Artistic License Military: Difference between revisions

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* The instant-promotion-to-captain at the end of the new ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' movie makes anyone trying to take Starfleet seriously ''wince''.

* ''[[A Few Good Men]]'': As he is leaving after questioning his client, Tom Cruise's Lt. Kaffee turns and says, "Whatever happened to saluting an officer when he leaves the room?" whereupon Dawson stands up and pointedly shoves his hands in his pockets. Great moment, great scene... except that neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps exchanges salutes while indoors. (In both services you only salute if 'under arms' or wearing your cover (hat), and you almost never are doing either while inside.)

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' often conflates Army, Navy, and Air Force rankings, particularly in the [[Expanded Universe]]. (For example, General Dodonna, the guy who gives the briefing in episode 4, had his rank despite there being almost no ground troops and very few capital ships available to the Rebellion at the time. Wedge Antilles, in the Expanded Universe, eventually becomes a general in starfighter ~~command--only~~ to end up in charge of a ship like the Executor and its attendant task force. Han Solo is a general in command of ground forces and Lando Calrissian of the fighter group in Return of the Jedi, but Solo leads fleet actions in the EU. Finally, Garm Bel Iblis is a general but is always in command of a full task force.)

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' often conflates Army, Navy, and Air Force rankings, particularly in the [[Expanded Universe]]. (For example, General Dodonna, the guy who gives the briefing in episode 4, had his rank despite there being almost no ground troops and very few capital ships available to the Rebellion at the time. Wedge Antilles, in the Expanded Universe, eventually becomes a general in starfighter command—only to end up in charge of a ship like the Executor and its attendant task force. Han Solo is a general in command of ground forces and Lando Calrissian of the fighter group in Return of the Jedi, but Solo leads fleet actions in the EU. Finally, Garm Bel Iblis is a general but is always in command of a full task force.)

** Also, in modern Earth terminology, a cruiser is a bigger ship than a destroyer. In ''[[Star Wars]]'', Star Destroyers are amongst the biggest class of ships out there in common use. Furthermore, there were ''Dreadnaught''-class heavy cruisers that were less than half the size of the Star Destroyers, and then the Super Star Destroyers are star dreadnoughts. Eventually the ''[[Star Wars]] RPG'' Saga Edition ''Starships of the Galaxy'' book clarified things by stating that the term "Star Destroyer" is not a class of ship the way star cruiser and star dreadnought is, referring more to a construction philosophy of overwhelming firepower mounted in one direction, which allows them to destroy (or more accurately, depopulate) entire star systems. The ''Imperial''-Class Star Destroyers we see in the film are stated to be star cruisers.

*** If Star Wars had actually been set in the future (instead of it all being a translation convention) that might be excusable though. Destroyers are the biggest ships in most fleets today and as such rapidly getting bigger. Cruisers have always been the smaller cousins of battleships, traditionally the biggest ships in the fleet, so it's not that far fetched to have destroyers and cruisers switch places in the future. Plus "destroyer" is just an awesome name.

*** In ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars|Storm Over Ryloth]]'', the terms "battlecruisers", "cruisers", and "frigates" are used to describe the same ships.

** It's often stated that, as the Rebellion, the Rebels basically used whatever rank worked best with individual officers, since they weren't anything like a formal military yet. Thus General Dodonna, who at the time was the only force commander they had (and probably earned his generalship in the Clone Wars, to boot). Others progress through the ranks more or less naturally (like Wedge) but are assigned whatever their mission ~~needs--Wedge~~ once held command over two squadrons and a corvette while still a Commander, for perfectly logical though informal reasons.

** It's often stated that, as the Rebellion, the Rebels basically used whatever rank worked best with individual officers, since they weren't anything like a formal military yet. Thus General Dodonna, who at the time was the only force commander they had (and probably earned his generalship in the Clone Wars, to boot). Others progress through the ranks more or less naturally (like Wedge) but are assigned whatever their mission needs—Wedge once held command over two squadrons and a corvette while still a Commander, for perfectly logical though informal reasons.

*** Dodonna was established as earning his rank in the Empire's service, doing so good a job the Emperor gave him a habitable moon as his retirement pension.

** The general consensus for the writers, with a couple of exceptions, is that Admirals (a fleet rank) are usually in charge of large Cruisers, Star Destroyers, or task forces. The rank of General is used by ground forces, Starfighter Command and the Intelligence division. Han, Lando, and Luke were made "generals" during the rebellion when ranks were a lot more informal and Wedge is apparently continuously given Fleet Command assignments because General Cracken (head of intelligence) wants him to transfer to either the main fleet or intelligence.

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*** If she wants to command, IRL she would be required to transfer to a different specialization. Psychologists are staff officers, not line officers, and as such would not command a ship unless every line officer was dead or disabled (and maybe not then). Crusher might take command of a medical ship (as seen in the future of "All Good Things...."); she would not command on a ship of the line like the ''Enterprise.''

*** Troi's passing the 'command qualification exam' is analogous to a US Navy officer becoming qualified to stand Officer of the Deck (Underway) watches, which would make her qualified to conn the ship if necessary and thus to be placed in the operational chain of command. This would not require her to change her specialty if her commanding officer authorized it as necessary for 'the good of the service', which Picard would obviously be willing to do. Furthermore, as a fictional agency Starfleet doesn't necessarily operate strictly by US Navy regs anyway.

** And yet, Crusher and Troi each end up in command on separate ~~occasions -- Crusher~~ when the captain was alive, well, and (at the time she was placed in command) available. Oh yeah, ''and the ship was in Borg space.''

** And yet, Crusher and Troi each end up in command on separate occasions—Crusher when the captain was alive, well, and (at the time she was placed in command) available. Oh yeah, ''and the ship was in Borg space.''

*** Given that Starfleet is a completely fictional military, this is pretty easy to justify. And they aren't even principally a military- they are scientists, explorers and diplomats as much or even before they are carrying out military missions. So, it might be justified that they do things differently.

*** There is also that the writers often confuse "having the conn/being Command Duty Officer" with "commanding the ship". As it stands, so long as Captain Picard is medically able to fulfill his duties and has not been relieved of his post by Starfleet Command, he remains Commanding Officer of the Enterprise regardless of where he is or what he is doing, even if he isn't even on the ship. However, since he obviously cannot live on the bridge 24/7 (if nothing else, the man does need to sleep sometime), other officers are given the duty of standing bridge watch ("Command Duty Officer") as needed in rotation, and they act in Picard's stead and with his authority whenever he is not present or in communication. This can result in the situation of Ensign Newguy, absolute last in seniority out of any officer on board, still acting 'in command' of the Enterprise if he's the guy awake and on bridge watch while everybody else is asleep during the graveyard shift. Obviously his "command" will only last as long as it takes for someone senior to him to wake up and get to the bridge, and only so far as his orders are not contradicted by someone senior who is aware of the situation and in a position to act on ~~it -- but~~ until after that happens both the absolute authority of a ship's commanding officer under way and all the responsibility that entails is stuck to Ensign Newguy, because he's the guy who has the conn right that minute. So, yes, Crusher, or Troi, or anyone else who has the basic qualifications to act as a bridge officer at all, can potentially be stuck with the 'command' hat at any given ~~time -- on~~ an acting basis, and as needed, and if Picard concurs.

*** There is also that the writers often confuse "having the conn/being Command Duty Officer" with "commanding the ship". As it stands, so long as Captain Picard is medically able to fulfill his duties and has not been relieved of his post by Starfleet Command, he remains Commanding Officer of the Enterprise regardless of where he is or what he is doing, even if he isn't even on the ship. However, since he obviously cannot live on the bridge 24/7 (if nothing else, the man does need to sleep sometime), other officers are given the duty of standing bridge watch ("Command Duty Officer") as needed in rotation, and they act in Picard's stead and with his authority whenever he is not present or in communication. This can result in the situation of Ensign Newguy, absolute last in seniority out of any officer on board, still acting 'in command' of the Enterprise if he's the guy awake and on bridge watch while everybody else is asleep during the graveyard shift. Obviously his "command" will only last as long as it takes for someone senior to him to wake up and get to the bridge, and only so far as his orders are not contradicted by someone senior who is aware of the situation and in a position to act on it—but until after that happens both the absolute authority of a ship's commanding officer under way and all the responsibility that entails is stuck to Ensign Newguy, because he's the guy who has the conn right that minute. So, yes, Crusher, or Troi, or anyone else who has the basic qualifications to act as a bridge officer at all, can potentially be stuck with the 'command' hat at any given time—on an acting basis, and as needed, and if Picard concurs.

* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' is a serious offender. Buster seems to be in and out of boot camp whenever it's plot convenient, and the uniforms (when not grossly inaccurate) were out of date by about seven years. Probably just an example of [[Rule of Funny]], though.

* ''[[Blackadder]] Goes Forth'', whilst generally fairly accurate on many uniform and insignia aspects (excepting of course the fact they are dressed perfectly accurately for 1914, not 1917!), has an easily missed error in the form of Brigadier-General Sir Bernard Proudfoot-Smith. The rank title is in fact correct for the era (it's currently just Brigadier, without the hyphened General, in the British Army). His insignia is, however, incorrect: Brigadier-General during WWI wore a crossed baton and sword (similar to other generals, but without any crowns or stars above).

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*** A flashback scene from ''We Were Soldiers'' has some of the soldiers telling a story about a [[Badass]] sergeant who was part of a platoon being inspected by a brand-new 2nd Lieutenant. The LT wanted to get an idea of the kind of guys he was leading, so he had them change into their working uniforms with ribbons to check out their awards. The sergeant at first comes back wearing no ribbons and is stoically chewed out by the LT to go back and put on his awards. He comes back a few minutes later wearing his boots, [[Badass|TWO Medals of Honor (!!)]] and nothing else. The LT stares in shock for a long moment before snapping off a salute, wise enough at this point not to try chewing the Sarge out for being out of uniform twice.

**** ''"So that was [[Sergeant Rock|Plumley]]?"'' "No, that was McDune." ''"So what was the point of that story?"'' "Well, Plumley was McDune's boss. And McDune was scared shitless [[Oh Crap|of him]]."

*** Also per regulation the only civilians that are supposed to be rendered a salute are members of the High Command (President, Secretary of Defense, etc.). In ''[[Top Gun]]'', for all its failings, this is not only gotten right but referenced in ~~dialogue--Jester~~ informs the trainees that Charlie is a civilian, so "you do not salute her--but you better listen to her".

*** Also per regulation the only civilians that are supposed to be rendered a salute are members of the High Command (President, Secretary of Defense, etc.). In ''[[Top Gun]]'', for all its failings, this is not only gotten right but referenced in dialogue—Jester informs the trainees that Charlie is a civilian, so "you do not salute her--but you better listen to her".

** Another [[Real Life]] exception are the Brazilian armed forces. Whenever any soldier or officer SEES someone of higher rank, whether or not they are on duty or even wearing a uniform, they MUST render a salute, even if they are ''driving'', riding a horse or a ''bicycle''. In fact, regulations say they must halt, salute the officer, and then ask permission to continue. Of course that means that Brazilian fiction with correct saluting protocol is impossible to find.

* A general example that tends to crop up when British personnel feature in US media. In the UK, the rank of Lieutenant is pronounced "leff-tenant," not "loo-tenant." It can also happen with Canadian personnel, with Canadians pronouncing it the same way as the British.