After securing Atlantis, the "Daedalus" took Sheppard, Weir, McKay and Carson Beckett back to Earth to report on the status of the Atlantis expedition. General Hank Landry implied to Weir that the Pentagon wanted to make Colonel Steven Caldwell the military commander of the Atlantis expedition, but Weir informed them that Atlantis already had a military commander. When they stated that Sheppard was just a major with a questionable record, she told them that they could solve that problem with the President and the International Oversight Committee on her side; Sheppard was subsequently promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and installed as official military commander of the Atlantis expedition. Colonel Caldwell, who had sought the leadership position, was displeased by this outcome.