Update: Answered in the comments much more thoroughly and succinctly than I can summarize, so head below for some great answers.
She’s apparently the warrant officer, which I’ve seen hypothetical explanations state is the XO, the second in command, but she explicitly states that she is the third officer at the end of the movie, and throughout The movie she is the pilot and she checks the electrician’s work and volunteers to go fight the alien first, and also states that she is in command while the others were off the ship.
So was Kane second in command?
And what is a warrant officer?
Thank you
BTW if there is a crazy Aliens expert, I have a few tiny questions that only a crazy fan who literally read everything ever written and watched every interview about the movie might be able to answer.
i never got the impression she was the pilot.
not sure where in the hierarchy her role/title would have been, but she was clearly management… handling pay issues, and being very knowledgeable about all onboard systems, policies and procedures. #3 sounds right; behind the captain and the android
You think the Android would have been number two? What about Kane?
No, it looks like Thomas Kane is the executive officer, I think Ash was just a science officer that the company installed as a plant.
But then that gives us three management officers, which seems slightly overbearing.
That is a good point… the bot was identified as the science officer