Felix Menard
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Lieutenant Felix Menard is a member of the United States Air Force, stationed at the Beta Site.
History
Menard served in the Air Force as a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) before being recruited by the Stargate Program. Not the tallest of individuals, his stature and his initials — and an undergraduate degree in Military Applied Sciences from the Air Force Academy — earned him the nickname "Shortwave", a reference to FM radio. (SGR: "The Arrow")
At the Academy, Menard was a classmate of Jennifer Hailey, although not nearly as much of a scientific prodigy. The two struck up a friendship after Hailey's extracurricular visit to M4C-862, and the subsequent mellowing of her attitude and behaviour towards her fellow Cadets. Menard was not selected for Stargate Command's new training program for offworld recruits, however, and completed Undergraduate Navigator Training (UNT) before being assigned to the 336th Fighter Squadron as the second seat in a F-15E Strike Eagle. With the other Rocketeers, he saw service in the Middle East in the wake of 9/11, before being recruited for the X-302 Project by Doctor Larry Murphy — on the recommendation of now Lieutenant Hailey. (SG1: "Prodigy", "Proving Ground"; SGR: "The Arrow")
Menard joined the project shortly before the Abydos One and Starflight missions, contributing to the development and refinement of the X-302's sensors, communications, and avionics. In addition to his technical skills, his combat experience made him an ideal test pilot for the navigator seat, uniquely suited to troubleshoot any issues that might arise from within the cockpit. However, despite Area 51's best efforts, the X-302's Naquadria-powered hyperdrive continued to be an obstacle for development; Menard was transferred instead to the X-303, and served as the Weapons Officer during the ship's maiden voyage, during which the Prometheus was unexpectedly stranded on the planet Tagrea after another Naquadria-related hyperdrive incident. (SG1: "Redemption, Part 1", "Redemption, Part 2", "Memento")
Despite the hyperdrive issues, the F-302 was approved for production, and Menard returned to Earth to participate in Operation Blue Phoenix: a live-fire combat situation against captured Death Gliders to evaluate the F-302's combat performance. Menard was paired with Captain Patterson for the operation. While many of the participants in Blue Phoenix went on to become members of Blue Squadron aboard Prometheus following its return from Tagrea, Menard was assigned to SG-11, joining the engineering team surveying offworld sites for the Naquadah deposits necessary to construct more F-302s and BC-303s. He was present on P3X-403 when SG-11 trespassed into abandoned mines sacred to the local Unas population; while Menard had seen combat as a WSO, ground combat against aliens on another planet proved to be a more stressful experience than he was prepared for, and he requested a transfer away from offworld duty once SG-11 safely returned home. While Blue Squadron had no vacancies that would have allowed him to rejoin his fellow pilots from Operation Blue Phoenix, he was placed on reserve with the 1st Strategic Fighter Wing. After the discovery of the Ancient Outpost in Antarctica, Menard and the rest of the 1st S.F.W. scrambled every available F-302 to reinforce Blue Squadron and Prometheus during the Battle of Antarctica. (SG1: "Fallen", "Fragile Balance", "Enemy Mine", "Lost City, Part 2")
After Antarctica, Menard was rotated into Blue Squadron to help replenish the unit's losses. Though still not (reliably) hyperspace-capable, the Prometheus remained a critical element of Earth's orbital defense, responding to the arrival of incoming vessels like the Daniel Jackson, and participating in the search for the Al'kesh in use by The Trust. After an Asgard-designed hyperdrive was installed, Menard was part of the crew that attempted the Pegasus Expedition, an (untimately unsuccessful) intergalactic voyage to try and reestablish contact with the Atlantis Expedition in the Pegasus Galaxy. He remained with Prometheus until the Battle of Tegalus, surviving the ship's destruction along with a handful of other F-302 pilots, and seeking refuge from the Ori-worshipping Rand Protectorate within the Caladonian Federation. While many of the Prometheus survivors were reassigned to the Daedalus or Odyssey, Menard was transferred to the Beta Site. (SG1: "New Order, Part 2", "Endgame", "Prometheus Unbound", "Full Alert", "Ethon"; SGR: "The Arrow")
Behind the Scenes
Lieutenant Menard was portrayed by Michael Shore in 1 episode of Stargate SG-1. He also played unnamed characters in "Memento" and "Fragile Balance", which are assumed to be the same character here.
Like Woeste, who also appeared in "Enemy Mine", he is likely named after a member of the crew — specifically Jim Menard, a Cinematographer and Director of Photography on numerous episodes.
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