George S. Hammond

George S. Hammond was the Commanding Officer of Stargate Command for seven years.

Biography

Major General George Hammond was the head of the USAF's Stargate Command. He replaced Major General West who commanded Project Giza during the original excursion to Abydos. An Air Force officer since the mid-1960s, shutting down the Stargate program was to have been his last assignment before retirement.

Master Bra'tac has been known to call him "Hammond of Texas", referring to Hammond's home state (and occasionally gesturing with a palm over his head, referring to Hammond's bald head). Hammond is a widower; his wife died of cancer. He has two grandchildren, Kayla and Tessa, whose phone number is keyed to the 1 button on his office phone above the president. A former Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, Hammond was initially reluctant to use the Stargate for exploration purposes.

Hammond briefly retired under duress in 2001 and left in 2004, when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and placed in command of the new Homeworld Security department, a department which was in control of Stargate Command, the Prometheus project, area 51 and the Alpha Site.

In 1969, Lieutenant Hammond met SG-1 from approximately 30 years in the future and read a note that he had written to himself. After SG-1 broke out of military custody, Jack O'Neill shot Hammond with a Zat Gun in order to protect Hammond from a court martial for helping the team escape. (SG1: " 1969")

When SG-1 was captured by Hathor he went to great lengths to try to rescue them. He sent every team he could to the rescue not even making it an order, asking for volunteers (they all volunteered before he could even finish asking them), trying to get the President to let him send more men as reinforcements, and, when that failed he went into battle himself to help his people out. He traveled to Chulak and joined Teal'c and Master Bra'tac in gathering Jaffa to help out. When Teal'c piloted the Needle Threader Hammond joined him with the job of firing the weapons. With Teal'c flying it and Hammond firing the weapons the two took out the staff cannon emplacements that were causing trouble. After Hammond and Teal'c defeated the staff cannon emplacements he let out a victorious "yeehaaa" and joined SG-1, and the other teams, on the ground, much to their surprise. (SG1: "Into the Fire")

As time went on, however, Hammond came to realize the benefits of Gate travel. He would sometimes butt heads with Jack O'Neill on some points, but he relied on O'Neill and SG-1 more than any other unit.

After Henry Hayes was inaugurated as President of the United States, Hammond, a former Air Force colleague of Hayes's, was assigned as one of his advisers during the conflict with Anubis, and commanded the Prometheus at the Battle of Antarctica. After the Battle, Hammond was appointed the first commander of Homeworld Security and was promoted to Lieutenant General. He later took a political position in Hayes administration, and was later succeeded as commander of Homeworld Security by Major General Jack O'Neill. (SG1: "Lost City", "New Order", "Avalon, Part 1")

During his term as Head of Homeworld Security he was asked to pick a commander for the Prometheus on a rescue mission to Atlantis. He decided to command that mission himself. He took Walter Harriman and Daniel Jackson along with him but due to Vala Mal Doran was stranded aboard a disabled Alkesh along with everyone else except Daniel. Knowing that they needed new control crystals to fix the engines he risked his life to ring over to a disabled cargo ship nearby that had almost no oxygen on board. He got the crystals and managed to ring them back but collapsed before he could ring back himself. He was rescued by Colonel Reynolds and recovered with no apparent ill effects. Later he led the crew in the Alkesh in retrieving the Prometheus, somehow tracking it through hyperspace and arriving just in time to drive off an attacking force and save the ship from destruction. Afterwards, due to the damage that the ship took, the crew was forced to return home without ever making it to Atlantis. (SG1: "Prometheus Unbound")

An alien on a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy impersonated Hammond while making contact with the team assigned to Atlantis. (ATL: "Home")

George Hammond died of a heart attack sometime in 2008. The Daedalus-Class warship, Phoenix, was renamed the George Hammond in his honour. (ATL: "Enemy at the Gate")

Personal life

Hammond was married, but his wife died of cancer in 1994. He has two grandchildren, named Tessa and Kayla, who he is very close to.

Alternate realities

• In an alternate reality George Hammond was a Colonel, under the command of General Jack O'Neill. He was killed defending Cheyenne Mountain from Apophis. (SG1: "There But For the Grace of God")

• In an alternate reality George Hammond was being tortured by Apophis for the location of the Beta Site. He was saved by Samantha Carter and Teal'c from our reality. He was later killed, but resurrected by the Asgard. His rank is never specified, though the Teal'c from our reality referred to him as "General Hammond". (SG1: "Point of View")

• In an alternate reality George Hammond was said to have died from a heart attack by the Aschen in 2004, however Janet Fraiser claimed he was in perfect health. Several years later, she believed he may have been murdered for trying to reveal the infertility side effect of the anti-aging vaccine. (SG1: "2010")

• In an alternate reality George Hammond was in command of Cheyenne Mountain, but without the Stargate Program, in the rank of Brigadier General. The Beta Gate was moved there after Samantha Carter discovered its location. General Hammond sent Jack O'Neill and his team on a reconnaissance mission to Chulak. He allowed use of their Puddle jumper for tactical reasons, but not to go back in time. (SG1: "Moebius, Part 1", "Moebius, Part 2")

• In an alternate reality Carter visited in 2007, this George Hammond had yet to retire and was still the commander of the SGC, second only to President Landry. (SG1: "The Road Not Taken")

• In another alternate reality in Stargate Continuum, he was a Lieutenant General, but did not recognize any of SG-1, appearing confused when Colonel Carter addressed him.