Carter certainly got around two galaxies...

[Snowman37]

Carter certainly got around two galaxies with numerous roles. She's served as SG-1's second in command, SG-1 team leader, temporary SGC commander (twice?), Area 51 R&D, Midway Station, Atlantis Expedition leader, and George Hammond commander. Did I miss anything? We saw her as SG-1's second in command more than anything else. Regardless, which role did you think suited her best? For me, it was being in charge of Atlantis. Though it was an administrative role, think about all of the technological and scientific marvels she'd have access to. Though McKay made her wish she was somewhere else, think about how he could challenge given how smart he is. It only lasted some 15 episodes, but this was my favorite role for the character.

[AlexanderD]

The role of Atlantis expedition commander was a great posting for Carter. Her talents were a bit wasted with command of the Hammond I thought.

[Snowman37]

To be fair, we really didn't see enough of her on the Hammond to make any kind of judgment. What, ten minutes from both episodes total?

[AlexanderD]

Good point, but consider her qualifications. In my eyes, putting her to work on both the Asgard and Ancient databases would have been a better use. Yes, she has field experience. Does that mean her intellect is best served commanding a 304? In my eyes the answer is no.

[siles]

Her next command would probably be the SGC

[michelle888]

Every time I think of Sam's brilliance, I think of her work with the Asgard. They almost looked to her as an intellectual equal. O'Neill often looked baffled that they kept choosing him as a rep for things...

[Snowman37]

Good point, but consider her qualifications. In my eyes, putting her to work on both the Asgard and Ancient databases would have been a better use. Yes, she has field experience. Does that mean her intellect is best served commanding a 304? In my eyes the answer is no.

We don't know the George Hammond's purpose. We've only seen it ferry people to Icarus Base and launch an attack to try and stop the Lucian Alliance from dialing in Destiny. For all we know, the Hammond could be a science-based ship armed to the teeth. That would fit Carter, no?

[fems]

Going from command of an alien city (Atlantis) to commanding a Tau'ri spaceship seems more like a demotion than an actual reassignment/promotion to me. Looks like another case of "they don't know what to do with Sam Carter" to me.

[Snowman37]

Well, Atlantis isn't really an alien city. It was built and used by the ancients who might as well have been human. It was even built on Earth. Anyway... Remember Colonel Caldwell wanting Sheppard's job on Atlantis? It seemed Atlantis was the place that everyone wanted to be posted at. I wouldn't call Carter's reassignment a demotion, because we just don't know the George Hammond's ultimate purpose. What would have been far more interesting (to me) would be if she were in charge of Icarus Base and been one of the people beamed up to the George Hammond rather than gated to Destiny. With the base destroyed, she takes command of the Hammond and is on a mission to find another Icarus-type planet. If they'd tweaked her role, it could have been seen as an equal role to her job as Atlantis Commander.

[hedwig]

To be fair, we really didn't see enough of her on the Hammond to make any kind of judgment. What, ten minutes from both episodes total?

If you're talking about SGU episodes, more like two minutes total, if that.

[fems]

In the forum overview only "Carter certainly got around..." was shown and I was like 'what?!'

But then I remembered this thread... anyway, seeing how Atlantis was similar to an off-world base in another galaxy, was a joint command and probably had more people (military, civilian, alien) living/working there, I definitely feel Hammond was a step down from that, considering the kind of command it is.

[JackO'Neill]

Every time I think of Sam's brilliance, I think of her work with the Asgard. They almost looked to her as an intellectual equal. O'Neill often looked baffled that they kept choosing him as a rep for things...

I wonder if Sam ever felt left out with not getting an Asgard ship named after her ? Jack & Daniel got one. But both did never last long

[michelle888]

Well - they cerainly made an effort to depict her as deeply loving her science hobbies. To the point of where she would hole herself up in her lab with an arc welder when she was given R&R.
How about heading up Area 51?
That way she can seriously explore some of the artifacts. Maybe learn via reverse engineering and/or invent some applications. The Area 51 Science Team could benefit from her ethical code of conduct governing it instead of the unethical elements that caused so much difficulty in the past.

[michelle888]

I wonder if Sam ever felt left out with not getting an Asgard ship named after her ? Jack & Daniel got one. But both did never last long

Well there is the near extinction issue with the Asgard and what they believe led to it...didn't they explore how they embraced technology and it almost led to their demise? Perhaps they see in Sam the seeds of what led to their near extinction and it is a cautionary tale to them.

Yes you are like us but that's what nearly killed us.

[hedwig]

Well there is the near extinction issue with the Asgard and what they believe led to it...didn't they explore how they embraced technology and it almost led to their demise? Perhaps they see in Sam the seeds of what led to their near extinction and it is a cautionary tale to them.

Yes you are like us but that's what nearly killed us.

I doubt that very much. Esp. given how many times she worked with the Asgard and saved them. Anything she did actually helped them survive longer than they already had. Their own reliance on technology before ever meeting SG1 was what led them to their destruction.

I wonder if Sam ever felt left out with not getting an Asgard ship named after her ? Jack & Daniel got one. But both did never last long

That's been fixed in some fanfiction stories. The Asgard named a fleet of vessels after her: The Fleet of Samantha Carter. So even though the series didn't address that issue, Sam did way better than Jack or Daniel in fanfiction.

[AlexanderD]

We don't know the George Hammond's purpose. We've only seen it ferry people to Icarus Base and launch an attack to try and stop the Lucian Alliance from dialing in Destiny. For all we know, the Hammond could be a science-based ship armed to the teeth. That would fit Carter, no?

We're it a science vessel, why would it be outfitted with 302's? In my eyes, the Hammond is a cookie cutter 304. Even if it were a science vessel, that would still represent a massive underutilization of Carter in my eyes.

[Snowman37]

We're it a science vessel, why would it be outfitted with 302's? In my eyes, the Hammond is a cookie cutter 304. Even if it were a science vessel, that would still represent a massive underutilization of Carter in my eyes.

Who says a science vessel can't have F-302's and be armed to the teeth? In Star Trek: Voyager, the ship was a small explorer, an over-sized science vessel. It was also armed to the teeth with an array of shuttles. Anyway, given the Hammond was an F-304, it's going to have the same capabilities as the other ships. However, that doesn't mean it can't have additional scientific equipment and abilities. Carter's command of an F-304 may be a step down from Atlantis, but at least she's not back on SG-1. Again.

[AlexanderD]

While some level of differentition between vessels is expected, I'm still not sold its a science vessel. A warship that can perform certain scientific surveys I'll agree with. The fleet numbers are too low to justify sacrificing any front line capabilities in exchange for a more science oriented mission.

[Snowman37]

While some level of differentition between vessels is expected, I'm still not sold its a science vessel.

You just said some level of differentiation is expected. Why can't it be both a warship and a science vessel? Why can't it be multipurpose?

The fleet numbers are too low to justify sacrificing any front line capabilities in exchange for a more science oriented mission.

The fleet consists of...

Prometheus (destroyed): Earth's first capital ship and front line defense.
Daedalus: The first Daedalus-class ship, or F-304 if you prefer. It's mission was to aide Atlantis and ferry people back and from from Earth to Atlantis.
Odyssey: This ship replaced the Prometheus as Earth's first-line defense against alien space ships.
Korolev (destroyed): Given to the Russians for continued use of the stargate. What the Russians would have used it for remains unknown.
Apollo: Basically, the Daedalus's relief, but more heavily armed.
Sun Tzu: Presumably the Chinese got a ship, but what will they use it for?
George Hammond: Carter's ship. All we know about it is that it ferried people to Icarus Base and attacked the Lucian Alliance base to stop them from gating to Destiny.

It's not unreasonable for each ship to be have a different mission, no? Why does science ship automatically mean not as heavily armed?

[AlexanderD]

You just said some level of differentiation is expected. Why can't it be both a warship and a science vessel? Why can't it be multipurpose?


The fleet consists of...

Prometheus (destroyed): Earth's first capital ship and front line defense.
Daedalus: The first Daedalus-class ship, or F-304 if you prefer. It's mission was to aide Atlantis and ferry people back and from from Earth to Atlantis.
Odyssey: This ship replaced the Prometheus as Earth's first-line defense against alien space ships.
Korolev (destroyed): Given to the Russians for continued use of the stargate. What the Russians would have used it for remains unknown.
Apollo: Basically, the Daedalus's relief, but more heavily armed.
Sun Tzu: Presumably the Chinese got a ship, but what will they use it for?
George Hammond: Carter's ship. All we know about it is that it ferried people to Icarus Base and attacked the Lucian Alliance base to stop them from gating to Destiny.

It's not unreasonable for each ship to be have a different mission, no? Why does science ship automatically mean not as heavily armed?

Differentiation is a problem often encountered in the military, and this leads to mission creep. Eventually you end up with a fleet unit that can do many things, but none of them well. BC-304's are not large vessels with large crews. Altering the equipment package and crew specialties could very well diminish the effectiveness of Hammond in the warship role.

The classification as a science ship gives obvious light to why the vessel is not heavily armed. We're it heavily armed, it would be a combat vessel. Vessels outfitted for a role in combat operations are warships, ie ships of war. Compare the fleet size of Earth against other encountered spacefaring species. Five active vessels is a fleet in name only. In my opinion, the total ship numbers are still far to low to justify resource allocation for anything other than frontline warships. As fleet numbers rise, it will make more sense to alter resource allocation for fleet diversification.