Why was the stargate under Air Force control?

[jfarrell327]

Why was the stargate under Air Force control? I have been wondering that for a while. Now I know Air Force is in charge of "Space" out of all the Armed Forces in the US, however I don't think they're in charge of outer space, per se.... My question is why aren't the Marines or Army out on the ground during exploration missions and the Air Force working in the space or in the air? Like star wars they had a space force and a ground force, why aren't the Stargate personnel like that? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the troops that are always on the ground doing the ground missions? Air Force personnel aren't the best for that, you can't do para-rescue off-world since you can't fly a chopper through the stargate. Weather doesn't really matter as much as a Air Force weather personnel go, I could see Combat Control Teams but they're mainly air traffic controllers...

[mr_kennedy]

We'll i believe it was stated in the movie or maybe Children of the Gods or atleast very early on in Season 1 that Catherine's family that found the stargate needed funding or something like that and so the air force stepped in

[hedwig]

Why was the stargate under Air Force control? I have been wondering that for a while. Now I know Air Force is in charge of "Space" out of all the Armed Forces in the US, however I don't think they're in charge of outer space, per se.... My question is why aren't the Marines or Army out on the ground during exploration missions and the Air Force working in the space or in the air? Like star wars they had a space force and a ground force, why aren't the Stargate personnel like that? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the troops that are always on the ground doing the ground missions? Air Force personnel aren't the best for that, you can't do para-rescue off-world since you can't fly a chopper through the stargate. Weather doesn't really matter as much as a Air Force weather personnel go, I could see Combat Control Teams but they're mainly air traffic controllers...

Neither can any other military group.

[jfarrell327]

We'll i believe it was stated in the movie or maybe Children of the Gods or atleast very early on in Season 1 that Catherine's family that found the stargate needed funding or something like that and so the air force stepped in

Ahh that is true. I am writing a book similar to stargate but still totally different and there is no Goa'uld or Ori or Lucian Alliance and definitely no Wraith... It will have a portal is what we'll call it and its bigger than the stargate and still different based on the dialing and worlds and what not. I just want the US Special Operations Command to be in command and mostly have the Special Operations Units from all of the branches in the DoD to be involved and there would be more ground battles and more realistic military warfare as we see today. I just wanted to see why the AF was in charge, except for the obvious reason they have a Space Command, I don't think that Space Command is building spaceships and traveling to other worlds, that is why we have NASA.

[garhkal]

Perhaps cause the airforce is generally the one that deals with new tech quicker, and works hand in hand with NASA / area 51 that deals with alien tech made them shoe ins for control over it.

[jfarrell327]

Neither can any other military group.

Touche, you got me there.

[jfarrell327]

Reasonable. I just want the US Special Operations Command to take command on my version and I wanted to hear if its reasonable for the SOCOM to be the head of this command or if it was more reasonable for the AF.

[StargateWatcher]

very good points I never thought to argue; impressive that you now of USAF para-rescue; AF is also in charge of cyber-warfare; I'm impressed that a good number of Stargate fans read up on their national or the entire world's armed forces

the SGC does have marines, but often deployed only to add muscle

BTW, I also live in MA; (you mean Boston, USA not Boston, UK right)?

[StargateWatcher]

We'll i believe it was stated in the movie or maybe Children of the Gods or atleast very early on in Season 1 that Catherine's family that found the stargate needed funding or something like that and so the air force stepped in

thanks for mentioning--right; but we still wonder why they accepted USAF funding and control over other armed forces branches

Ahh that is true. I am writing a book similar to stargate but still totally different and there is no Goa'uld or Ori or Lucian Alliance and definitely no Wraith... It will have a portal is what we'll call it and its bigger than the stargate and still different based on the dialing and worlds and what not. I just want the US Special Operations Command to be in command and mostly have the Special Operations Units from all of the branches in the DoD to be involved and there would be more ground battles and more realistic military warfare as we see today. I just wanted to see why the AF was in charge, except for the obvious reason they have a Space Command, I don't think that Space Command is building spaceships and traveling to other worlds, that is why we have NASA.

cool; the Stargate-related ops ARE special ops considering they're offworld,. so....
I wonder then if if NASA will be the organization to build space-capable fightercraft and warships--NAH; would go again mission parameters of peacefully exploring space; I wonder what happens to NASA after disclosure

believe USAF builds the tungsten-rod defense satellites that is next-generation stuff

Perhaps cause the airforce is generally the one that deals with new tech quicker, and works hand in hand with NASA / area 51 that deals with alien tech made them shoe ins for control over it.

good point; I believe you're righty AS ANOTHER POSTER HAS MENTIONED THE SAME REASON; SORRY FOR capslock!

[jfarrell327]

very good points I never thought to argue; impressive that you now of USAF para-rescue; AF is also in charge of cyber-warfare; I'm impressed that a good number of Stargate fans read up on their national or the entire world's armed forces

the SGC does have marines, but often deployed only to add muscle

BTW, I also live in MA; (you mean Boston, USA not Boston, UK right)?

Correct Boston, MA, USA. I get why AF is in charge in Stargate but I don't want the AF to be in charge in my book. If this program was real I would feel safer with US Special Operations Command SOCOM in charge over the USAF. USAF could be in charge of spaceships or the fighter jets like the F-302's but on ground missions or combat missions I think the Seals or Army Rangers/Special Forces, or even Marine Infantry to be in charge rather than an archaeologist, alien (Teal'c/Jonas), and an astrophysicist, but she is kick ass, she is great. I would feel safe with O'Neil though, he is a very cool guy. That is just my take and why in my books they won't be in charge of the most important and coolest device known to man, even if it is a total secret as it is or at least was before NID got involved.

[mr_kennedy]

thanks for mentioning--right; but we still wonder why they accepted USAF funding and control over other armed forces branches

You could probably write a time travel episode revolving around that

Ahh that is true. I am writing a book similar to stargate but still totally different and there is no Goa'uld or Ori or Lucian Alliance and definitely no Wraith... It will have a portal is what we'll call it and its bigger than the stargate and still different based on the dialing and worlds and what not. I just want the US Special Operations Command to be in command and mostly have the Special Operations Units from all of the branches in the DoD to be involved and there would be more ground battles and more realistic military warfare as we see today. I just wanted to see why the AF was in charge, except for the obvious reason they have a Space Command, I don't think that Space Command is building spaceships and traveling to other worlds, that is why we have NASA.

First of all and im being pedantic here but im australian so "that is why we have NASA" doesnt really apply to me

secondly i dont think NASA built the f304's i believe that was purely a military project (they could of however used funding from NASA) i could be wrong tho, however they (NASA) built the space bridge from atlantis i think

And if you look at Shows like Star Trek, i point out Zefram Cochran he wasn't even an astronaut he was an alchaholic bum just looking to make quick bucks, yet the federation built there entire foundation around him i dont know if that helps or not

[escyos]

secondly i dont think NASA built the f304's i believe that was purely a military project (they could of however used funding from NASA) i could be wrong tho, however they (NASA) built the space bridge from atlantis i think

I don't think NASA has anything to do with the Stargate or constructing any ships or tech. Perhaps the US maintains NASA as a front, I imagine that if NASA suddenly started getting billions of dollars and nothing happened in the public eye, people would get suspicious.

From what I gathered, the Stargate was in an Air Force facility and thus came under Air Force jurisdiction.

[jfarrell327]

You could probably write a time travel episode revolving around that



First of all and im being pedantic here but im australian so "that is why we have NASA" doesnt really apply to me

secondly i dont think NASA built the f304's i believe that was purely a military project (they could of however used funding from NASA) i could be wrong tho, however they (NASA) built the space bridge from atlantis i think

And if you look at Shows like Star Trek, i point out Zefram Cochran he wasn't even an astronaut he was an alchaholic bum just looking to make quick bucks, yet the federation built there entire foundation around him i dont know if that helps or not

You are right about NASA. But what I meant is we have NASA for space exploration and space ships. NASA has nothing to do with Stargate, I was just pointing out the fact that NASA is the one who went to the moon and has space probes and the Air Force Space Command mostly deals with Satellites and maintaining the space around our territory. Detecting an asteroid coming towards Earth would most likely be found by NASA since they deal with strictly outer space, Air Force Space Command deals with our orbit and not outer space like NASA. But you are correct that Area 51 being civilians and military personnel in Area 51 built the X-301, X-302 then turned to F-302 when it was a success, BC-303 and BC-304's.

[NickEast]

It is mentioned a few times that NASA works closely with Stargate Command, particularly in regards to monitoring of space in the Solar System (beyond Earth's orbit). They also helped on numerous occasions, such as rescuing SG-1 with a space shuttle after they destroyed Apophis' ships. NASA did not built the ships or anything else, that was Area 51 since they have the R&D department of the program.

Stargate Command is a "Command" just like SOCOM and answers directly to the President and the Joint Chiefs. The Air Force controls the Stargate primarily because it's housed inside an Air Force station (which may have been the most suitable location). And it's also more hard-science fiction when the Air Force does the space forces rather than the traditional Navy because right now (in real life), the Air Force is directly affiliated with space-based operations (NASA primarily employs AF officers as astronauts).

Finally, the reason why Air Force also comprised most of the SG teams was because they were Special Forces, who do a lot of missions on the ground. And don't forget that Marines also formed SG teams (SG-3 was originally a Marine unit)

P.S: Though I don't mind, comparing Stargate to Star Trek or Wars is not very correct. The latter two are closer to fantasy, especially Star Wars. Stargate has a lot of hard-science in it (though most of it remains behind the scenes) and tries to portray the military correctly as opposed to those other franchises. Stargate also occurred in the present, so it was forced to do all Earth related things as realistic as possible (another thing why I prefer the show over the movie).

[jfarrell327]

I spoke with the Air Force Entertainment Liaison people and they told me if the Stargate was real the Air Force would be the primary branch to handle it and that the Army and Marines being primarily a ground force would be charged with guarding the base(s)... Makes sense but for my book I am recreating the US Space Command.