Military Ranks in Science Fiction

Gene Roddenberry allegedly said once that everyone on board the Enterprise should be an officer, because they're all trained astronauts, and that makes them all highly-educated.

Allegedly! I hope it isn't true, because the statement is wrong on several levels at once. The most important level is simply one of function: enlisted people deal with equipment, and officers deal with people. Their job is essentially management. But a military composed entirely of managers is probably not going to work very well.

(As a veteran, Roddenberry should have known this. I honestly have no clue what he was thinking; unless it was simply a matter of tone, rather than of fact. He may simply not have wanted a heirarchical military looming too obtrusively in his 23rd-century utopia.)

This is a very roundabout way of introducing Karen Traviss' new book, Order 66. It's the fourth part of her "Republic Commando" series, which covers the events of the Prequel Series from the point of view of common soldiers.

(Well, kind of common. Common relative to the Jedi and the Sith, anyway.)

A large dose of the fun of the books comes from that difference in perspective. Here's Obi-Wan Kenobi, as seen in the Revenge of the Sith novelization:

He is respected throughout the Jedi Order for his insight as well as his warrior skill. He has become the hero of the next generation of Padawans; he is the Jedi their Masters hold up as a model. He is the being that the Council assigns to their most important missions. He is modest, centered, and always kind.

He is the ultimate Jedi.

And here he is, from the perspective of Order 66's lower ranks:

"Cody might think that the sun shines out of his ear, General, but I think he's a glory-seeker who wastes too many men."

... Which is, to belabor the connection I started this post with, how I imagine a lot of lower-level Enterprise crewmen see Captain Kirk.