MACO question?

[GalaxyClass1701]

They never really explained this except for Forest asking Archer How he feels about the Military being on board.

So are the Macos just another branch of United Earth Milatary, Star Fleet being the Navy and MACO's being the Marines?

 

[RegFan]

From Memory Alpha:

Military Assault Command Operations (commonly abbreviated as MACO) was a United Earth military organization in service on Earth during the 2150s, prior to the founding of the Federation. The MACOs (pronounced "MAY-ko") were not associated with the Starfleet.

 

[GalaxyClass1701]

Thanks so why would they have to follow ARcher's order? And did they report to the UEF President?

 

[Michael]

why would they have to follow ARcher's order?

Because they were ordered to report to Captain Archer?

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Thanks so why would they have to follow ARcher's order?

Simplest explanation:

Because these particular MACOs were on board of Enterprise, Archer was the captain, and everbodoy has to follow the captain's orders on a ship. Neither T'Pol nor Phlox were Starfleet officers either. Sill they followed Archer's orders.

And did they report to the UEF President?

Since they weren't a private mercenary group they surely answered to the government. It's unclear if there was a UE president though.

 

[Admiral Shran]

They never really explained this except for Forest asking Archer How he feels about the Military being on board.

So are the Macos just another branch of United Earth Milatary, Star Fleet being the Navy and MACO's being the Marines?

The MACOs were part of the United Earth military. It appears that Starfleet was, at this point, a purely exploratory and scientific agency, it was not associated with the military at all. Of course, that's not the case in TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY. It seems that when the Federation was created, Earth Starfleet merged with several different agencies (MACO's, Andorian Imperial Guard, Vulcan military, Tellarite military) to form the new nation's defensive/exploratory/scientific agency.

Thanks so why would they have to follow ARcher's order? And did they report to the UEF President?

They probably had to follow Archer's orders for several reasons. First, Enterprise was his ship, when on any ship you follow that ship's captain's orders. Second, Archer commanded the mission and the MACOs were just a part of that mission. Third, they may have simply have been ordered by the their military superiors to follow Archer's orders.

They would certainly have to answer to the United Earth government, just as Starfleet did. Though, I think the UE government had a Prime Minister, not a President. It appears that Nathan Samuels, from "Demons" and "Terra Prime," is the UE Prime Minister, even though he's only ever referred to as "Minister Samuels."

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Though, I think the UE government had a Prime Minister, not a President.

It's both, actually. United Earth is a parliamentary republic, with a President (Lydia Littlejohn) as head of state, and a Prime Minister (Nathan Samuels) as head of government.

As for the MACOs: Not only do they obey Archer's orders because he's the captain, Major Hayes deferred to Reed (whom Hayes actually outranks) because Reed is the head of security on the ship.

 

[Nerys Myk]

IIRC, Lydia Littlejohn is from the books. Make of that what you will.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

IIRC, Lydia Littlejohn is from the books. Make of that what you will.

The only time we will ever see ENT again is *in* the books, so that's what *I* make of it.

 

[Nerys Myk]

You didn't hear about the ENT cast being in ST12?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

One thing I wondered why they didn't show the female MACO Corporal McKenzie in season 4. Hayes made her the head of the MACOs on his deathbed. Of course she was only seen once before, as she was hot blonde MACO from Anamoly, and she didn't seem as strong or as capable as the other female MACO we saw throughout season three. I wonder why they made it so important that Hayes would pick her.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

*I* wonder why a Corporal suddenly becomes head of the MACOs. Didn't Hayes have a captain and/or a lieutenant serving under him? He was a Major, after all.

 

[TerraUnam]

ISTM that Starfleet sees itself as an exploratory agency that happens to carry weapons, while the MACOs see themselves an armed service, pure and simple. It was never explained how large the MACO organization is or what it is scaled to defend against, but at the very least its mission probably includes protecting Earth's off-world colonies.

 

[Sci]

IIRC, Lydia Littlejohn is from the books. Make of that what you will.

The only time we will ever see ENT again is *in* the books, so that's what *I* make of it.

To be fair, though, Littlejohn first appeared in the novel Starfleet: Year One, which was released before ENT aired and was rendered out of continuity by ENT.

Littlejohn did appear in the recent ENT novel The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wings, but she hasn't become President yet -- as of 2155, she's a Member of the Parliament of United Earth, and apparently not a member of Prime Minister Nathan Samuels's Cabinet.

The Corps of Engineers novel The Future Begins establishes that she does become President of United Earth during the Romulan War at some point; presumably she'll be elected President at some point.

This all does seem to imply that United Earth is either a Westminster-style parliamentary republic (ceremonial President with reserve powers and a Prime Minister who is the real leader) or a French-style semi-presidential system (President who is in charge if his/her party has the majority of seats in Parliament with a Prime Minister who does the President's bidding, but President is rendered ceremonial and real power shifts to the Prime Minister if the President's party is in the minority in parliament).

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

*I* wonder why a Corporal suddenly becomes head of the MACOs. Didn't Hayes have a captain and/or a lieutenant serving under him? He was a Major, after all.

Interestingly, the second-highest ranking MACO ever shown was Sergeant Kemper who would also outrank Mackenzie.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/N._Kemper

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Kemper was injured in battle, wasn't he? Maybe he had to retire because of that. In fact, in the novels, I think he did.

Still wondering why there weren't any lower ranked MACO officers serving under Hayes. Surely one of them would have taken over after Hayes' death. I'm just guessing that IRL, in any group of soldiers or Marines large enough to be commanded by a Major, there is also going to be a Captain and/or a Lieutenant also serving with that group.

Actually, how many MACOs were on the ship in the first place? Perhaps Hayes' presence was a bit of overkill. Were there enough of them to warrant such a relatively high ranking officer in command? I'm wondering why the writers didn't just make the MACO commander a Lieutenant. It would also let Reed actually outrank them all (since a Starfleet naval Lieutenant, like a real US Navy one, would outrank even a full MACO/Marine Lieutenant).

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

^^

Who knows, maybe MACO Command or whatever it's called thought it was good idea to send a more experienced officer along. Especially since it was perhaps the most important mission the MACOs had ever conducted so far. Why Hayes was the only officer though is unclear.

Canonically, there were at least 35 MACOs serving on board of Enterprise:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/MACO_personnel

Or maybe that's just how the military conducts business in the 22nd century, with enlisted personnel far better trained/qualified than soldiers of our time as one possible explanation. In any case, since there are surely differences between the military of 2010 and the military of 1865, there also differences to be expected between 2010 and 2155.

 

[Sci]

For whatever it's worth, the recent ENT novel The Romulan War: Beneath the Raptor's Wings establishes that the MACOs' organization is called the Military Assault Command Organization. No word on whether the Organization is part of a larger United Earth Army (a la the Green Berets being part of the United States Army) or if it's a service branch in its own right.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm just waiting for a novel to do the inevitable joke where somebody says "Uh oh, better get MACOs".

 

[clint g]

^^

Who knows, maybe MACO Command or whatever it's called thought it was good idea to send a more experienced officer along. Especially since it was perhaps the most important mission the MACOs had ever conducted so far. Why Hayes was the only officer though is unclear.

Canonically, there were at least 35 MACOs serving on board of Enterprise:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/MACO_personnel

Or maybe that's just how the military conducts business in the 22nd century, with enlisted personnel far better trained/qualified than soldiers of our time as one possible explanation. In any case, since there are surely differences between the military of 2010 and the military of 1865, there also differences to be expected between 2010 and 2155.

Even so, Corporal is pretty low on the food chain. There should have at least been a Platoon Sergeant (or maybe even a First Sergeant) that could have taken Hayes' place