Information AboutMaco |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT MACO | |
| star trek: enterprise | |
| fictional military organizations | |
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The MACOs ('''M'''ilitary '''A'''ssault '''C'''ommand '''O'''perations) are an elite '' fiction universe. Although MACOs may be assigned to serve with Starfleet, they are not part of the Starfleet chain of command, and as such do not wear Starfleet Uniform s. The leader of the MACOs is General Casey, who assured Captain Jonathan Archer that the MACOs assigned to '' Enterprise '' were the finest warriors in the corps. The MACOs' closely resemble current military Special Forces or police SWAT teams. Like special forces and SWAT units, they tend to operate in groups, move in tactical "snake" formation and use hand signals and gesturing, rather than verbal communication. They are frequently depicted in episodes as laying suppressing fire while one of the main characters, for example Captain Archer, runs for a certain objective. HISTORY They were assigned to the ''Enterprise NX-01'' before setting out from Earth into the Delphic Expanse (at the end of Season 2). Their job was to accompany the Enterprise and assist in the more militaristic functions of the ship. Ostensibly, this would seem akin to the Marine s of navies in the past, who would accompany fleet vessels for the same purposes. In the first episode of Season 3, " The Xindi ", the MACOs participated in a mission on a mining planet to rescue Captain Archer and Commander Tucker . The rescue mission demonstrated their skills in rappelling, marksmanship, close quarters battle and small unit tactics. They use their particle weapons in Submachine Gun style, firing rapidly in bursts. They also have stun grenades and a hooked baton similar to a Nightstick , which they use to take down foes at close range. The plasma rifle that some soldiers seem to use features a pop-up thermal or image-enhancing scope that they use to Snipe targets. It is not known for certain whether these weapons can be set to stun, or if they are kill-only; the series occasionally leaves it ambiguous as to whether MACOs shoot to kill or shoot to incapacitate/stun. During episode two of season three, Archer tells a MACO corporal to set her weapon to stun and she replies "aye, sir." Archer, however, is shown firing a MACO weapon and unambiguously killing an individual in " The Augments " indicating the weapons are capable of killing. Following the conclusion of the Xindi mission, Captain Archer chose to retain a contingent of MACOs on board Enterprise; several MACOs appear in the fourth season episode, "Borderland". A MACO guard (in a normal duty uniform, not the armor/fatigues we usually see MACOs wear) is briefly seen in "The Forge", conducting security screenings of visitors to Earth's embassy on Vulcan ; this MACO is subsequently killed in an explosion at the embassy. EQUIPMENT AND UNIFORM They normally wear grey camouflage and, when in combat, have power packs on their backs. Along with particle weapons (their primary weapons are called plasma rifles), they are also expert at hand-to-hand combat. Their weapon seems very similar to an video games, which preceded ''Enterprise''. Their ''Enterprise'' mission patch has a Shark on it (possibly a play on the Mako Shark ). (In the Mirror Universe , a Skull appears on the patch. Malcolm Reed and Travis Mayweather are MACOs in the mirror universe.) Their motto is "Ever Invincible." CRITICISM Some fans criticized the appearance of the MACOs as an attempt to increase the amount of action in ''Enterprise'' in an effort to boost flagging ratings, while others see them as a forerunner of the heavily armed Starfleet security personnel seen in ''''. Other criticism regards the lack of some sort of helmet or head protection in their uniform. Notably, the rank structure of the MACOs is similar to that of the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army . For example, the insignia for the rank of Major is the same as that currently used by the U.S. military. FUTURE It is unknown what happens to the MACOs after the formation of the United Federation Of Planets . They may have been absorbed into Starfleet , or they also may continue to exist on their own. Some believe that the MACOs become the Starfleet Marine Corps . The MACOs are slated to be the main characters in their own Star Trek novel, ''The Last Full Measure'', written by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin , due for release in 2006. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Flag Officer ranks Officer ranks Enlisted grades CAST OF MACOS IN THE TELEVISION SERIES Besides . A MACO named Corporal Amanda Cole, played by Noa Tishby , is introduced as a possible love interest of Commander Tucker, but is not seen since the episode in which she is introduced. Paul Sklar (who also does stunts for Scott Bakula) has appeared as R. Richards, while Julia Rose made a well-publicized single appearance as Corporal McKenzie in the episode "Anomaly" (early publicity suggested she would be come a recurring character, but this did not happen). Will Riker was a MACO in the final episode " These Are The Voyages... ," although this was on the holodeck and not on the actual ship. EXTERNAL LINK |
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