Changes: W. O. West

Revision as of 11:15, 19 March 2018

W. O. West was a Major General in the United States Air Force and headed Project Giza (also known as the Stargate Project), the forerunner of Stargate Command at Cheyenne Mountain. He retired and hence was then replaced by George S Hammond.

Biography

Background information

A United States Air Force officer with experience in the Vietnam War and Southeast Asia (Gulf War), Major General West wore the wings of a senior pilot and a rather uninformative rack of ribbons. He is a qualified expert with small arms and served six months over deployed in conflicts in the country Vietnam.

He has prior experience with Colonel Jack O'Neil, trusting his judgment and his military expertise while having enough emotional distance from the man to select him for a suicide mission, despite O'Neill going through an emotionally difficult time considering how his son had just died. He knew O'Neill well enough to ask about his family, mainly his wife. (Stargate)

1996

West oversaw Dr. Catherine Langford's experiments with the Stargate until selecting, recalling, and delegating Colonel Jack O'Neil as military commander when Dr. Daniel Jackson joined the team.

After successful use of the Earth Stargate to Abydos, West militarized the program, locked out most of the civilian team previously under Langford. He then authorized the initial mission to Abydos. (Stargate)

After the first activation of the Stargate, he retired, replaced by Major General George S. Hammond, who assumed control of the newly-formed Stargate Command in 1997. (SG1: "Children of the Gods")

Ribbons and Medals

Senior Pilot Wings
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (with one or more clusters)
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Southwest Asia Service Medal (device?)
Air Force Overseas Short Tour
Air Force Longevity Service Award (with 2 clusters of unknown type)
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Trivia

The book describes him as a "stern soldier about fifty years old" (putting his birthday around 1940) and states the following:

"Respected and feared by all who served under him, West was famous for three things: for always making the right decisions under pressure, for erupting into superhuman fits of rage when his orders were not executed exactly as he wished, and for being the best damn poker player in any branch of the armed forces."

―Stargate novelization p. 56^[src]

Leon Rippy, who played General West, is a character actor who appears in many movies by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Rippy would later go on to appear in the TV series, "Leverage" alongside actor, Timothy Hutton.

Preceded by New Office	Commander of Project Giza 1995–1997	Succeeded by George S. Hammond

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 |race=[[Tau'ri]]
 |gender=Male
-|rank=[[Major General]]
+|rank= Major General (Retired)
 |home planet=[[Earth]]
-|allegiances=Unknown<br> ''formerly [[Stargate Command]]''
+|appearances=''[[Stargate (movie)|Stargate]]''
-|appearances=[[Stargate (movie)|''Stargate'']]
 |actor=[[Leon Rippy]]
 }}
-'''W. O. West''' was a [[Major General]] in the [[United States Air Force]] and headed [[Project Giza]] (also known as the Stargate Project), the forerunner of [[Stargate Command]] at [[Cheyenne Mountain]].
+'''W. O. West''' was a [[Major General]] in the [[United States Air Force]] and headed [[Project Giza]] (also known as the Stargate Project), the forerunner of [[Stargate Command]] at [[Cheyenne Mountain]]. He retired and hence was then replaced by George S Hammond.
 ==Biography==
 ===Background information===
-An [[United States Air Force]] officer with experience in the [[Vietnam War]] and Southeast Asia ([[Gulf War]]), Major General West wears the wings of a senior pilot and a rather uninformative rack of ribbons. He is a qualified expert with small arms and has served at least six months in Vietnam.
+A [[United States Air Force]] officer with experience in the [[Vietnam War]] and Southeast Asia ([[Gulf War]]), Major General West wore the wings of a senior pilot and a rather uninformative rack of ribbons. He is a qualified expert with small arms and served six months over deployed in conflicts in the country Vietnam.
-He has prior experience with [[Colonel]] [[Jack O'Neil]], both trusting his judgment and his military expertise while having enough emotional distance from the man to select him for a [[suicide]] mission. He also knew O'Neill well enough to ask about his [[Sara O'Neill|wife]] by name. {{cite}}
+He has prior experience with [[Colonel]] [[Jack O'Neil]], trusting his judgment and his military expertise while having enough emotional distance from the man to select him for a [[suicide]] mission, despite O'Neill going through an emotionally difficult time considering how [[Charlie O'Neill|his son]] had just died. He knew O'Neill well enough to ask about his family, mainly [[Sara O'Neill|his wife]]. {{Cite}}
 ===1996===
-He oversaw [[Dr.]] [[Catherine Langford]]'s experiments with the [[Stargate]] until selecting, recalling, and delegating [[Colonel]] [[Jack O'Neil]] as military commander when [[Dr.]] [[Daniel Jackson]] joined the team. Upon the successful connection of the [[Earth]] [[Stargate]] to [[Abydos]], West immediately militarized the program and locked out most of the civilian team previously under Langford. He then authorized the initial excursion to Abydos. {{Cite}}
+West oversaw [[Dr.]] [[Catherine Langford]]'s experiments with the [[Stargate]] until selecting, recalling, and delegating [[Colonel]] [[Jack O'Neil]] as military commander when [[Dr.]] [[Daniel Jackson]] joined the team.
+After successful use of the [[Earth]] [[Stargate]] to [[Abydos]], West militarized the program, locked out most of the civilian team previously under Langford. He then authorized the initial mission to Abydos. {{Cite}}
-Sometime after the first activation of the Stargate, he was replaced by [[Major General]] [[George S. Hammond]], who later assumed control of the newly-formed [[Stargate Command]] in [[1997]]. {{Cite|SG1|Children of the Gods}}
+After the first activation of the Stargate, he retired, replaced by [[Major General]] [[George S. Hammond]], who assumed control of the newly-formed [[Stargate Command]] in [[1997]]. {{Cite|SG1|Children of the Gods}}
 ==Ribbons and Medals==
@@ Line 40: / Line 41: @@
 ==Trivia==
-*The book describes him as a "stern soldier about fifty years old" (putting his birthday around 1940) and states the following:
+*[[Stargate (novel)|The book]] describes him as a "stern soldier about fifty years old" (putting his birthday around 1940) and states the following:
-{{quote|Respected and feared by all who served under him, West was famous for three things: for always making the right decisions under pressure, for erupting into superhuman fits of rage when his orders were not executed exactly as he wished, and for being the best damn poker player in any branch of the armed forces.|Stargate novelization p. 56}}
+{{Quote|Respected and feared by all who served under him, West was famous for three things: for always making the right decisions under pressure, for erupting into superhuman fits of rage when his orders were not executed exactly as he wished, and for being the best damn poker player in any branch of the armed forces.|Stargate novelization p. 56|Stargate (novel)}}
-*[[Leon Rippy]], who played General West, is a character actor who appears in many movies by [[Dean Devlin]] and [[Roland Emmerich]].
+*[[Leon Rippy]], who played General West, is a character actor who appears in many movies by [[Dean Devlin]] and [[Roland Emmerich]]. Rippy would later go on to appear in the TV series, "Leverage" alongside actor, Timothy Hutton.
-==References==
-* ''Stargate: A Novel by Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich'' (1994)
 {{DEFAULTSORT:West, W. O.}}
@@ Line 61: / Line 59: @@
 [[Category:Generals]]
 [[Category:Original movie characters]]
+[[de:W. O. West]]
+[[fr:W.O. West]]