Don S. Davis built Hammond beyond a by-the-book foil

Don S. Davis had served as an Army officer in Korea during the Vietnam era and objected to treating officers as a single type. He described the Army as a cross-section of humanity and pushed Hammond beyond the role of a by-the-book foil for O'Neill. The production increasingly accepted his suggestions and improvisations, while Air Force advisers and attention to details such as a senior NCO and a visible staff reinforced the character's institutional credibility. The show's willingness to adjust filming around Davis's later illness and return Hammond in new senior roles shows how central both actor and character became.