General Hammond not a very good general?

[The6thRace]

General Hammond seems to always make bad decisions. He nearly let Earth be destroyed a few times, and he isn't very good at strategy.

http://i.imgur.com/PglAC.jpg

In the image above Hammond is playing a game of Connect 4 against an unknown opponent (Jack has just arrived) and yet neither side seems to be winning. With all of his experience as a US General this should be a simple matter for Hammond, yet he seems to be struggling with his opponent.

Even Bra'tac is condescending toward General Hammond, never referring to him with respect but instead calling him 'Hammond of Texas', as if to mock him.

[SF_and_Coffee]

You haven't actually watched the same series as the rest of us, have you?

Also, "Hammond of Texas" was meant as a term of deep respect, as I believe Bra'tac made clear.

[fems]

"Hammond of Texas" is the same as "Fro'tak of the High Cliffs" and "Drey'auc of the Cord'ai Plains". I wouldn't be surprised if Bra'tac is known as "Master Bra'tac of Chulak" on other planets under Jaffa and perhaps even Goa'uld (since he was Apophis' first prime for decades).

Other than that I'd suggest you actually watch the show to see how capable General Hammond really was.

[Bagpuss]

The Connect 4 game's probably just a production joke/goof,OR Hammond's Granddaughters left it mid-play so they could go get some air.

(Remember Jack greeting the kids in the garden?)

Also ITA with SF_and_Coffee and fems.Bra'tac and Hammond always treated each other with respect.

[Gatefan1976]

The Connect 4 game's probably just a production joke/goof,OR Hammond's Granddaughters left it mid-play so they could go get some air.

(Remember Jack greeting the kids in the garden?)

Also ITA with SF_and_Coffee and fems.Bra'tac and Hammond always treated each other with respect.

I always thought Bra'tac was a little hesitant about Hammond *to begin with* as he is simply *not* a warrior in the way Bra'tac would immediately recognise, yet that passed if favor of respect for eachothers abilities and understanding that it takes more than a staff and the ability to personally knock the stuffing out of your opponent to make a "warrior"
If we all fight with the gifts we have been given, are we not brothers?

[escyos]

In the image above Hammond is playing a game of Connect 4 against an unknown opponent (Jack has just arrived) and yet neither side seems to be winning. With all of his experience as a US General this should be a simple matter for Hammond, yet he seems to be struggling with his opponent.

Several seconds before this we see that his grandchildren are there. Pretty sure he would let them win.

[fems]

I always thought Bra'tac was a little hesitant about Hammond *to begin with* as he is simply *not* a warrior in the way Bra'tac would immediately recognise, yet that passed if favor of respect for eachothers abilities and understanding that it takes more than a staff and the ability to personally knock the stuffing out of your opponent to make a "warrior"
If we all fight with the gifts we have been given, are we not brothers?

Bra'tac was hesitant with all the Tau'ri he met but as they worked more/closer together, he seemed to realize they were warriors in their own right, even though they weren't Jaffa like him or Teal'c. I think the same goes for how he viewed Hammond, especially after Bra'tac got more or less in charge of the Rebel Jaffa and visited Earth for the Tau'ri/Jaffa Alliance. He also asked if Hammond "had fallen in battle" in Lost City.

[Bagpuss]

I always thought Bra'tac was a little hesitant about Hammond *to begin with* as he is simply *not* a warrior in the way Bra'tac would immediately recognise, yet that passed if favor of respect for eachothers abilities and understanding that it takes more than a staff and the ability to personally knock the stuffing out of your opponent to make a "warrior"
If we all fight with the gifts we have been given, are we not brothers?

Agreed.
Different strategies,but effectively Brothers in Arms.

Several seconds before this we see that his grandchildren are there. Pretty sure he would let them win.

Good point.Hammond came across as a doting Grandad,not a hardass off-duty.

(Though in my own family,if a kid wants to play a game,they have to play properly and not cheat .I didn't enjoy learning card games and Chess with my Nanna,but I suppose it was "character-building" at the time,lol !)

[Darian]

LOL yeah losing against your whole entire family is not easy I hate chess 10 points if you can guess why

[SF_and_Coffee]

My family did the same thing... and by age nine I'd learned well enough that I was regularly doubling my allowance by playing rummy for nickels with my family on Sunday afternoons.

[lordofseas]

I smell trollery.

[Bagpuss]

LOL yeah losing against your whole entire family is not easy I hate chess 10 points if you can guess why

The meanies ganged up ? My lot used to do the same.

I gave up Chess many years ago because I got tired of the "Told you so" dance and their smugness every time I was stranded.

My family did the same thing... and by age nine I'd learned well enough that I was regularly doubling my allowance by playing rummy for nickels with my family on Sunday afternoons.

WTG !
I used to escape as quickly as possible to save my dignity and pocket money.
I did get quite good at Poker,and a few other games,but never enough to risk a gamble because Nanna played for keeps ,and I knew better than try to out Poker-face my Mum and Uncles.

I smell trollery.

All I smelt was an oversized piccy,and a topic that's been fun for the rest of us to reply to, though nobody's been able to come in with any good and gritty reasons to prove Hammond was an unfit or terrible General so far.

If you want another Mod to take a look,though : just report the thread.

[polkadotfiend]

I suppose you could claim that he showed a bit more lenience to SG1 and Jack in particular than was proper, but I don't think that made him a bad general on the whole.

Plus in terms of making bad judgements it's not like it was always easy to ascertain the situation as it usually dealt with alien incidents which would be, by nature, alien to those from another planet.

[SaberBlade]

though nobody's been able to come in with any good and gritty reasons to prove Hammond was an unfit or terrible General so far.

All the bad things Kinsey mentioned in season six's 'Disclosure'.

I don't think there is any real proof to show that Hammond was a bad General, as we've seen some really terrible decisions made by other people who were higher up than him. That said, anything Hammond could be blamed on, easily could have happened to anyone else in charge as it's not like he did anything wrong to cause those situations.

[Dazzle foot]

Seriously? Hammond was on his last tour, due for retirement before the proverbial brown stuff hit the fan. He was stuck in the deep end, having to work under conditions no one on the planet had ever had to contend with before!

[SF_and_Coffee]

Seriously? Hammond was on his last tour, due for retirement before the proverbial brown stuff hit the fan. He was stuck in the deep end, having to work under conditions no one on the planet had ever had to contend with before!

Yep, and I think he did an admirable job of handling it. Nay, a phenomenal job. Nobody expects aliens to suddenly jump in and blow their retirement plans all to hell. That's what happened to him, and he just picked up the gauntlet and soldiered on.

[rushy]

Bra'tac at least started to respect Hammond when the two of them rescued SG-1 and one other SG-team from Hathor's forces. Hammond of Texas is a sign of respect. Perhaps "Jackson of Abydos" or "McKay of Canada" or "Rush of Destiny" would be nice.

[Solidstrike]

I think Hammond is a good General. His followers respect him, he respects their needs and gets the job done. And he is a nice fellow along the way. What more does one want?

[QuantumIguana]

What you're looking for in a general is someone with Connect 4 experience. When Abraham Lincoln replaces McClellan with Ulysses S. Grant, it was because Grant was better at Connect 4. Grant and Lee actually settled their differences at Appomatox over a game of Connect 4. General Lee just couldn't think of the diagonal. I can prove it with badly photoshopped images if anyone wishes.

I'm sure that Texans feel that "Hammond of Texas" is one of the most respectful greetings imaginable. Second only to "Hammond of the Great State of Texas".

[rushy]

General Hammond has flaws. All people do. But I liked him much more than General Landry.