Warp Five 11: Fighting for the Future

The MACO.

The idea of exploring deep space and taking a NASA-like approach to the cosmos is great, but Archer and Starfleet quickly learned that the galaxy is a dangerous place. Following the Xindi attack, purely military personnel were assigned to the Enterprise marking the an important shift in identity for United Earth's young space agency. In this episode of Warp Five hosts Christopher Jones and Kate Walsh discuss the MACO, the impact their introduction had on the series and on Starfleet's mission, and why the debate over whether Starfleet is a scientific or military organization is not an either-or proposition.