"Sally Manton" smanton@hotmail.com wrote:
Dana wrote: <I am really bemused by the idea of Servalan being in the military at all--I would find it much more believable if she were introduced as a Senator or industrialist who later became President.>
Presumably she went straight into the officer cadets, then used her connections/influences to avoid any real soldiering and make a swift rise in the military bureaucracy. It appears that field officers and staff officers are completely different career paths (see Rai and Travis in SLD, Tarrant was also a field officer IMO) and the staff one is very much a political pathway.
I wonder what made Servalan choose the military option *rather* than a career in civilian politics, at a time when the central powere still seemed to be in civilian hands (top military appointments being by the President, and influenced by members of the Council). Jacqui suggested:
<As Kasabi says Servalan comes from a well to do family it might well have been that she was 'packed off' to the military to get her out of the way,>
which is possible - I think someone as malignant and empty as she is would make a rather undesirable relative, but even an undesirable could be made use of if the family was ambitious. Be interesting to see what happened to the family when she became President, and even more interesting when she fell from power ...
Perhaps it was one of the 'traditional' ways of dealing with 'younger offspring' (as in the Middle Ages where the second son was 'often' made a cleric - as the future Henry VIII was intended to be)
Jacqui
Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/