Lieutenant General George Hammond

Context

Gen. Hammond was a secondary character in the Stargate universe, primarily seen in the Stargate SG-1 TV series. For more context about that, you should first read our Stargate Command profile.

But he could be repurposed as a good-guy senior military officer in many contexts.

Background

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Powers and Abilities

General Hammond is an experienced and skilled military commander. He can capably engage in politics without being subsumed by them.

Though he is no longer active in the field, Hammond maintains reasonable physical fitness and skill with firearms. These are important qualities for a CO  whose base is occasionally attacked by aliens.

There is circumstantial evidence that he was a pilot at some point in his career. He mentions seeing an MIA friend’s plane being shot down in Việt Nam and was a capable enough second seater in a Death Glider. But this has not been definitively stated.

History

George Hammond was a career military man. There a few known details of his early career.

It has been established that he served in Việt Nam during the war and befriended Lieutenant Henry Hayes as a young man. Hayes would later become President of the United States while Hammond was serving with the SGC.

In 1969, Lieutenant Hammond was stationed at NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain. This is where he first met the SG-1 team, which had accidentally traveled three decades back in time. A note from a future self, written in memory of this event, convinced him to help them escape the base.

Hammond became a widower three years prior to joining the SGC when his wife died of cancer.

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Sinecure?

Hammond was on the verge of retirement when he was asked to return to Cheyenne Mountain to oversee the Stargate base. This was considered a last easy assignment, since the Stargate had been inactive since the first mission to Abydos. When Apophis’s forces came through the gate and skirmished briefly with the security forces there, the assignment changed dramatically.

Hammond found himself in charge of the newly-formed Stargate Command. He put off his retirement after he recognized how important the project was to his country and the world as a whole.

From there, Hammond’s military and political skills and connections preserved the SGC from enemies foreign and domestic on many occasions. He also provided strong leadership and direction to the program.

After seven years of distinguished service to the SGC, Hammond was promoted to Lieutenant General. He was also made commander of the experimental starship Prometheus during Anubis’s attack on Earth.

This led to him becoming head of a new secret government division, the Department of Homeworld Security. It oversees the SGC, the Atlantis expedition, and related projects such as the Prometheus starships.

Description

A barrel-chested white male whose round face is accented by an aquiline nose, Hammond can be either an imposing or comforting figure depending on his mood.

He usually wears the standard USAF service uniform, but unless it is a formal occasion he will not wear the jacket or tie and prefers a short-sleeve dress shirt to a long-sleeved one.

Hammond will switch to fatigues on those rare occasions he ventures into the field.

Personality

Hammond is dedicated to serving his country and protecting the people under his command. He respects the military chain of command and also considers accountability to the public and their elected representatives an important responsibility.

Being a forward thinker, Hammond puts emphasis on building networks of allies among the alien races encountered by the SGC. This is opposed to attempting to exploit them for short-term gain.The General has also participated in efforts to bring other countries on Earth into fuller knowledge and cooperation with the Stargate Program.

This is also reflected in his traditional personal practice of building open, meaningful friendships with his colleagues whenever he can. He was recognized and openly respected by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and at least two presidents.

Leadership

When a conflict arises between Hammond’s orders and his own sense of what should be done, his first response is attempt negotiating a solution that will satisfy both demands.

If he cannot do so, his subsequent actions will depend on the strength of his misgivings. If the orders given are questionable but not illegal or likely to result in tragic consequences, he will follow them faithfully but continue to monitor the situation very carefully.

If his concerns are more profound, Hammond is willing to break the rules. For example, when SG-1 was captured by Hathor and SGs -3, -5, -6, and -11 were trapped trying to free them, Hammond was ordered not to send any more troops after them.

He noted that his orders did not forbid *him* from going anywhere. So he went off-world to secure help from Bra’tac and Teal’c, joining them in an attack to reinforce the SG teams and help them escape.

During another incident in which SG-1 had disobeyed orders and gone through the stargate to stop Anubis’s impending attack on Earth, Hammond sent SG-2 after them. He officially reported it as an attempt to bring SG-1 back for a court-martial when he was actually sending SG-2 as reinforcement.

Reach and flexibility

Whether he has doubts or not, Hammond is resolute once he has made a decision and takes personal responsibility for his choices. While he is firm in following his chosen course, he is not unyielding. He will consider reasonable alternatives put before him and openly encourages the input of available experts at all times, deferring to their judgment if the situation warrants it.

If he decides to reject alternative suggestions, he takes the time to explain why if possible. This is so that his people do not feel as if their advice was ignored or not taken seriously. Hammond also checked on the progress of the various researchers at the SGC to get first hand assessments of both the work and how his staff was doing personally.

The inspiration that Hammond provides to his troops is based as much on his personal charisma and strength of character as it is on his professional competence. He can be a formidable presence when safeguarding his troops, whom he refers to as “his people.”

During Apophis’s aborted attack on Earth, Hammond preferred to stay at Stargate Command and fight what appeared to be a last hopeless battle. This was rather than leave for the safety of the Alpha Site where critical military and civilian personnel were being sheltered off-world.

He can also be very comforting when needed, such as sharing how he once dealt with a personal loss when one of his people was grief-struck at the apparent death of a friend. Hammond has faced many occasions of imminent death or greatly frustrating circumstances without losing his composure.

Best of the best

Though he tries not to show favoritism toward any particular person under his command, he did become close to the original SG-1 team members on a personal level. He trusted Daniel Jackson’s and Samantha Carter’s expertise in their respective fields and sometimes even treated them somewhat like an adopted son or daughter.

This was especially true of Sam, since Hammond was a long-standing close friend of her father Jacob.

Though he was initially wary of Teal’c after the Jaffa warrior defected to the SGC, the two came to respect each other as fellow soldiers. This bond was quickly extended to Teal’c’s mentor Bra’tac. Hammond and Bra’tac immediately recognized each other as two old warhorses, their similarities forging a strong empathy with one another despite their disparate backgrounds.

The most interesting relationship Hammond had with an SG-1 team member was his friendship with Jack O’Neill. The two men had very different personalities, yet became very close. General Hammond was very tolerant of O’Neill’s flippant attitude, yet could quickly rein him in when necessary.

O’Neill in turn became good at reading when a more serious demeanor was needed and was very respectful toward Hammond. Jack had a difficult time not addressing Hammond by his rank even when O’Neill was promoted to general and was thus on a near-equal footing with him.

Given O’Neill’s usual, at times near mutinous, disdain for authority figures, his great regard for Hammond speaks volumes about the general’s skilled leadership.

The two also spent time together off-base — O’Neill knew many personal details about Hammond and was a good friend to his family, while Hammond was known to visit Jack at home and provide support when O’Neill was having personal problems.

Old warhorse

While he usually presents a reserved front, he does have a taste for action. He once admitted to O’Neill that he stayed with the SGC in part because it was “a wild ride.”

He let his Texas roots show with a hearty “YEE-HAW!” while serving as gunner aboard Teal‘c’s death glider during their rescue of the SG teams captured by Hathor.

Whenever the base has been invaded, Hammond was right there with the troops carrying a weapon; he does not put himself at unnecessary risk though, recognizing that the troops need him as a commander more than they need another rifleman.

Hammond is a very devoted grandfather, so much so that his grandchildren are the first people on his speed-dial, even above the president. Despite the intense political pressure from various directions meant to oust him from command of the SGC in favor of other parties, the only tactic that worked was the N.I.D.’s threatening harm to his grandchildren.

Fortunately, Jack O’Neill (who was sort of an honorary uncle to Hammond’s grandchildren) was able to provide Hammond with blackmail material against the N.I.D. and beat them at their own game.

In another sign of Hammond’s strong attachment to his family, he still wears his wedding ring even though his wife has been deceased for a decade.

Quotes

O’Neill (over radio): “Close-quarters withdrawal ! It’s gonna get ugly !”
Hammond: “Acknowledged, Colonel. We’ll be ready, just give us the word.” (To SGC Security Forces) “Watch your friendlies ! Safeties off ! Clean targets, clean backgrounds !”

“In the future, Major, before you activate any device that includes the word ‘reactor’, I would appreciate it if you would notify me.”

“This is what I look like when I’m not laughing, Colonel.”

“As long as I am in command of the SGC, we will hold ourselves to the highest ethical standard.”

“I thought the devices were supposed to enhance them physically, not make them stupid.”

O’Neill: “Okay, everyone who thinks this is an absolutely insane idea, raise your hands. Come on, be honest. Get ’em up there.”
(Everyone raises hands)
Hammond: “Keep your hands up, people, because the next question is, ’Who is going to make this happen?‘”

Samuels: “Well, sir, since I am no longer wanted or needed here, I respectfully request permission to join one of the teams headed for the Alpha Site, at least there…”
Hammond: “Permission denied. The idea is to send the best and brightest, Colonel. When the time comes, you will stand alongside the men and women of this command in defense of this facility.”
Samuels: “But, sir !”
Hammond: “I ask no more or less of myself. Dismissed !”

DC Universe History

Hammond served in Việt Nam alongside fellow Air Force officer Nathaniel Adam. When Adam was convicted of murder, Hammond still believed him to be innocent and deeply regretted being unable to help him.

When Adam reappeared in the modern era as a result of the Captain Atom Project, Hammond learned of his friend’s return and managed to get attached to the project. He used some of his professional influence to protect Adam from the worst of General Eiling’s abusive exploitation and also offered his personal help to Adam in adjusting to life in the present.

During the Invasion, Hammond was placed in command of the US Air Force field units engaging the Alien Alliance, working again with General Eiling (the overall military planner during the Invasion) and Captain Atom (who served as government liaison to the superhuman community during the Invasion).

Eiling did not like Hammond, having been repeatedly frustrated by Hammond’s interference with Eiling’s fascistic personal agenda.

Nevertheless, Hammond was retained in that position since Eiling had more important things to do at the time than replace a capable officer simply because he disliked him.

Later on

More importantly for the war effort, Hammond worked well with Captain Atom and the two were able to coordinate the Air Force’s efforts with available superhumans very effectively. This earned Hammond respect and acclaim from all involved after the Invasion  ended.

It was in part Hammond’s association with the Captain Atom Project and his service in the Invasion that led him to command of the Stargate Program. The Pentagon wanted a trusted officer who was experienced in handling situations far outside the military norm and Hammond’s prior record demonstrated that he suited both criteria perfectly.

Hammond and President Luthor clashed several times during Luthor’s presidency. Hammond showed Luthor the respect that a military officer is legally obligated to give to the Commander-in-Chief, but raised objections to some of Luthor’s orders regarding Stargate Command. Particularly when it came the exploitation of alien allies and disregard for the safety and expertise of the SGC personnel.

After Luthor fled the Oval Office, Hammond accepted a promotion to Head of Homeworld Security during the resultant administrative reorganization at the White House.

By Roy Cowan.

Source of Character: Stargate SG-1 (TV series), character played by Don S. Davis.