Alan, definitely one of the most natural and likeable characters in the series. I'm glad that fan pressure kept him in the second season and that his role wasn't ruined either. Indeed, he had a few chances to shine here, most notably in The Mark of Archanon where he managed to form a bond with the boy, (Is it Pasc or Etrec), and in Dorzak where he obviously is smitten with Sahala.

What is Alans position in the command hierarchy however? When Koenig is gone it seems to be Morrow/Verdeschi who takes over. In "The Rules of Luton", when both Verdeschi and Koenig are absent from Alpha, Helena appears to take over. I would have thought that Alan would have filled this role.

I kind of thought Kano or Tanya were a step below Paul as far as Main Mission was concerned (Kano seems in charge a couple times, and see The Last Sunset, where Tanya fills Kano's post for a time.)

As far as Carter, he's Chief of Reconnaissance, or head pilot. Don't really know how that fits into command hierarchy, though.

I'd always had this misconception that Carter was the lead pilot of the Meta Probe, reinforced by a character bio printed in a very early issue of Starlog as well as the novelization for "Breakaway." The actual episode "Breakaway," however, makes it look more like he's the mission's lead ground controller back on Alpha, much as John Koenig was for the Ultra Probe mission.

Carter was ready to choose personell for the Meta Probe back-up crew or volunteer himself. Gorski and Simmonds cut corners by not training a back-up crew for the mission, and by the time the launch window drew near the primary crew was sick. They sent John Koenig to Alpha to salvage the mission plan, and we all know how that went…

Carter was often a hot-headed fellow ready to throw a punch when angered or commit other impulsive thoughtless acts like exposing himself to a chlorine sauna in "A B Chrysalis".
Without some temperance he's not the best pick for mission commander.

females are more rational

This guy crashed so many Eagles that Alpha Insurance stopped covering him

Maybe he's related to Tom Paris or Chakotay?

Even they got nothing on good old Alan "Crash" Carter.

I would actually be curious to tally up how many eagles Alan crashed vs how many Koenig did.

Episode 1 tally; Koenig 1, Carter 0. Right out the gate for 'Crash' Koenig!!

What episode are you at now?

Oh, I was just quoting from memory that Koenig investigated the nuclear dumps and promptly crashed an Eagle by getting too close.
A REAL FAN would probably know the number, like a Trekker would know all of the "I'm a Doctor, not a..." quotes, but I personally never thought to count all of them..

Fascinating.