Stargate Command works as an Air Force formation, so Army or Navy assumptions can mislead. Air Force colonels can remain operational in ways familiar from flying squadrons, which makes O'Neill's field role plausible. The more questionable choice is relying exclusively on four-person teams: a rescue or reaction element entering a known hot fight should be large enough to absorb casualties and operate crew-served weapons, with Marines offering a plausible basis for that heavier force. A 16- to 32-person Marine-backed unit could take casualties and keep fighting instead of relying on an improvised collection of SG teams.
Notable Point · 5:15-7:49
Air Force ranks and the limits of four-person Stargate teams
The Air Force context explains operational colonels, while the four-person SG teams expose a missing need for larger, heavily armed reaction forces.