Changes: W. O. West

Revision as of 19:23, 23 June 2015

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.

Biography

Background information

An 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 has served at least six months in 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 despite O'Neill going through an emotionally difficult time considering how his son had just died. West also knew O'Neill well enough to ask about his wife by name. (Stargate (film))

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.

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. (Stargate (film))

Sometime after the first activation of the Stargate, he presumably retired and was subsequently replaced by Major General George S. Hammond, who later 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

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)

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

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 ==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.
+An [[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 has served at least six months in 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 [[Sara O'Neill|his wife]] by name. {{Cite|Stargate (film)}}
+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 despite O'Neill going through an emotionally difficult time considering how [[Charlie O'Neill|his son]] had just died. West also knew O'Neill well enough to ask about [[Sara O'Neill|his wife]] by name. {{Cite|Stargate (film)}}
 ===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.
+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.
 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|Stargate (film)}}