
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