i have been wondering during the scene in aliens after the first encounter wen everyone has made it back to hadlets hope wen hudson says 4 more weeks and out is he refering to him only having 4 weeks till he can leave the core or is it in referance to how long till they are rescued

It's til he can leave the Corps... There's a few references to Hudson being a conscript in the film - Apone telling him "I don't care if you ARE short, Hudson, get it done!" in the hangar bay, and he does say in the speech you mentioned "Oh man, and I was getting short!"

Also, have a look at his helmet
He has a short-timer calendar on there in black marker.

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM

Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop

If anyone should of known the answer to my question i should have known you would scapey cheers its always been something i wondered about

wouldn't a volunteer also have a end of service date?

_________________
Jeffrey Hughes "Huggies"
Corporal, USCM
UD-4 "Cheyenne" Pilot
Dropship Argonne

Yes they would, and I don't have to tell you that draftees aren't the only ones that get excited about getting out of the military.

_________________
Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.

Fair enough
Same answer to the original question, anyway!

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM

Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop

I know just not sure if one joins the Marines or is drafted

_________________
Jeffrey Hughes "Huggies"
Corporal, USCM
UD-4 "Cheyenne" Pilot
Dropship Argonne

Possibly both - The novelisation ( IIRC ) has Vasquez and Drake in the corps as an alternative to prison...

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM

Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop

I had the feeling that they were all "volunteers." Even in the current US military, you can join instead of going to prison. (Yes, just need a semi-nice judge who thinks you could improve by serving). And everyone I know who got out was always looking forward to the day. I know I had a countdown when I got short.

Charlie

_________________
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money."

According to Jenette Goldstein, part of Drake and Vasquez's backstories were they were "recruited" from juvenile prison where they were serving life sentences. So technically they volunteered as well, as Charlie suspected.

Another bit of trivia- Hudson was coming to the end of a ten year term of service (which is why he freaked)...

So how the hell do you manage to go ten years without being promoted beyond PFC?


Kevin

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

well with how his Character is i can see it. get picked up and then busted down.but 10 years now-a-days you would get the boot after 6 i think for E-3 and below.

_________________
SGT Chris Kraemer "BIRD"
S/N: A07/TQ0.0.82154G1 Sgt Kraemer

Wow. I thought he was doing a standard four and out. Yeah, even screwing up and being busted back down you'd get past E-2 Specially if you were a tech, as Hudson obviously was.

Charlie

_________________
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money."

1. Being a smart-mouth wise-ass like he was.
2. Being unmotivated to advance.
3. Court-martial sentence reducing in rank.

Frost refers to this as a job, so I'd also suggest that these guys are employed under contract.
Work must be scarce too, as the only job Ripley could find was apparently driving the Loaders. I'm guessing the corporate world controls a lot of such things.

Ripley's situation is a bit unique as she had a pretty damning psych eval in her record. If you read through the crew dossiers from her ICC meeting it becomes clear the Company puts a lot of stock in those sorts of tests. They also clearly like prescribing drugs to their employees to make them better workers.

The USCM and WY are not the same thing obviously (our Marines were sent in by the Colonial Administration, WY just tagged along due to their monetary interest), but one wonders how pervasive this sort of thing is in the 2170's.

Also, does service time include cryo? While things have certainly gotten faster between Alien and Aliens, there must still be colonies that take longer to get to. Those weeks and months would start to add up I'd think.

_________________
My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Yes cryo would have to count. its just like when a navy ship now has to transit from State side to the Gulf. and yes all service members sign a contract it can be from 4 years up to 6 first time. and then can get longer if you want it to be. like i have signed two 4 year and a 7 month extension. Also the you think WY would want to keep Ripley under there microscope and have her near them so that could be why she is still on Gateway.

_________________
SGT Chris Kraemer "BIRD"
S/N: A07/TQ0.0.82154G1 Sgt Kraemer

This is why I think hyperdrive is faster than Ridley Scott indicated in Alien/Prometheus, simply because a military would not be able to function as they do in Aliens.

You send a marine unit on a 2-year trip to attack an enemy stronghold, they spend 6 months clearing that out, then 2-years back, only to find the "war" actually ended 18 months after they first left! That would also mean in theory that a Marine, thanks to cryo, may actually end his service in the tubes on the way to the conflict!

How much chaos would ensue if you could only send Marines that were not due to end their term on the way, or even during anticipated hostilities after arrival?

_________________
Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM

Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop

Ripley asks the question.

"How long after we're declared overdue can we expect a rescue?"

Hicks thinks carefully.

"November next year"

_________________
Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

Even in the military today, they just keep you going. Involuntary extension. It happens. We used to have short timers show up on my boat. They made the whole patrol if they ran out while we were deployed. Sometime they could catch a break and hop the mail boat but not always. You sign up and become government property.

Charlie

_________________
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money."

I'm sure that happens in the current military, which you'd know more about that I would. But, we're talking a situation where a soldier may be due to be mustered out in say three months, but a round-trip is four years. Extension is one thing, forcing someone to complete a whole new involuntary tour, outside of a full-scale declaration of war (like in the ACW when everyone thought it would be over in a few months so only signed up for a short period, or the WWII National Guard units that were then transferred to regular army) is something else.

Due to this, I prefer the Colonial Marines Tech Manual explaination, in that when travelling FTL, time within the ship actually runs faster, so a trip that may only take a few weeks in real-time, seems to take several months ship-time.

As to Hudson's particular circumstances, I suspect the LV-426 op was going to be a brief, routine 'milk-run'. He probably thought he was going to do the op, finish his tour, and get paid overtime just for sleeping his way home. This rude awakening, combined with the loss of bunkmates, and dealing with something never before encountered, probably explains how he fell apart.

_________________
Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

A side note in the novelization of Alien, the crew goes to hyper sleep to prevent using food and oxygen on the trip. The ship depressurizes and cools down while they sleep so they don't have to bring as much with them.

_________________
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated. On penalty of total forfeiture of shares. No money."

Been YEARS since I read that, but IIRC, Bishop was out of hypersleep for the trip, keeping an eye on Sulaco's systems, similar to David in Prometheus.

_________________
Weyland Yutani Corp. Bio-Weapons Division - "Superior Weapons through Superior Genetics"

What I remember from the book, he was saying "Four more weeks and out, man..two of that in cryo."

_________________
Hey now, don't be mean. We don't have to be mean, cuz remember..No matter where you go, there you are.

I might be remembering this backwards however...

James Cameron was having a bit of difficulty on how to introduce Bishop to the audience as an android, and like said above was considering having Bishop roam the Sulaco while everyone else was in hypersleep. He abandoned the idea after Lance Henriksen suggested the "knife trick" to reveal Bishop as not being human.

Either that, or Lance wanted the "roaming" and Cameron suggested the knife trick.


Kevin

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!