Erls wrote:Here is an out of the box suggestion for Higgins: Saganami Island. Yup, why not rotate Higgins into a spot as the Commandant as SI? If he is viewed in good graces by the powers that be (as evidenced by his role a Admiral of the Fleet), then Commandant of SI would be a suitable position for him. Beyond that, he would be in the greatest possible position to impart the view that sacrificing your units and sailors on a fools errand is stupid and not what the RMN does. By having someone like Higgins, who made the hard call, in such a prestigious position teaching the next generation the RMN would be sending a strong signal that when the odds say 'slaughter' a real RMN officer is not scared too admit defeat and live to fight another day.
If he is coupled without someone like Aivars or Oversteegan as the senior Tactical Instructor that would send a great message to the middies. Be aggressive, but be smart.
It's one of the possibilities. However, one of the key things for the Academy Commandant is not to be someone who is respected by the 'powers that be' - it needs to be someone who's respected by the middies. Look how they responded to Honor Harrington when she was parked at the Island during her convalescence. I'm not sure Higgins could create that kind of inspiration.
I think if anything, Caparelli and Higgins may end up swapping jobs not too long down the line, if the former isn't too long out of a spacegoing command(been 15 plus years now).
I rather like the idea of First Space Lord Higgins, with Andrea Jaruwalski as his chief of staff.