Civilians in the chain of command

[Gotham Central]

The civilians in Stargate seem to have an unusual amount of authority on these shows despite the fact that they are primarily military based.

For instance, I seem to recall a moment when Daniel Jackson was in command of the Odyssey. On what grounds can Daniel ever be in command of a military vessel? Is he now in the military? (as a side note, i notice that in the last season+movies, Daniel and Tealc both wear USAF patches on their uniforms, but Vala does not).

In the Atlantis episode "Lifeline" Col. Shepperd leaves Teyla in command of the city while the rest of the team goes off on a mission. On what grounds can Teyla be in command of anything on Atlantis? Shouldn't Maj. Lorne have been the one left in command (who was noticeably absent from the episode). Indeed, even after the Seige, when the Dadelus is returning to Atlantis, it appears that Teyla is in command. How exactly can an earth outpost be left in the hands of a civilain alien? I suspect that the IOA might have a few things to say about that.

 

[Ariadne]

Well, with Teyla in charge of Atlantis, they weren't exactly following all the regulations. Being a few million light years away from Earth helps with that.

 

[Cicero]

I'd imagine that Daniel is a special case. He's probably been empowered in some way by the governing agencies of the SGC.

 

[JiNX-01]

IIRC, on Atlantis, it's a civilian operation with military support for security and protection.

Weir (diplomat) and Woolsey (bueaucrat) are civilians. Carter was military, but she was a temp.

 

[cylkoth]

In the Atlantis episode "Lifeline" Col. Shepperd leaves Teyla in command of the city while the rest of the team goes off on a mission. On what grounds can Teyla be in command of anything on Atlantis? Shouldn't Maj. Lorne have been the one left in command (who was noticeably absent from the episode). Indeed, even after the Seige, when the Dadelus is returning to Atlantis, it appears that Teyla is in command. How exactly can an earth outpost be left in the hands of a civilain alien? I suspect that the IOA might have a few things to say about that.

IIRC, Lorne went to the Apollo after he led the 302 squadron to steer the asteriod towards Lantea.
As you've mentioned, Weir trusted Teyla enough to leave her in command as far back as s2-in Intruder, after their return from Earth onboard the Daedalus, Teyla was the one who greeted Weir with updates and status reports. So her authority comes directly from the head of the Expedition. She was the leader of the Athosians, and more than proved herself assisting the Earthers in surviving in Pegasus. I'm sure whoever's next in the military chain of command after Lorne, stepped up to act as military leader to Teyla's Weir, during the times she's been left in charge.

As for Daniel, why he's O'Neill's best bud! If they don't listen to him, he'll tattle on them to Jack.

 

[The Wormhole]

For instance, I seem to recall a moment when Daniel Jackson was in command of the Odyssey. On what grounds can Daniel ever be in command of a military vessel? Is he now in the military? (as a side note, i notice that in the last season+movies, Daniel and Tealc both wear USAF patches on their uniforms, but Vala does not).

In the Atlantis episode "Lifeline" Col. Shepperd leaves Teyla in command of the city while the rest of the team goes off on a mission. On what grounds can Teyla be in command of anything on Atlantis? Shouldn't Maj. Lorne have been the one left in command (who was noticeably absent from the episode). Indeed, even after the Seige, when the Dadelus is returning to Atlantis, it appears that Teyla is in command. How exactly can an earth outpost be left in the hands of a civilain alien? I suspect that the IOA might have a few things to say about that.

The matter of Daniel commanding the Odyssey is a unique situation. Technically speaking, he wasn't really in command, everyone else just happened to have very specific tasks to do, so therefore when the ship was hailed, he was the only one who wasn't preoccupied and therefore could talk. I guess he chose to sit in the command chair for the hell of it. As for when he was giving orders during the battle, well, he was simply saying things that had to be done, and it would have been pointless to argue when the ship was being torn apart.

Personally, I was more disturbed in Prometheus Unbound when Daniel and Vala were operating the Prometheus on their own. Daniel, a civilian with no training in how to fly a starship or operate its systems, Vala an alien with no experiance with this technology, and their flying the ship by themselves fighting death gliders? Don't think so.

Vala not wearing a USAF patch on her arm is actually a production reason. Claudia Black has smaller arms than everyone else, requiring a smaller jacket with smaller arm patches. It's for this reason they went through with the whole "not an official member of SG-1" thing in the first half of S10, they were waiting for a smaller SG-1 patch for her. The USAF patches were actually given to the cast by the Air Force, and they never got around to doing a smaller one for Vala.

And whenever Teyla is left in charge of Atlantis, it's simply a convention of television that a main character, unusual circmustances occur to give here screentime.

 

[Meredith]

Also since the IOA got involved they have more civilians in the power structure.

 

[Crewman47]

I was thinking about this when I was watching the S10 SG1 episode where all the Baal clones are captured at the SGC and when they manage to escape there cells we see a team of SF's being led by Vala of all people. Sometimes I wonder if the SF's and Marines of the SGC are nothing but drones who follow anyone who happens to be a part of the elite teams especially when one SF in Vala's team got gunned down. Surely this wouldn't happen in the real military where anyone can come in, join the elite squad and instantly be qualified to lead a team.

 

[The Wormhole]

I was thinking about this when I was watching the S10 SG1 episode where all the Baal clones are captured at the SGC and when they manage to escape there cells we see a team of SF's being led by Vala of all people. Sometimes I wonder if the SF's and Marines of the SGC are nothing but drones who follow anyone who happens to be a part of the elite teams especially when one SF in Vala's team got gunned down. Surely this wouldn't happen in the real military where anyone can come in, join the elite squad and instantly be qualified to lead a team.

Vala commanding a team in Insiders definately raised my eyebrows. Especially since at this point the issue of not everyone trusting her was still prominent in the show, so to have her in a position of authority was just odd.