u/DrShakyHandz

In late season 2 of a rewatch and I’m like wtf…. It’s already a plot point in multiple episodes that the SGC’s way of dialing the date via computer takes waaaay longer than a DHD. So much so when they are trying to prevent someone from dialing in they try to dial out but the enemy dials in first. Yet we know the Antarctic gate had a DHD. And it’s used in later episodes for rapid dialing for rogue members of the NID to dial out super fast and get away.

So if the DHD is so much more efficient at dialing why didn’t they hook it up to their Cheyenne Mountain gate? Or, at worst, if it wasn’t compatible, replace the SGC gate with the antarctic one and now have a usable DHD?

This being very specific plot point bugged me. Like, I’m not that smart, so why didnt any of these geniuses working on this project consider this.

SG-1 debuted 5 years before I joined the US Military. I ended up in the Air Force years later as a cross trainee. I'm rewatching SG-1 and as hammy as it can be sometimes, it's clear the show put a lot of effort into actually reflecting the military when the sci fi plot didn't require deviation. For example, people's rank increasing at the rate as it would in real life, or as one user pointed out very recently, some people perpetually stuck at the same rank (which is very common).

I had great leaders and horrifyingly incompetent leaders while I was in the military. According to some reviews some people saw Hammond as "strict to protocol" in the first season, and softened somewhat in later seasons and became the "dad" of Stargate Command. I'm currently on Episode 10 of the first season, and I think Hammond has been portrayed by Don S. Davis as an exceptional commander who appropriately juggles military need and morality extremely well. I mean, its still a science fiction show that has some fairly ridiculous examples of decisions made by military guys, but usually those are plot driven more than what would realistically happen.

In episode 10 Hammond initially comes off harsh to Catherine, with her stating he even seems worse than General West. Seconds later, he states that their big presentation of justification for a mission was wasted time, because as soon as he was told someone had been left behind, the mission was a go. I've literally seen this in real life. Saw a full bird down range launch a mission without hesitation to rescue a single individual. People come first.

Now, would all commanders do this. Absolutely the fuck not. I've seen some insanely self serving commanders who would be more immediately concerned with their own careers before anything else. I'm not saying launching a rescue op blindly is a smart choice, and that's not what happened in my example. What I'm saying is the hesitation I've seen was almost always more based on the officers fear for their own career if things go wrong, rather than an actual fear of the lives of the rescuers or our declaration of never leaving men behind. I've lost track of the amount of times I heard an officer talk about the cost of equipment before ever even mentioning the cost of the lives of the people that operate them. To more than a few military commanders, the potential of even damaging an aircraft, like a 50 year old C-130, was worth more than a single individuals life.

I just felt the need to share my two cents on Hammond. I met so few officers that walked that line in my career, but they do exist. In the very first episode it shows that Hammond is already in charge of the facility. The stargate functioning changes the ENTIRE MISSION of the facility, and yet he remained in charge. I was stationed in Colorado Springs for many years. After the facility became public and was sorta declassified, the facility was a fairly easy assignment, still important, but not necessarily staffed with the best of the best. In real life Hammond would have been immediately replaced, but as an Air Force vet watching the show I'm glad he wasn't. If that was a real general, I'd be proud to serve under him.