how long has Jack been in the Air Force?

[lolmac]

I sure hope people are still watching this comm!

Simple question: when, or at what age, did Jack join the Air Force? Any insight or clues?

Comments

[justhuman]

In Season 8, there were good looks at the wall in Jack's office. At some point in the past I saw blow-ups of those via this post at Gateworld.

http://forum.gateworld.net/threads/1664-Exclusive-Jack-O-Neill-office-photo-gallery

Unfortunately, the photos themselves are gone from the posted link. From what I remember and what one of the commentator's indicated, on of the certificates was his diploma from the Air Force Academy. For what it's worth, I remember the other was a certificate for some kind of joint services special ops training.

The write up in this wiki sites episode references saying that Jack was born in 1952 and graduate in 1974

http://stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Jack_O%27Neill:_Stargate_Movie

However, it does point out there have been a few canon contradictions in that arena. That being said, I believe that 1969 corroborates the 1952 date -- talking about Jack being in high school in 1969.

Unfor

[thothmes]

From the bio of Jack O'Neill on the MGM Stargate website, for what it's worth:

Founding commanding officer of SG-1. Upon joining the Air Force at 18, O'Neill proved himself to be an exceptional and gifted airman and was later assigned to a Special Forces unit. He resigned from the military when his son, Charlie, died by accidentally shooting himself with O'Neill's service weapon. O'Neill was devastated by the loss, which eventually drove his wife to divorce him. He was later recalled to duty by his former commanding officer and sent through the Earth's first discovered stargate, in a mission that gave him a new desire to live. After several years of leading SG-1 through missions across the galaxy, helping to save Earth innumerable times, he was promoted to brigadier general and chief of Stargate Command. Most recently, he was appointed by President Hayes to serve as the head of the newly created federal department of Homeworld Security and promoted to the rank of major general.

[ivorygates]

Yep. Born in '52 [we have this from several props over the course of the series, including his ID Card and a couple of computer shots of his file], graduated the Academy in 1974 [there's a good photo of the diploma prop in Propworx first Stargate Auction Catalogue]. This makes his Vietnam Service Ribbon a tidge problematical, but...

Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide by Kathleen Ritter
http://www.amazon.com/Stargate-SG-1-Ultimate-Visual-Guide/dp/0756623618/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322737192&sr=1-26

has a lot of good stuff, including a closeup of all of Jack's service ribbons and an explanation of what they are.

Note especially that Jack, as a graduate of the Academy, is not only in a very elite institution, but to attend he must also have received a nomination from a Senator or member of the House of Representatives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Academy