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Question: What is a Civilian Specialist?

"Could you give me some in-depth info on what a 'civilian specialist' is, does, can do, can't do, is required to do, isn't allowed to do, who he outranks (if anyone), his rights, privileges, training, where he would rank 'in the field' as a part of SG1 ... I'm just trying to really wrap my mind around where Daniel fits in as a civilian specialist."

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Actually, it's quite simple. He or she a civilian contracted to provide a service to the government [in this case, the US Air Force] and so falls under it's jurisdiction. A 'civilian specialist' - in Daniel's case, read advisor - advises. That's all. He has no say on how his advice is used or even if it's used. Any 'rights or privilege' are 'given' to him by his immediate supervisor [in the case of Daniel Jackson , his immediate 'supervisor Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF].

For the sake of brevity, I'll be using Dr. Jackson and SG-1 as my example from here on out.

He has no rank, per se, so he outranks no one. He has some authority over aspects of the mission that involve his field, but his superior has the right to turn the mission into a military situation at anytime and overrule him. In truth, a Sergeant could pull rank on him.

Let's say SG-1 is on a mission to excavate the ruins discovered on P3D-334, which would put the mission under Daniel's immediate control, as that is his specialty. However, at any time Jack can decide there's a 'military threat to the team and yank that control right out of Daniel's hands.

So ... if it were a major dig, with lots of extra people in a fairly safe environment, and Daniel were put in charge of the dig aspect, then he would have control over the dig and the people assigned directly to it: military and civilian alike. But again, the senior military person in charge can revoke that control at any moment. Back SGC, he has or would have control over those people assigned to him or under him if he heads up a department, say 'Linguistics'. But, again, that control ends when the military decides it's in their best interest.

He is required to do anything that is asked of him within his specialty or the needs of his assignment. In other words, if he's not willing to climb trees and fight Jaffa, he wouldn't be allowed on field assignments. He carries a side arm because Jack probably insists, not because he wants to [at least, early on in the series]. It was a requirement for the position on SG-1. Training follows the same guidelines. He's required to carry at least a side-arm: he has to qualify with that side-arm and maintain that qualification... which means a certain amount of range time each quarter with scores above a certain level, etc. If it were to be determined that he needed to have 'winter survival training', he'd find himself on a plane to Ft. Richardson, Alaska the next morning.

The fact that he has as much leeway and right of action on SG-1 is a testament to his skills and the trust of the team in him... not any set of regulations in his favor.