Major Maniac

It may have had something to do with his inability to follow orders... Although he was arguably one of the best pilots in the Confederation, I'd be willing to bet he pissed off ALL of his commanding officers. I'm more surprised that he didn't get demoted ;)
 
Maniac is the best pilot confed has. Period. They don't promote you on how well you fly, they promote you on whether you follow the rules or not. There's your answer.
 
Actually he was a major in 2665 (WC2:SO2) while in command of the Wild Eagles Test Pilot Squadron. Losing all but 2 of Confeds new fighter probably didn't please his superiors much so by 2669 (WC3) he was still a major (either by way of demotion/promotion or staying in rank). During WC4, he was promoted to Lt Col and then to full colonel in the BW, rank which was then recognized by Confed. He was given command of either the ship or the flight wing of the TCS Kiev (I can;t remember which but I can't see Maniac as a ships captain :) ) at the end of WC4 and somehow was demoted back to Major by the time Propecy rolled around in 2681. That is the rollercoaster ride thatis Maniac Marshalls career.

C-ya
 
Heh heh . . . I think Marshall must have commanded a ship. When he becomes the SC of the Black Widow squadron, he's all surprised, as if it's his first time. . . even though he commanded the squadron of morningstars . . . but that was a little different. And, apparently, at that point, he was on drugs . . or, at least, he looked like it.
 
overmortal said:
Heh heh . . . I think Marshall must have commanded a ship. When he becomes the SC of the Black Widow squadron, he's all surprised, as if it's his first time. . . even though he commanded the squadron of morningstars . . . but that was a little different.
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Yeah, I was wondering about that too. I think The Maverick development team (with or without Roberts) pretty much disregards a lot of pre WC3 continuity whenever it's convenient.
 
The definitions of Squadron and Wing switched between WC4 and Prophecy. Maniac had previously commanded a squad, he hadn't commanded a wing, like what he had in Prophecy.
 
Don't forget that at least one Maniac himself turned down a promotion - he preferred to become the leader of the Morningstar testpilots instead. He might have made similar choices we don't know of.
 
Also, Maniac's Wild Eagles squadron was a test pilot squadron, not a front line combat squadron like the Black Widows. That means that this was his first time leading a a whole squadron into combat. It's probably also his first time dealing with all of the paperwork and bureaucracy that such a command entails--recall his complaining that Drake will not allow him to launch searches for the ejected pilot that Casey goes after.

As for his rank of Major, I believe that Maniac has been promoted a number of times, but that he pisses somebody off and gets demoted again afterwards. Most militaries of present-day Earth hae a policy known as "up or out"--if anybody gets rejected for promotion more than a set number of times (usually three in the US military), then he/she is automatically up for discharge. By implication this means that anybody who has at least average performance can be expected to get promoted by the second or third time they are reviewed, which means that only those who are incompetent or insubordinate (and Maniac IS insubordinate) get kicked out.
 
And, yet, Maniac lives on in the Confed . . . as a Major. You'd think, like you said, he'd have been discharged for "Excessive time in grade". Kinda like Sparrow in the beginning of the WV4 novel, as noted by Tom Vale.
 
Dammerung said:
Blair's no longer a pilot after the Black Lance affair. He's in the Navy(Hence, Commodore)
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No matter what branch he was in. he still flew right till the end, making him and active pilot in Confleet.
 
overmortal said:
And, yet, Maniac lives on in the Confed . . . as a Major. You'd think, like you said, he'd have been discharged for "Excessive time in grade".
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Time in grade, at least in the US military, measures the current time at any particular rank/grade, and isn't a measure of cumulative time in grade. Having been busted back down to Major from Colonel (with or without an intermediate step down to LCOL), Maniac's time in grade as a Major is measured from when he regained the rank, not how long in total he's been a Major since first signing up for Confed.

According to the Peter Principle, people within any heirarchical organization will rise to their level of incompetence. In Maniac's case, he repeatedly falls to his level of incompetence.
 
The thought of such an insanely disobedient officer serving with the Confed fleet shows a bit of stupidity on the part of the brass. I don't care if you are the best damn pilot in your mind, a military hierarchy functions on order. Disturbing that order limits the effectiveness of the unit.
 
Not really. Even if most wouldn't admit it, they liked Maniac, and the fact is, Maniac was the best, second only to Blair in his prime. While he might not be capable of taking orders very well, I would think he might be a good leader.
 
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