Publius wrote:Not necessarily so. FADM Piett was aided by two "fleet captains" on the bridge of HIMS Executor at Endor (ref. Return of the Jedi), and a "personal advisor" (deep-space transmissions expert and former Naval aviator ADM Chiraneau), presumably an administrative assistant or chief of staff (ref. "* Admiral Chiraneau").
Yes, they were a much needed addition.
Indeed, the absence of a separate chief of staff to FADM Ozzel may be a political measure. Neither Lord Vader nor the Galactic Emperor trusted ADM Ozzel or his "close advisors" (ref. "* Captain Needa"), and he may well have been denied the right to select a chief of staff. CAPT Piett was assigned to command HIMS Executor under FADM Griff by Lord Vader (ref. The New Essential Guide to Characters); he may have been made deputy commander and chief of staff to ensure that a reliable and loyal officer were by necessity close to FADM Ozzel.
If Ozzel wasn't trust, and considering how many commanders there are out there, why don't they bring someone else in?
According to The New Essential Guide to Characters, he was promoted captain after a tour of duty with the 37th Imperial Fighter Wing immediately upon graduation, and after a second tour of duty was appointed Commanding Officer, HIMS Pride of the Senate.
Mr. Wallace appears to have confused the Army/Marines/Air Force rank of captain (O-3) with the Naval rank of post captain (O-6), as he documents CAPT Fel's subsequent assignment as an instructor at the Prefsbelt IV Naval Academy, punitive transfer to the 181st Imperial Fighter Wing (COL Evir Derricote commanding), and promotion to major (O-4). The simplest correction is that his punitive transfer to the 181st was accompanied by demotion from O-6 to O-3 (and that he adopted a Army-style rank while acting as a Naval aviator).
I sometimes wonder whether the real "captain" rank involved in these cases is something like "Captain-Lieutenant" (used in Germany and Russia) or Corvette-Captain (used in Germany.) But the prefix or suffix is left out because the translator did not understand the difference (I doubt they studied military ranks in other countries to get perspective before proceeding.)
It won't explain this one cleanly, because Crespin put a "Commander" Toniv under Fel. But it will explain many of the times like:
In Bacta War, Commander Convarion is implied to be higher than a Captain. Saxton does some pretty wierd gyrations about him possibly being a Commodore (that would make him Isard's senior officer, and makes one wonder why he didn't get the SSD.) But perhaps he could have meant he was higher than Captain-Lieutenant, and Isard removed that last cylinder to make him a full Captain.
In Crespin's Rebel Dawn, Commander Tharen is higher than Tedris. Saxton rationalizes Tedris' captaincy is figurative, and his rank is lieutenant. I prefer to think he IS some kind of Captain, just not the full Captain zur See that Saxton seems to think is the only form of naval captain rank.
In Wraith Squadron, Piggy is promised a naval captaincy within a year if he transfers to Fleet. I really doubt Wedge meant he'd be senior to himself within a year. (If that were so, and I'm Piggy, I'd transfer, get my O-6 rank and pay, and come back to starfighters as about a Colonel.)
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As an aside, Sometimes Saxton goes into some pretty wierd gyrations to try to force everything to fit into not only Terran, but British style military fashion!
Nobody but Saxton that seriously reads Wraith Squadron would think Allston meant to promote Klivian to being senior to Wedge just because he's a "Captain."
When Face became "brevet Captain," did Saxton take that to mean Face is now senior to Wedge? I doubt it.
And I can't believe Saxton put himself into a spin just because Lieutenant Donos commanded a squadron. Ranks from Lieutenant all the way to Lieutenant-Colonel have commanded squadrons at one military or another at various times!
And you're right about Pellaeon. He never struck me as incompetent. He was a good (not exceptional) commander who just got unlucky. 
