What military ranks did any of the astronauts hold?
We only know of five of the astronaut’s ranks and can presume a fifth by inference. George Taylor (POTA), Alan Virdon (POTA TV series), and Ronald Brent (POTA animated series) all held the rank of Colonel in the United States Air Force. Stewart is referred to as ‘our lovely lieutenant Stewart’ by Taylor in the first movie, so we know that she held this rank. In the third movie, Dodge is referred to by a government inquiry board as “Lieutenant Dodge”, thus giving him a military rank and raising question with my earlier theory that Dodge was merely a civilian on a military flight (similar to Christa McAuliffe, the school teacher who was aboard Challenger) rather than an actual officer. Burke: “Galen! When you signed up for this outfit you got stuck with obeying orders from the commanding officer, Colonel Alan Virdon.” -POTA TV series, Episode 5, “The Legacy” I also believe that Brent’s commander, “Skipper”, in the second movie, was also a colonel in the USAF, since that rank apparently i
