Talk:Ash-G099

Rank
Does anyone else think it's weird that all the Spartan-IIs and -IIIs so far have "graduated" into the UNSC Navy, but that with the rank of Private (see source on page); Ash will graduate into the UNSC Marine Corps? Think this is an error? --  Manticore  File:Fleet Admiral.jpg|25px]] TalkundefinedCSV 18:16, 31 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd say it was pretty obviously an error. Why would ONE spartan III be in the Marines while ALL other spartans have been in the navy? -ED 03:10, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Any chance that Ash is actually part of the UNSC Army? I would put forth this idea due to the fact that Colonel James Ackerson is part of the Army, and he's the one in charge of the project. --Vince Toreago 06:31, 7 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Probably not. Marines are the best of the army, so they have their own corps. Then there's the ODSTs, the best of the Marines. Then there's the Spartans, (II, then III, then I), literally the best of the best of the best of the best. So Ash wouldn't be an army soldier.

Navies don't have companies of soldiers. Company is an army and marine measurement for unit size. Since all Spartan-IIIs were members of a company (Alpha, Beta, Gamma), they cannot be part of the UNSC Navy. Lucy and Tom, the only survivors of Beta Company are confirmed Petty Officers (Navy rank) only after Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose requests they become his personal attaches. Its possible that all Spartan-IIIs are members of the marines, but more likely members of the UNSC Army, since their parent sponsor is Army Colonel James Ackerson. Lucy and Tom could've simply been transferred to the Navy to fill the role of Kurt's attaches after their company was disbanded/destroyed. I hope this information clears up the Ash being a Private issue. If anyone else can confirm this, then all the ranks for the Spartan-IIIs (except Lucy and Tom) need to be changed from navy to army/marines.

I'm not a registered user, oh well. October 10th, 2007.

first off (unregistered person.) you are not right. the Navy today has combat troops. they are members of NAVSPECWAR. they are SEALS. Spartan's are like SEALs. they're NAVSPECWAR soldiers. meaning they're navy. Ash's Private Rank is a mistake made by the author. who is not infallible.-WhellerNG 04:26, 14 August 2009 (UTC)

Ash's rank and the branch of the SPARTAN-III companies
There has been some discussion over the supposed incongruity with Ash's rank before, as seen in the posts above. I took note of this apparent discrepancy upon seeing him alone as a Marine here, while the rest of Sabre Team are listed as Navy, which seems to be somewhat nonsensical. I thought I'd dig a little deeper into this, see what I'd find. The note on the page says the following:

"While the SPARTAN-IIIs of Alpha and Beta Companies "graduated" into the UNSC Navy, as Ash holds the UNSC Marine Corps rank of Private, it is possible that Gamma Company "graduated" into the Marine Corps. However, since the other members of his squad held the rank of Petty Officer Third Class (the equivalent of a Corporal in the Marine Corps), it can be assumed the rank was a mistake."

The first thing I noticed was the way our articles are claiming that most of the SPARTAN-IIIs - Sabre Team included - hold the rank of Petty Officer Third Class. Where did this information come from? I know it wasn't Ghosts of Onyx; the only SPARTAN-III ranks mentioned in the novel are those of Tom and Lucy as Kurt's aides (petty officer second class) and that of Ash (private). It's easy to think of this as a pure supposition that the SPARTAN-IIIs served within the Navy like their SPARTAN-II forebears and received the same rank upon graduation. Of course, a supposition is all it is, but that hasn't stopped editors from inserting their own ideas before either.

In fact, the whole discrepancy stems from the assumption that the rest of Gamma Company, or the SPARTAN-IIIs to begin with, serve under the Navy. Since we now know (from Halo: Reach and the EVG) that there were Spartans serving in different branches, I think that assumption is now on very shaky ground. It's not impossible that Gamma Company was actually assigned to the Marine Corps, or even the Army (the latter also being a concrete possibility, especially given who was in charge of the program). Do we even know what branch Alpha and Beta companies served in? The ranks of Tom and Lucy as of 2551 tell nothing about where they might have originally served; they could've been assigned to the Navy when they became Kurt's assistants, as mentioned in the post by an unregistered user above.

To the point, since all we seemingly have for Gamma's ranks is Ash's rank of private, I think it's safe to say that the rest of Gamma Company operate within the same chain of command. We still don't know for sure what branch that is, however, so it's best to leave both the ranks and branch fields blank for the individual SPARTAN-IIIs other than Tom and Lucy, who are obviously Navy. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 03:10, 29 October 2012 (EDT)


 * Agreed. It's like when every Elite's homeworld was being listed as Sanghelios. 11:04, 29 October 2012 (EDT)