What branch of the service...

[*Melissa*]

...is Roger in? I know Major Nelson is in the Air Force, but I always thought Roger was in the Army because he wore a green uniform unlike Tony's blue one, and he has the Army Corps of Engineers pin on his uniform. Have they ever mentioned this on the show?


Thanks.

[TV Guy]

I believe in the early episodes it was mentioned in an offhand way that Roger was in the Army.

[Commander Benson]

Roger Healey was, indeed, an Army officer, and I have always given the show's producers kudos for keeping a close continuity on that score (at least during the run of the original show; the revival films screwed up on that point).

It becomes obvious that Healey was an Army officer after the show went to colour. As you pointed out, his uniform was green and he wore the distinctive lapel devices of a member of the Corps of Engineers.

Moreover, since in the Army and the Marine Corps, the rank of O-4/major is termed a field-grade officer, that is the rank where the gold braid is added to the visors of their combination caps. (The Navy and the Air Force does not add this until the rank of O-5 [commander/lieutenant colonel].) The show missed this point in the monochrome episodes after Nelson and Healey were promoted to major; however, starting with the colour episodes, Healey was given the proper cap decoration.

And in the wedding episode, the distinction is even more evident, as Major Nelson wears the standard mess dress uniform for the Air Force, while Major Healey wears the Army's version of mess dress.

This leads to the one question that has always picked at me about the show. It is perfectly natural--and a nice attention to detail--that the astronauts be of different branches, since NASA is a joint-service command. But I have always wondered why the show bothered to make Nelson and Healey of two different services. As best I can recall, the fact that they were of two different services was never a plot point of any episode or even directly addressed. Nor is the average civilian likely to be impressed one way or the other by making the two of separate services. So why did the show bother?

If anything, it added to the complication of the production--the additional detail of the Army uniform, the extra cost of making one uniform different from all of the others used on the show, the confusion created in the minds of some viewers. These problems would have been sidestepped, with no real loss to the show, if Healey had been an Air Force officer, as well.

Don't get me wrong: I like the idea that the two men were in separate services; it's a realistic touch. But it seems to be especial attention to detail for situation comedies of the era. I've always wondered whose idea it was and why?


Commander Benson

[treky]

yea, that's right! Ecspeccialy (SP?) since they decided to film the first season in black and white because it would have cost an extra $300 to film it in color.

And I never knew that Rodger was in the Army Corps of Engineers! I always wondered why his uniform's a different color.

[sg1niner]

In a mock NASA profile of Roger, it says he was the first and only Army astronaut for many many years, until 1985. Maybe they were trying to keep to that, and NASA at the time, like you said, it being a joint service.

I wonder how close to IDoJ canon that NASA profile is. It even mentions the movies, and how he got busted to Captain for a time but went back to Lt. Colonel. (I adapted it to reflect my Crossover Roger, a space shuttle pilot.)

I like it too that Roger was in another service, showing that NASA isn't just USAF.

Being a little kid when it was out, it took my sisters and me some time before we realized his uniform was different, even in color (not the greatest TV in the world.) I remember us asking our dad what that was on Roger's lapels, why it looked different, and he went into the big dissertation about the Corps of Engineers and such (He was an engineer himself.)

Great I go on about dad's dissertation and look at mine. Can we say "verbose?" I knew we could.