A theory on why the Jem Hadar suck

[Junghalli]

For a genetically engineered species of super-soldiers the Jem Hadar are seriously lacking, as demonstrated recently by the seige of AR-558 in which they had their butts kicked by a Civil War era force. So it got me thinking...
I think the Federation may have the Jem Hadar's intended role pegged wrong. They are not designed to be particularly effective soldiers. Rather, the advantage of using a species like the Jem Hadar as soldiers lies in their complete expendability. In a DS9 episode an infant Jem Hadar is rescued and taken to DS9, and it takes only a few days at most to become fully mature. The Jem Hadar in fact are the expendable Redshirt concept taken to its ultimate logical conclusion. Kill a Jem Hadar and a replacement can be grown in days.
You will note that the Jem Hadar in this episode displayed either genetic memory or hyperlearning (or both) meaning that training them would require almost no effort. The flipside of this is they must be very poorly trained soldiers indeed. Such a hasty training period surely leaves no time to train them in anything but the absolute basics of their jobs. It seems quite likely that they are sent into battle sometimes having never even handled a live weapon before.
In short the Jem Hadar are cheap, expendible units designed to be rushed from cloning tank to battlefield as rapidly and cheaply as possible. As such they are almost certainly, as individuals, extremely low quality troops. In other words the Jem Hadar are poorly uplifted scaly monkeys instilled with ideological fanaticism and given a drug dependency to assure their loyalty, with no real conception of tactics, strategy, or military discipline. The Founders use them because they are easily replaceable, can be fielded in overwhelming numbers, and nobody objects when they come home in body bags in huge numbers.

[Srynerson]

In other words the Jem Hadar are poorly uplifted scaly monkeys instilled with ideological fanaticism and given a drug dependency to assure their loyalty, with no real conception of tactics, strategy, or military discipline.

Oh, so they're the USMC of Star Trek. Anyhow, your analysis makes a fair degree of sense, but don't we sometimes see Jem Hadar undertaking tasks that consist of more than just running at an enemy position firing? Could those individuals be receiving further training, or are they grown for those roles?

[Junghalli]

Anyhow, your analysis makes a fair degree of sense, but don't we sometimes see Jem Hadar undertaking tasks that consist of more than just running at an enemy position firing? Could those individuals be receiving further training, or are they grown for those roles?

Both are possibilities. Although the simplest explanation (and the one I lean towards) is that they are veterans who have had time to gain actual combat experience. Jem Hadar are organic beings and sapient after all, so presumably they are capable of learning.

[Arcen]

Both are possibilities. Although the simplest explanation (and the one I lean towards) is that they are veterans who have had time to gain actual combat experience. Jem Hadar are organic beings and sapient after all, so presumably they are capable of learning.

They have to be, they fly ships. Such an assumption only works if others of their race are genetically give the skills to fly space ships instead of all the weapons skills they need. Further, considering the technology avialable to the Dominion it would make sense that they have other methods of training the young Jem Hadar. I also wonder if the Elders can impart knowledge directly from themselves to their soldiers though I don't know of any examples of this.

[Darth Wong]

This is an interesting idea. It also helps explain their eagerness to use suicide attacks and their pointlessly wasteful discipline methods, where a soldier can be summarily killed for a minor offense.

[Glimmervoid]

O and about the Jem Hadar baby. It took 3 days to go from baby to grown up but Doctor Julian says he thinks it is several months old by that point (and this was after he had look at its metabolism).

As to the idea. So you are thinking they are the WW2 red army of startrek do you. Well it dose go some way to explaining things.

[Junghalli]

They have to be, they fly ships. Such an assumption only works if others of their race are genetically give the skills to fly space ships instead of all the weapons skills they need. Further, considering the technology avialable to the Dominion it would make sense that they have other methods of training the young Jem Hadar.

You underestimate the importance of actual real-life experience, instead of learning from what probably amounts to a video recorded lecture (the most likely method of training Jem Hadar I would think, based on what we saw of how the baby Jemmie learned to speak and other stuff-by observing those around him and learning from computer tapes). A freshly cloned Jem Hadar probably goes into battle with a lot of theory drilled into his brain, but only a few days of actual life experience. That's going to have a dramatic (and undoubtedly deletrious) impact on its performance.

I also wonder if the Elders can impart knowledge directly from themselves to their soldiers though I don't know of any examples of this.

I don't recall having seen it firshand in any episodes, but I imagine it happens.

O and about the Jem Hadar baby. It took 3 days to go from baby to grown up but Doctor Julian says he thinks it is several months old by that point (and this was after he had look at its metabolism).

It was probably kept in the stasis chamber most of that time. The most logical explanation to me seems to be that the Dominion keeps vast reserves of infant Jem Hadar "on ice" as it were and thaws them out as needed. It fits with their MO.

As to the idea. So you are thinking they are the WW2 red army of startrek do you.

Basically.

[Solauren]

Also, it would be part of a massive eugenic's program within the breeding/cloning structure.

When you clone, you get mutations and aberrations. Sometimes useful, sometimes not (i.e the Jem'ha'dar that Bashir ran into that didn't need the White comes to mind)

Send 10,000 in to combat without training, the ones that survive it are probably the strongest, fastest, smartest ones and therefore worth of further training, and being used as a cloning template.

[Master of Cards]

In other words the Jem Hadar are poorly uplifted scaly monkeys instilled with ideological fanaticism and given a drug dependency to assure their loyalty, with no real conception of tactics, strategy, or military discipline.

Oh, so they're the USMC of Star Trek. Anyhow, your analysis makes a fair degree of sense, but don't we sometimes see Jem Hadar undertaking tasks that consist of more than just running at an enemy position firing? Could those individuals be receiving further training, or are they grown for those roles?

gets out the M-16

[Solauren]

Another possible reason might be there intended opponents.

Most of the time, it's low-tech resistance there facing. Hand to hand during boarding operations, or mobing up after planetary assault. You don't need a lot of strategic ability to go hand to hand with someone defending there ship, or some survivor in a building that was leveled from orbit.

[Mr. T]

Sounds good to me. Perhaps one of the reasons they introduced the new breed of "Alpha" Jem Hadar's was to make them smarter and more combat capable as they couldn't afford to make their soldiers as expendable as their "Gamma" soldiers due to limited resources in the Alpha Quadrant.

[Xon]

They have to be, they fly ships. Such an assumption only works if others of their race are genetically give the skills to fly space ships instead of all the weapons skills they need.

Trek ship technology is generally rediciously easy to operate for a humaniod with 2 working braincells.

[Mr. T]

They have to be, they fly ships. Such an assumption only works if others of their race are genetically give the skills to fly space ships instead of all the weapons skills they need.

Trek ship technology is generally rediciously easy to operate for a humaniod with 2 working braincells.

That may be so, but I'd imagine that there also very complicated to repair.

[Uraniun235]

There may be various levels of training for the Jem Hadar, ranging from "here's a gun, here's some White, hail the Founders, have a nice day" to advanced starship systems repair.

[Stravo]

My problem with the premise is that the Jem'Hedar were built up as this scary elite force that everyone in the Gamma Quadrant feared. "Watch out for the Jem'Hedar, they'll fuck you up." and even Starfleet bought into this line of thinking in regard to the Jem'Hedar. While it might all be propaganda and smoke on the Founders' side there has to be a reason why they were feared for their prowess in the Gamma quadrant and not their numbers.

Think about it, in the Dominion War its the Dominion ship NUMBERS that the Federation fears in the war, always discussing how they are outnumbered. Yet when it comes to the Jem'Hedar it is their prowess that is feared with the Klingons holding them up as some standard to surpass, always looking to do better than the Jem'Hedar. Hell even Martok is terrified of them at one point in his career and refuses to face them in combat. That speaks to prowess not their disposable nature.

While the disposable troops makes sense I think the writers spent too much time painting them as the uber shock troops of the galazy to buy completely into the idea that they were cookie cutter troops that were shake and bake trained in a matter of days or weeks.

Also remember in "The Little Ship" episode there is a qualitative difference between the Gammas and Alphas (Jem'Hedar bred in the Alpha as opposed to the Gamma quadrant) that much of the episode is spent discussing. The Alphas are more aggressive and fearless while the Gammas are more meticulous and savy. So there are differences in training between breeeding programs depending on location.

[Death from the Sea]

Oh, so they're the USMC of Star Trek.

Watch yourself buddy, there are several Marines here and you are likely to receive a good flogging for that.

As for the OP, it sounds good to me. But you gotta admit that loyalty in troops is important and the Jem Haddar are extremely loyal. It could be argued that the need for superior training is uneccessary and a waste of resources in troops such as the Jem Haddar that are mass produced and prone to dying in the line of duty.