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Ensign Gideon?

R

Ranger One

Beyond the rim
I find it a little unbelievable that in the time fromt B5's 2nd Season to when Crusade started, that Gideon managed to climb up 5 ranks to get to Captain. It would really blow my mind if Corwin was still a Lieutenant during the Crusade-era, considering that he held that rank for all of B5.

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The innocent lie because they don't want to be blamed for something they didn't do and the guilty lie because they don't have any other choice.
 
Wrong. Corwin was promited to LT. in season 3...which is about right for promotions.

ivanova was a lt.commander in season 1. commander 2-3. and became a captain at the end of season 4.

the fact is there's about 7/8 years for Gideon to move up the ranks. He obviously had a good career...and captain still isn't the highest rank. there's general and admiral above that.

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"I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I'd look up at your lifeless eyes and wave like this. Can you and your associates arrange it for me, Mr. Morden?"
Vir - In The Shadow of Z' HA Dum
 
Ya never know what other stuff he did in that time. Maybe he did something important in battle which jumped him up a lot faster. I belive either on B5 or Crusade someone said The Only Way you get noticed for promotion is in battle. Or something like that

Capt

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DS9 and B5. Who would have thought 2 of my fav shows would take place on stations in the middle of nowhere :)
 
Well, that just means Corwin was a LT Junior Grade then, still meaning he outranked Gideon. I guess they had a shortage of quality officers after the whole Civil War. Still, I would be a lot more willing to accept this rapid jump in the ranks if Gideon were say a Lieutenant back when the Cerberus was destroyed.

Still, it's better than Star Trek's handling of the ranks. Picard's been a captain for almost 14 years now, Riker's been a Commander for the same time and Data has not seen a promotion at all.

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Yeah, that'd be greeeat. --Bill Lumbergh
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ranger One:
I find it a little unbelievable that in the time fromt B5's 2nd Season to when Crusade started, that Gideon managed to climb up 5 ranks to get to Captain. It would really blow my mind if Corwin was still a Lieutenant during the Crusade-era, considering that he held that rank for all of B5.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well since he might have been through the earth civil war, and the draq war he has had a number of chances to distinguish himself.

Just curious, do we have any idea which side he was on during the civil war?

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Who'd a thought?
 
No, it was never stated to my knowledge as to what side he was on.

Even the fact that Sheridan chose him for the mission doesn't mean anything since he did pick Lochley to run B5.

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Yeah, that'd be greeeat. --Bill Lumbergh
 
well if he was just an ensign he probably had no choice as to which side he was on.


and that has always bothered me about trek.
imagine how cool it would've been if during TNG they had moved up the ranks.
instead come end of the series nothing's change...did that show have an arc at all? any sort of planned out story..I think not.

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"I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I'd look up at your lifeless eyes and wave like this. Can you and your associates arrange it for me, Mr. Morden?"
Vir - In The Shadow of Z' HA Dum
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CaptDS9E:
Ya never know what other stuff he did in that time. Maybe he did something important in battle which jumped him up a lot faster. I belive either on B5 or Crusade someone said The Only Way you get noticed for promotion is in battle. Or something like that

Capt

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe he got a battle field promotion. He was of a few remaining soldiers so he was promoted to fill the ranks.
Or maybe he won it in a card game.

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"Gideon says we all have things to hide."
"Does he? How unfortunate, I was hoping he'd come further than that. Well not that it isn't true of course, it's just that one simply doesn't have to say it."

"I was just trying to work out whether a comment from me right now would be most wanted or least needed."
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ranger One:
I find it a little unbelievable that in the time fromt B5's 2nd Season to when Crusade started, that Gideon managed to climb up 5 ranks to get to Captain.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>It is, isn't it.

Maybe Gideon has something that gives him an edge...


[This message has been edited by drakh (edited April 24, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by drakh (edited April 24, 2001).]
 
What bothers me is that Gideon is 40+ in Crusade, right? So that means when he was on the Cerberus he was about 30. So he was a 30 year old Ensign?

I agree that it would've been a lot better had he been a Lieutenant.

As for going from Ensign to Captain in 9 years, someone mentioned combat. Well, if you recall Racing the Night, it was said that Gideon saw more combat in peacetime than most captains see in wartime. So that could partially explain Gideon's rapid rise. (Though I'm still stumped as to how he could be a 30 year old Ensign)

And my personal opinion is that he was on neither side during the Earth Civil War. Remember, before the Excalibur he had previously been the captain of an Earth explorer ship, and those things spend YEARS exploring the rim. So chances are that Gideon missed the entire war.

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Bah, why is everyone being Gideon now? I guess it's Max Eilerson for me from now on.

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Yeah, that'd be greeeat. --Bill Lumbergh
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captain Matthew Gideon:
What bothers me is that Gideon is 40+ in Crusade, right? So that means when he was on the Cerberus he was about 30. So he was a 30 year old Ensign? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There are plausible explanations. He could have joined up late, or joined as enlisted personnel, then went through an officer candidacy course. Or he could have been a troublemaker and been broken in rank.
wink.gif


les

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I think it's safe to say JMS kind of goofed up with his rank.

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Yeah, that'd be greeeat. --Bill Lumbergh
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captain Matthew Gideon:
What bothers me is that Gideon is 40+ in Crusade, right? So that means when he was on the Cerberus he was about 30. So he was a 30 year old Ensign?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>He's insubordinate, stubborn, obsessive and likes to gamble. Not exactly officer material.

Unless he had some advantage that let him get away with his irresponsible behaviour. Something that warned him about possible dangers, and gave him information that let him complete missions in record time.

But it's not like he has anything like that, is it...?
 
Would you like to beat us over the head some more with your insinuations, drakh? :p

Yes, the Apocalypse Box could've contributed to Gideon's career. I, however, still have a hard time believing he was 30 years old and still an Ensign (Though the number is more like 32, not 30). For one, why didn't he just quit (Or not sign up again when his tour of duty ended) if he never got promoted past ensign?

And if he was demoted then what did he do that warranted being demoted to ensign? Gideon seems nearly as capable as Sheridan, who was a Lieutenant Commander when he was 27. So if he was demoted he was probably demoted pretty far down.

Well, hopefully some day it'll be explained why he was an Ensign at the time, though I can understand how it is he went from Ensign to Captain after 9 years.

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Captain Matthew Gideon:
And if he was demoted then what did he do that warranted being demoted to ensign? Gideon seems nearly as capable as Sheridan, who was a Lieutenant Commander when he was 27. So if he was demoted he was probably demoted pretty far down. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, as someone else said, he's stubborn, gambles, etc. Under the wrong CO, he'd have been doomed. :p

les

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>He could have joined up late, or joined as enlisted personnel, then went through an officer candidacy course. Or he could have been a troublemaker and been broken in rank.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Or JMS may have been distracted or borderline burnt out when he wrote the episode and screwed up.
smile.gif
But it can't be that Gideon worked his way through the enlisted ranks, unless he got himself an appointment to the EarthForce Academy instead of the usual O.C.S. That ring he wears marks him as an Acadmey graduate, same as Lochley and Sheridan.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
 
I honestly don't know what to think. I agree with those of you who are skeptical that he was still an ensign at 30 or 32. Maybe it'll be explained eventually. It sure would answer a lot of questions.

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You name it, sooner or later, everyone comes to Babylon 5.
-Commander Jeffrey David Sinclair, The Gathering
 
In "Path of Sorrows" we find out that Gideon is a lieutenant (when he was playing cards and won the Apocalypse Box). I don't know how much time elapsed between the Cerebrus incident and the card game. As has been stated, the Box may have helped him later on.


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"We are dreamers, shapers, singers and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things." Elric the Techno-Mage, "Geometry of Shadows"
 
In the Crusade Writer's Guide Gideon's age is given as "30s" (I can't find my copy so I checked with someone on the newsgroup.) That means 10 years before he was somewhere in his 20s. If he entered the EarthForce Academy at 18, and it is a four-year course like the U.S. service Academies, he'd be around 22 when he graduated with the rank of ensign.

Making captain in 10 years wouldn't be an outrageous feat. Although there were no formal wars between the Minbari War and the Earth Civil war, there were plenty of skirmishes and "incidents". 10 years after the E-M war Earth was still rebuilding and expanding its military. The Babylon Project was one effort to ensure that Earth itself was never put at risk again, but I have a feeling the more hawkish Senators would have wanted a "plan B" in the form of a much bigger fleet. A lot of command slots would have been filled from the ranks of junior officers in the immediate aftermath of the war, to replace those who had died fighting it. 10 or 11 years later there were probably still opportunities for ambitious youngsters to move up.

Somewhere it is mentioned that Gideon has seen more combat in peacetime than most EF officers saw during the war. Combat experience and shipboard duty always impress promotion boards. One or more of his promotions might have been given to him in the field and later confirmed by promotion boards.

I was more suprised to see a mere lieutenant as exec on an Explorer ship and later on Excalibur.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
 
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