Weekend; Stargate: soldiers v. pilots
Fabulous time at the Renn Faire Saturday day with celticlullaby. As usual, much money spent, many weapons ogled, pawed, and purchased. Plenty of good-looking boys in kilts ogled as well, though sadly there was no pawing involved.
Sat. evening was awesome dress-up party w/ phillyexpat involving much wine and lots of dancing and boy-taunting.
In the same vein as those excellent Army helicopters v. Air Force insignias/Air Force majors directing Marine soldiers/Whose Military is This, Anyway? discussions, I have a question about Air Force ground training that hopefully some of you can answer. Or perhaps you, freedomfry?
Recently rewatched Atlantis: the Rising -- part of my continuing efforts to brainwash educate my roommate in SGA -- and snickered at the bit where Teyla is leading John into the forest and he's somewhat less than graceful. My brain sort of automatically went "well, yeah, he's a pilot. Not so much with the multi-terrain stealthy assault training." And I think that I see that also in his field command style, which tends to feel slightly more ad hoc/seat-of-his-pants for some reason, though I can't put my finger on any particulars. It matches his hero complex -- I/we will go kill/capture/blow up what needs it, the rest of you watch the Gate/stay here and don't hurt yourselves while I'm/we're gone. Of course my only point of comparison is Jack who a) is Special Forces and b) has been a Col. (and therefore with way more field/command experience) for a long as we've known him, and presumably for some time before that.
So the question is, how much ground training do Air Force personnel receive? And how much of my reading is characterization as opposed to the realities of training?
Sheppard is so very much A Pilot, whereas Jack has always seemed to me to be a soldier who can fly. He (Jack) doesn't even seem to have the "Likes All Things that Go Really Fast" characterization, that I can recall -- it's Carter who owns a motorcycle. (Clarification: Jack seems to like fast things only inasmuch as he is a Boy, and therefore Likes Things that Blink and Whirr. Especially when they involve Pushing Buttons. Especially Pushing Daniel's Buttons.) We've seen him be quite the competant fighter pilot ("The Other Side" comes to mind), and have some moments of real enjoyment in the cockpit (the test flight in "Tangent," before the ship ran away with them; up in the 302 again in "Origin"), but there isn't the Flying is Who He Is element there. Granted, there are the differences of setting -- the SGC had no real reason to put Jack in the air all that often. But is that fanfiction!John coloring my perceptions? (I think particularly of rageprufrock's heartbreakingly grounded Hindsight!John.)
So, er, yes -- a little Air Force reality, please, from those in the know?
Sat. evening was awesome dress-up party w/ phillyexpat involving much wine and lots of dancing and boy-taunting.
In the same vein as those excellent Army helicopters v. Air Force insignias/Air Force majors directing Marine soldiers/Whose Military is This, Anyway? discussions, I have a question about Air Force ground training that hopefully some of you can answer. Or perhaps you, freedomfry?
Recently rewatched Atlantis: the Rising -- part of my continuing efforts to brainwash educate my roommate in SGA -- and snickered at the bit where Teyla is leading John into the forest and he's somewhat less than graceful. My brain sort of automatically went "well, yeah, he's a pilot. Not so much with the multi-terrain stealthy assault training." And I think that I see that also in his field command style, which tends to feel slightly more ad hoc/seat-of-his-pants for some reason, though I can't put my finger on any particulars. It matches his hero complex -- I/we will go kill/capture/blow up what needs it, the rest of you watch the Gate/stay here and don't hurt yourselves while I'm/we're gone. Of course my only point of comparison is Jack who a) is Special Forces and b) has been a Col. (and therefore with way more field/command experience) for a long as we've known him, and presumably for some time before that.
So the question is, how much ground training do Air Force personnel receive? And how much of my reading is characterization as opposed to the realities of training?
Sheppard is so very much A Pilot, whereas Jack has always seemed to me to be a soldier who can fly. He (Jack) doesn't even seem to have the "Likes All Things that Go Really Fast" characterization, that I can recall -- it's Carter who owns a motorcycle. (Clarification: Jack seems to like fast things only inasmuch as he is a Boy, and therefore Likes Things that Blink and Whirr. Especially when they involve Pushing Buttons. Especially Pushing Daniel's Buttons.) We've seen him be quite the competant fighter pilot ("The Other Side" comes to mind), and have some moments of real enjoyment in the cockpit (the test flight in "Tangent," before the ship ran away with them; up in the 302 again in "Origin"), but there isn't the Flying is Who He Is element there. Granted, there are the differences of setting -- the SGC had no real reason to put Jack in the air all that often. But is that fanfiction!John coloring my perceptions? (I think particularly of rageprufrock's heartbreakingly grounded Hindsight!John.)
So, er, yes -- a little Air Force reality, please, from those in the know?