Grrl Power #1304 – Triple A…ir Force
While Maxima certainly has strong feelings about things like burqas (niqabs, hijabs, etc.) she also has strong feelings about reflecting bright desert sunlight 20 miles away, and revealing the nature of her classified existence while in the field. Also, if you get a bunch of special forces guys to wear niqabs, then suddenly they’re called shemaugs, and they’re cool.
As far as I’m aware, BDU’s, or possibly ABUs, which were eventually replaced by ACUs, (which used UCP, to be replaced by OCP (Not the Robocop company)) only have the rank chevron thingy in the centerline of the torso, kind of between the man-boobs, and slightly higher on those equipped with lady boobs. It’s not on the sleeve patches, and I don’t think it’s on the back anywhere. It’d be wasted on the back, since I assume almost anyone in the field would have something slung over their back, be it a rifle or a pack of some kind, even an officer. Obviously Peggy sees that Max is a Major (at this point in time) when Max turns around and leans over her, but when Max is standing with her back to Peggy, there’s not really a way for her to know what rank Max is. I wonder if there’s ever a situation in the military where a bunch of people are meeting each other for the first time, and they have to juke around to see what each others’ ranks are so they can establish pecking order. Like if they’re all carrying gear and straps and whatever is in the way. Or do they just call out like “E1!” “E3 over here!” “E7, hah hah, suckers!” “O3 here! I win!”
Of course, I’m sure military people are well conditioned for when someone yells out “SitRep!” they just respond instead of going “Ah, ah ah! Simon didn’t say so! Papers please!” Maxima does also have a fairly commanding presence, and also just bitchslapped a technical past the 100 yard line.
BTW, the slice across Peggy’s face actually cut into her nasal passages, but I didn’t feel like writing a bunch of “I mebt to boo bat.” dialog for her, or draw panels of her sneezing blood out in a really… interesting pattern.
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sorry soldier, I’ll have to kill you to keep that secret
Typo! “I’ll dig the field kit out from wreck.”
Huh. I didn’t even notice the word “the” was missing in there until you pointed it out. The things our brains compensate for. smh
Personally I’ve never heard a medical bag or kit called a field kit. A field kit is the gear you take to the field you know what you wear your sleeping bag and the rest of your personal gear you fight with. Also most normal Med kits don’t come with the good stuff for that your need to Medics gear or the guy who is trained as the oh god we don’t have a medic person. No they don’t get to carry the good stuff actually that is only medics.
Max is looking a bit creepy in that fourth panel. Like a shiny variant elf on a shelf.
I had the same thought. I settled on it being an expression somewhere between surprise and “I’m really impressed”.
She looks like a tall alien looking down on you with a little bit of curiosity intermingle with amusement.
It’s the Shaq on Hot Ones expression. https://img3.hulu.com/user/v3/artwork/6d2e8547-992c-41ad-9075-8974a9794fba?base_image_bucket_name=image_manager&base_image=fcf97ac7-5f4d-4aef-8824-71c7726962fa&size=600×338&format=webp
ooh! ooh! make Maxima variant Elves on Shelves! pleeeeeeeese?
Have the fellow who made the Maxima variant My Little Pony do it. Maybe Sydney can buy one next time she goes to a comics convention, since Astra is not around to mistakenly take it.
Her face looks weird in that panel, but also in the last panel. Something about her cheek angle there is just… too pointy? I dunno, it’s weird
The sun in the desert casts all kinds of glare from the sand, wich has a lot of silicates in it.
Also, I think is a look of total suprise that Peggy actualy ment for that shot happen.
Yes, I can confirm when a group meets for the first time there’s a lot of “what’s the rank?” look about. I can also confirm if someone you don’t know commands sitrep, specifically if they know your rank, you respond on instinct.
Yeah, sounds like the easiest way it’s to wait till someone pulls rank if nobody does you’re it.
I took me a hot second to recognize the enlisted ranks in the USAF and I never had a pressing need to learn any other branch’s insignias, but you develop the ability to recognize rank at 50 paces when you’re a CGO. Also, there is SO much trouble you get into pretending to be any rank you are not. If someone as yet unidentified calls you by rank and ask you a question, you answer first question later.
Finnish Defence Forces use standardized enlisted rank insignia (also ranks E-2 to E-6 and E-9 are standardized, Navy E-1, E-7 and E-8 being different from the other branches because reasons), officer rank insignia is partially standardized in that some Army and Air Force uniform items with epaulettes use “yacht club bar code”, otherwise Army and Air Force use the same officer insignia & Navy it’s own bar code (which isn’t even fully compatible with US/UK “bar code” & derivatives), it still catches me off-guard whenever I see a Navy officer in cammies with that/those thick as f**k horizontal gold (black if subdued-) bar(s) in the middle of the guy’s chest where I am expecting (a) heraldic rose(s) or (a) heraldic lion(s), my standard (joking-) response is “herrings belong in the sea, not on land” (for any confused Americans, replace “herring” with “squid”)
(I am reserve E-something & only say that to other reservists.)
*also ranks E-4 to E-6 and E-9 are standardized, Navy E-2, E-3, E-7 and E-8 being different
The trick is to look for the star. If it’s underlined they’re a sergeant. Otherwise they’re an airman.
The faces seem a bit off in this one. Or is it just me?
We’re still viewing Peggy’s memories of this and how _she_ remembers Maxima looking.
and as stated, she’s also got a concussion
Back in the day, before everyone and his sister were wearing camo, joint functions were always an adventure. For the NCO paygrades in the Navy, we all wore rank chevrons with a number of stripes signifying the paygrade. Those chevrons were topped with an Eagle that looked just enough like the O-6 (Col. for the Corps, Army, and Air Force, and Real-Captain for the USN). Depending on the uniform you were wearing, it would be on your hat as well.
For a huge subsection of the Paygrades, seeing a Spread Eagle screamed “O-6.” Consequently, we were saluted a lot by people not familiar with Navy insignia. Depending on the sense of humor of the sailor there were a whole lot of ways of responding to this. My favorite was to suggest that ‘father’s day’ might be a confusing holiday for the Officer paygrades because they’re all bastards. “No need to salute me, LT. My parents were married.”
Some laughed. Some got pissed off. A whole lot needed the joke explained.
This came up in a comment long ago, but you are (still) misusing “chevron.” A chevron is a V shape, used in noncommissioned officers’ insignia. Commissioned officers’ insignia don’t have chevrons, they have straight bars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevron_(insignia)
Thank you.
I mean it. I love that little bits of relative info gets passed on to make a bit more realistic and if you are not improving your knowlage base a little bit every day you are not improving as a person.
In the ancient past when I was in, USN Enlisted E-6 and below on shore patrol would obscure our rank by wearing the SP armband on the left arm to prevent those of higher rank from trying to use it to get out of trouble. This was not proper but was common. US Navy enlisted E-6 and below back then only wore rank on their left arm. E-7 to E-9 and officers wore collar insignia
during desert storm, a few of us had the rank on the back of the cap / helmet while in the field.
and some put rank on the flack jacket closure tab..
Ayup and at least until when I got out in the early to mid 00’s we were still wearing a subdued rank insignia tab on the back on the “cat’s eyes” elastic helmet band.
For field uniforms subdued ranks are worn rather than the bright, shiny dress uniform ranks. Gold turns to an odd brownish-yellow while silver turns to black. Using Army-side names, 2LT and Major are gold while all the others are silver. Max has a black oak leaf which translates to Lieutenant Colonel.
I was in the Army, and we did have our rank sewn onto the front center of our cap and the cover of our helmet (BDU/DCU). When I was in Iraq, we still did have sewn rank on our collars, and the winter jackets had it on the top center chest.
In a situation like that, I would not generally have mattered if Max was a Private or an Officer (to my knowledge) asking for the Sitrep. She is clearly part of the rescue “team” and is currently in control of the situation, so she needs to know the situation quickly. IE, if part of a team and her own commanding officer showed up and asked a minute later, she could then relay the information she was given along with her own evaluation.
Generally at least in the Army, you can get away with a generic “sir” when talking to officers. And if you said that to an NCO, the common response is typically a lighthearted; Do not call me sir, I work for a living.
Why wouldn’t Maxima be using camouflage face paint, or at least some sort of matt coating on her face? While I am sure she is not worried about a headshot, she doesn’t want to draw attention to her AO.
It was earlier revealed that typical grease paint camo slides off her skin quickly. I imagine that flying close to Mach 1 will make it move off even faster.
I assume her “zero-range telekinesis” works on the shemaug/hat/goggles combination. Otherwise Mach 1 (not even her top speed) would likely rip them off.
I’ve driven a motorcycle at 120mph, which is much, much slower than that. Anything that isn’t tight to the body and heavy (leather/plastic/etc.) is going to flap madly enough to give you bruises.
The grease paint slides off because her skin doesn’t like it I guess. Her velocity likely won’t make it slide off faster.
I did wonder why she isn’t just using one of those helicopter pilots’ helmets. Though I guess her current wear is easier to remove/adjust.
And is likely closer to regulation uniform. She’s likely in and out of rear areas more often than the typical troop, so she’d have less chance to fix things. Though she’s likely to interact with relatively few other soldiers, since her existence is classified and anyone who even gets a close look now has classified information.
What Max is doing has a high probability of killing Peggy. When a limb is crushed, there’s a lot of cell damage, and a lot of toxins are released as the cells die. If you lift the object off the limb, all those toxins flood into your system at once, which is Not Good. Also, lifting the helicopter before applying a tourniquet seems like a recipe for rapid blood loss as well.
It’s been a long time since I took first aid, but I thought that was only when the limb was trapped for a long time. I think it’s probably only been like 10-20 minutes since the bird went down.
Step 1: find two tourniquets, or one tourniquet & repurpose a webbed belt for a second one
Step 2: apply the things from step 1 to as high up on the injured leg as possible & as close to where the leg is crushed as possible, tighten both, the one closer to the injury as tight as possible (the leg below that point is almost certainly a total loss at that point, so go nuts)
Step 3: flip the chopper.
Max DID say she’d find the field kit first.
Having Maxima wear desert combat fatigues makes a whole lot more sense than having her fly around in a T-shirt, and not just for the reflection issue. It gives her a place to put her rank insignia, for example. Hmm, where is her rank insignia? I see her unit badge and the country flag, but shouldn’t there be a major’s or Lt. Col’s rank insignia as well?
Dave stated that Peggy could see Max is a Major at this point; according to comments, it should be on her chest, but that insignia is partially obscured in the shots shown.
Yeah, I posted that before reading that other Dave’s blurb. There it is, kind of tucked under her scarf.
Prior to the OCP switch USAF officers wore rank on the collars, enlisted on the sleeves. This switch now results in the occasional squint to see if someone is a Major or Lieutenant Colonel since the light may make the spice brown rank insignia look darker than it is.
Alright… what is “kich”
never heard that sound coming of someones mouth, ever…
Dave’s trying to make an onomatopoeia for the “click” sound people make at the side of their mouth when they imitate a gun cocking mechanism (combine it with Max’ pointing a finger gun and she’s basically conveying “you got it”).
Why is Max wearing goggles?
to protect the air from her eyes.
Or do they just call out like “E1!” “E3 over here!” “E7, hah hah, suckers!” “O3 here! I win!”
The correct response in that situation would be “O3 here! Bingo!”
@Dave shouldn’t that be 6 passengers, including Peggy? In comic #1297, she said there were five other passengers and two pilots.
(Really wish we could edit our comments, instead of making a new one, but oh well; I shall reply to myself. :) )
It occurs to me that Maxima climbing the ranks quickly would have been necessary, simply to keep her existence classified. I don’t think someone higher up the chain would take “classified” as an answer to Peggy’s question (for example, if Max was a Corporal and she was helping a Sargent or above), and Max would be obliged to tell them if they demanded the information, right? It would also explain why some of her commanders had no idea what to do with her. “So, she’s a corporal, but her existence is classified? What am I supposed to do with a classified corporal? Have them peel potatoes, alone in a field kitchen?”
Nah, if they demanded answers Maxima wouldn’t be obligated to tell them anything other than, ‘you haven’t been cleared to know’. Maxima might be detained temporarily if the questioner was of sufficiently high rank and stupid enough, but most people know to request to be read in through the proper channels, which they wouldn’t need to do because they’ll be getting a debrief detailing what they’re allowed to say in the official reports. There’s also a good chance that she has a point of contact that has greater authority than whoever is asking, which she can give out.
She’s going to wake up in the hospital thinking this encounter was just a dream (lucky shot included), until Max stops by to check on her.
So, it’s probably a bad idea to just lift the helicopter without seeing how it has injured her leg. Removing it could pull out some metal that would kill her if removed or it’s preventing her from bleeding to death.
Major could be odd for some foreigners like me Maxima is
Commandant (/ˌkɒmənˈdɑːnt/, /ˌkɒmənˈdænt/, /ˈkʌmədənt/; French: [kɔmɑ̃dɑ̃]) a military rank used in many – typically Francophone or Hispanophone – countries, where it is usually equivalent to the rank of major.
NATO rank code OF-3 an O-4 in US army.
Generally if you’re in a group of soldiers and you all have to figure out who’s in charge, then it’s all been fucked sideways and you just listen to whoever sounds like they know what they’re talking about until the sideways is at least partially de-fucked.