Guest c4evap Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Found this whilst surfing... Federation Rank by Kasey K.S. Chang (Ksc1) Revision: 11/20/92 =============================================================== INTRODUCTION This article attempts to clarify the confusing rank structure in Star Fleet. Many ranks were never mentioned, while others were never explained in detail. The question about existence of enlisted personnel in StarFleet must also be answered. It is hoped that this article will satisfy some curiosities while helping other writers write more authentic stories. It can be assumed that other major political entities (with possible exception of the Ferengis and the Orions) with a semi-military deep space fleet have similar rank structures. =============================================================== LEGAL MUMBLE-JUMBLE Comments about this article are welcome. Article is copyrighted © 1992 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved, except materials from Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. "Star Trek" and "Starship Enterprise" and various other names are trademarks of Paramount Pictures Corporation. The information in this article are drawn from the following sources: _TNG Officer's Manual_ (FASA), _TNG Technical Journal_ (Starlog), _SFB Captain's Log #7_ (Task Force Games), and _STAR FLEET TECHNICAL MANUAL_ (TOS)(Ballantine). _Mr.Scott's Guide to the ENTERPRISE_ (Pocket Books) have the rank pins for the movies. This article may be distributed freely within the Star Trek fandom with the following conditions: 1) This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of the article. 2) The article must not be modified in any form. If you think I have made an error, write to me, and I'll look into it and if warranted, issue an update. 3) No charge other than "reasonable" distribution compensation be charged for its distribution. 4) If you quote from this article PLEASE quote the source also. Else it is plagiarism. Comments should be sent to: Kasey K.S. Chang PC-Link : Ksc1 2220 Turk Blvd. Apt.6 America On-Line : Ksc1 San Francisco, CA 94118 Promenade : Ksc1 Internet mail as Ksc1@aol.com FIDOnet Mail as "Kasey Chang" at Clawmarks BBS (1:161/314). ================================================================ ABBREVIATIONS TOS....The Original Series TNG....The Next Generation TOSN...The Original Series Novels TNGN...The Next Generation Novels N/A....Not Applicable, Not Available STx....Star Trek Movie, x is the number; "ST6" = "Star Trek 6". Titles of movies, episodes and books are often shown after an abbreviation, in full or abbreviated; "ST2:TWOK" = "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan". =========================================================== CONVENTIONS USED There are three groups of ranks: Flag Officers, Commissioned Officers, and Enlisted Personnel. Ranks are separated and listed by their groups. Each rank will have an example or two, TOS Emblem, and TNG Emblem listed. The movie insignias are too complicated to reproduce with ASCII characters, so please refer to _Mr.Scott's Guide to the ENTERPRISE_ for them. The ranks during the movies are the same during TOS. A few paragraphs will describe each rank, the positions and functions under that rank, and so on. Rank stripes in TOS are worn on the edge of the right sleeve. A "half stripe" is a broken stripe instead of a solid stripe. For TNG, "half pip" means a hollow pip instead of a solid pip, and the insignia is worn on the right collar, except for flag rank (admirals), who wear their rank tabs on BOTH sides of the collar. ================================================================ FLAG OFFICERS In Star Trek (TOS and TNG), no distinctions were made among the various grades of admiral, so information presented is conjectural. Flag Officers will almost never command a single ship except in very special circumstances. Kirk's assumption of command in ST:TMP and ST2:TWOK are two of them. There are three grades of admirals: Flag Admiral, Vice Admiral, and Rear Admiral. It is acceptable to call all admirals by the title of "Admiral", as the difference in the rank is not that great. It is the positions they hold that differentiate them. In TOS, all branch department head positions are held by Flag Admirals, who usually came up from Command branch. By TNG's time, the rank can be held by people not of the Command branch. Mr.Scott and Dr.McCoy each became "branch admirals" of their own department: Engineering and Medical. 1 Major departments at this level include: Fleet Operations, Base Operations, Logistics, Personnel, Security, Science, Engineering, Medical, Research, Colonization, Justice, Exploration, and StarFleet Academy. The departments are sometimes also known as "Corps" or "Command". Examples are StarFleet Engineering Corps and StarFleet Exploration Command. 2 ================================================================== Rank...........Flag Admiral Example........Admiral Cartwright (ST6:TUC) TOS Insignia...N/A, probably four stars TNG Insignia...Three pips with gold border, on both sides of the collar Flag Admirals are the ones making the strategic decisions for StarFleet. There are actually two types of Flag Admirals. The ones commanding numbered fleets (i.e. Seventh Fleet - Romulan Border) are known as Fleet Admirals. 3 Those who command a major department (logistics, personnel, etc.) are known as Branch Admirals. Only personnel who came up through command can achieve this rank. ================================================================= Rank...........Vice Admiral Example........Vice Admiral Rittenhouse (TOSN:"Dreadnaught!") Vice Admiral Lori Ciana (TOSN:"The Lost Years", ST:TMP Novelization) TOS Insignia...N/A, probably three stars TNG Insignia...N/A, probably two pips with gold border on both sides of the collar Vice admirals are often involved in a variety of roles, ranging from diplomatic and scientific to traditional planning and organizational tasks. Diplomatic liaison and/or negotiations with new member planets would often require services of a vice admiral. StarFleet representative to the Federation is a Vice Admiral. When commanding ships, vice admirals command special task groups underthe major fleets of about two dozen ships or more. ==================================================================== Rank...........Rear Admiral Example........Admiral James T. Kirk (TOSN:The Lost Years) TOS Insignia...N/A, probably two stars TNG Insignia...N/A, probably one pip with gold border, on both sides of the collar Commander of an operational fleet of approximately dozen ships, Rear Admirals perform tasks of the admiralty that involves more of a "local" nature, limited to a more specific astrographical location, such as a sector, quadrant, etc. Often they are also the starbase commanders. ================================================================== Rank...........Commodore Example........Commodore Matthew Decker (TOS:"The Doomsday Machine") Commodore Robert Wesley (TOS:"The Ultimate Computer") TOS Insignia...N/A, probably one star TNG Insignia...N/A, probably five pips Rank of Commodore is exactly half-way in between flag rank and commissioned officer rank, and does not really fit into one or the other. In TOS they wear stars like the admirals, while in TNG, according to _TNG Tech Journal_, they are supposed to wear five pips on the collar like a high captain. (Makes you wonder if there is a rank with 4.5 pips.) In the novel _Imzadi_ by Peter David, Data eventually reached the rank of Commodore (and command of the NCC-1701-F). ================================================================= COMMISSIONED OFFICERS The "regular" officers are the ones actually running the starships and starbases around Federation space. They include captain, commander, lieutenant commander, lieutenant, lieutenant junior grade (j.g.), and ensign. Due to the nature of the stories told in TOS and TNG, almost all the action will involve exclusively officers. The Commissioned Officers comprise less than ten percent (10%) of the crew on a starship. The number of pips for commissioned officers in TNG mirrors the current navy standard, with pips replacing stripes. ================================================================== Rank...........Fleet Captain Example........Fleet Captain Garth of Izar (TOS:"Whom Gods Destroy") Fleet Captain Christopher Pike (TOS:"The Menagerie") TOS Insignia...N/A, probably three stripes TNG Insignia...N/A, no such rank, could be four and a half pips This rank was only referred to twice in TOS, and was never defined, therefore the information presented here is conjectural. The rank probably does not exist in TNG. A Fleet Captain is the senior captain of a fleet under command of a Rear Admiral. The Rear Admiral will usually delegate the authority to the Fleet Captain, who will actually run the fleet. Later, the rank evolved to a more administrative position. Garth of Izar is of that rank due to his importance in the Battle of Axanar. He was the only one to have ever defeated a Klingon fleet in battle at that time. The Commodore who reinforced him decided to delegate the overall command to Garth, promoting him to Fleet Captain. The only other fleet captain known is Fleet Captain Christopher Pike. =============================================================== Rank...........Captain Example........Captain James T. Kirk (TOS), Captain Jean-Luc Picard TOS Insignia...Two and a half stripes TNG Insignia...Four pips This is a confusing rank since it is also a position. Usually a person holding rank of "captain" is also "captain" of a ship. Captains command heavy cruiser or heavier starships. They can also be senior StarFleet ambassadorial attache. Prior to 2280's, only officer's of Command branch can be promoted to and above rank of Captain. However, by the 2280's, this restriction has been dropped. Montgomery Scott is "Captain of Engineering" in ST5 and ST6, and has the rank pins to show it. ================================================================== Rank...........Lieutenant Captain (?) Example........Lieutenant Captain (?) Keiran McDuff (TNG:"Conundrum") TOS Insignia...N/A, does not exist TNG Insignia...N/A, does not exist This rank does not exist, but is placed here to combat a rumor that the fake first officer had 3.5 pips somehow. He does not, repeat NOT wear 3.5 pips. He wore regular 3 pips like Commander Riker. This rank does NOT exist, PERIOD. =================================================================== Rank...........Commander Example........Commander Spock (TOS), Commander William T. Riker (TNG) TOS Insignia...Two stripes TNG Insignia...Three pips The executive officer of a major ship (which has a "Captain" as captain) is probably a commander. Some smaller ships (frigates, maybe destroyers) are commanded by Commanders and they are known as "brevet captains", who are usually addressed as "skipper" (instead of "captain") while onboard. Since cruises on small ships are used to train the Commanders for promotion, it is possible for a full Captain (albeit a young one, recently promoted) to command a small ship. The Chief Medical Officer of a heavy cruiser or above holds the rank of full commander. During a crisis, with the captain incapacitated, the executive officer can take over a cruiser as "brevet captain". If the captain cannot bereturned to duty, the promotion will be made permanent after the crisis is resolved. One note about Spock: in TOS:"Where No Man Has Gone Before", he was identified as a lieutenant commander, but wearing two stripes! =============================================================== Rank...........Lieutenant Commander Example........LtCmdr Montgomery Scott (TOS), LtCmdr Data (TNG) TOS Insignia...One and a half stripe TNG Insignia...Two and a half pips An officer with rank of Lieutenant Commander could be commander of a frigate or a police corvette, or executive officer of a ship with a Commander as the skipper. A third possibility is s/he was given the post of executive officer on a major ship (heavy cruiser or above) and will be promoted to full Commander if s/he can handle the job. Spock would be such a case, since he was a lieutenant commander, yet wearing insignia of a full commander. On starships, the LtCmdr's are usually the department heads (engineering, medical, navigation, etc.). Senior department head onboard is probably also the second officer, third in chain of command after Captain and the exec. In TNG, Counselors on ships of heavy cruiser or larger also hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Deanna Troi was identified as of this rank in TNG:"Encounter at Farpoint" (rank pins), TNG:"The Child" (computer screen), and TNG:"Disaster" (verbal cues: O'Brien). ================================================================= Rank...........Lieutenant Example........Lieutenant Worf (TNG), Lieutenant Winston Kyle (TOS) TOS Insignia...One stripe TNG Insignia...Two pips Full lieutenants are the junior officers with the most skill and seniority. They are also the deputy department heads on cruiser or larger vessels, and department heads on smaller ships. Lieutenants may be in charge of a very small ship, like a freighter, in special situations. Lieutenants are also commanders of fighter-shuttle squadrons at times of war. ================================================================= Rank...........Lieutenant j.g. Example........Ltjg Geordi LaForge (TNG 1st Season) TOS Insignia...N/A, probably half stripe TNG Insignia...One and a half pips Also known as "jay-gee's", these are the junior lieutenants, usually on their second or third cruise. They might be in charge of a very small ship under very special situations. Otherwise they are the ones who get their hands dirty in ship's departments. They also could be deputy department heads in the minor departments. ================================================================== Rank...........Ensign Example........Ensign Ro Larrin (TNG), Ensign Pavel Chekov (TOS) TOS Insignia...No stripe, perhaps special uniform? TNG Insignia...One pip Ensigns are the "working" officers on their first cruise. Because an officer is an officer, ensigns are sometimes assigned to command small units or to perform certain tasks that cannot be delegated to petty officers. They can hold bridge duty, but only the most senior do so during primary (day) shift. It appears that in ST5 and ST6 Ensigns wear a special form of "cadet" uniform. This remains to be confirmed. ================================================================ Rank...........Ensign Junior Grade Example........Ensign (TNG:"The Next Phase") TOS Insignia...N/A, insufficient information TNG Insignia...Half pip The ensign transporter chief is wearing "half a pip"? ================================================================= Rank...........Cadet Example........Cadet Peter Preston, Cadet Wesley Crusher TOS Insignia...N/A, probably special uniform TNG Insignia...Special uniforms, semester pins (black rectangles) Cadets are neither officers nor enlisted personnel, but officers in training, therefore they are included under commissioned officers, even though they have not yet received their commissions. As students of StarFleet Academy, they might be on a ship for a training cruise, as seen in ST2:TWOK. Naval cadets are sometimes known as "midshipmen" from old wet navy sailing ship days. However, the term was not used in Star Trek. Instead, the term "Cadet" is used consistently. Cadets wear special uniforms that designate their status. In TNG, Wesley Crusher wore a regular duty uniform but with the color scheme reversed from that of the command uniform, and no rank pins. In ST2:TWOK special cadet uniforms are also shown. Cadet Peter Preston was identified as "Cadet First Class, Engineer's Mate". It can be assumed that in TOS similar arrangement was employed. On the other hand, ST5 and ST6 showed that low grade officers also appears to wear a slightly different version of the "cadet uniform". In TNG:"First Duty", rank pins are shown on Cadet uniforms, which are black rectangles. Wesley had two while the team leader had four. Those appear to be semester pins, reflecting the current naval academy policies, which would indicate StarFleet Academy to be a two-year institution. It can be assumed that TOS would be similar. ================================================================= ENLISTED PERSONNEL There should be no doubt that enlisted personnel must exist on a starship. Indeed, a quick calculation showed that enlisted personnel should comprise over 90% of the crew. An average heavy cruiser of CONSTITUTION-class would have one Captain, one Commander, five LtCmdr's, eight Lt's, ten Lt.jg's, and fifteen Ensigns. Since the normal complement of a heavy cruiser is about 450, that leaves over 90% unaccounted for, which must then be enlisted personnel. THE MAKING OF STAR TREK's comment about "no enlisted personnel in StarFleet" has been taken into consideration, and has been discarded due to screened evidence in direct contrast. One enlisted personnel has been shown in TNG, "Crewman First Class" Tarsus in TNG:"Drumhead". He wore no pips on the collar. The following information is partially based on FASA's TNG Officer's Manual, but much simplified, since FASA's claim of recruits, three grades of specialists, three grades of Petty Officers, plus three more grades of Warrant Officers is rather absurd. 4 TOS Enlisted Personnel wear pips on their right sleeve as opposed to stripes for officers and stars for flag rank. TNG Enlisted Personnel wear stars on right sleeve as opposed to the collar, since "Crewman First Class" has no pips on collar. The following ranks are conjectural: petty officer, specialist, and crewman. There appears to be various levels within the ranks. However, no details were available. ================================================================== Rank..........................Petty Officer Conjectural TOS Insignia......Three pips Conjectural TNG Insignia......Three stars worn on right sleeve Specialists who showed excellent leadership capabilities are promoted to the rank of Petty Officer. While called an officer, they are non- commissioned officers, and are junior to ensigns. Petty officer typically commands a group of enlisted personnel, often independent of direct supervision by junior officers. According to TNG:"Family", Sergei Roshenko (Worf's adoptive father) used to be a "petty officer". There are no "chief petty officers" since the title is often confused with the transporter chiefs. However, there might be petty officer first class and petty officer second class, in that case, pett officer second class would wear 2.5 stars. ================================================================== Rank..........................Specialist Conjectural TOS Insignia......Two pips Conjectural TNG Insignia......Two stars worn on right sleeve Crewmen who showed promise and recommended by senior officers are sent to specialty schools to be further trained in certain areas, such as medical, engineering, etc. Upon graduation they are promoted to the rank of Specialist. There are Specialist First Class and Specialist Second Class. Second Class would wear 1.5 units instead of the usual 2 units. ================================================================= Rank..........................Crewman Conjectural TOS Insignia......One pip Conjectural TNG Insignia......One star worn on right sleeve Crewmen usually join StarFleet at the age of seventeen (17) or equivalent maturity levels. They will undergo orientation, plus some specialized training depending on their preference and aptitude. Most crewmen are assigned to starbase duty. Only the best are selected for starship duty. There are two classes of Crewman, and Crewman Second Class should wear half unit instead of the full unit for Crewman First Class. ================================================================ CHAIN OF COMMAND : TOS Captain First Officer Department Heads (senior rank and command branch takes precedence, no order) Science Engineering Helm Nav Security Medical Deputy Department Heads Other personnel ================================================================== CHAIN OF COMMAND: TNG Captain First Officer Second Officer Department Heads (senior rank and command branch takes precedence, no order) Ops Conn Engineering Security Medical Civilian * Deputy Department Heads Other personnel * Counselor is the head of the "Civilian" department. ============================================================ SPECIAL SITUATIONS Plenty of people have been wondering that how did Counselor Troi take command in TNG:"Disaster". Counselor Troi IS in the chain of command. Counselor is the head of the civilian administration, which qualifies as a department onboard a GALAXY-class starship. She is also a senior bridge officer. It is true that she probably did not attend the Academy, and received no command training. On the other hand, her rank of Lieutenant Commander is NOT honorary, despite numerous claims. If Troi wore regular uniforms, it would be blue, like Dr.Crusher. In fact, she did wear such an uniform in TNG:"Encounter at Farpoint". Due to her lack of command expertise, Troi usually defer the task of command to other trained officers of senior or equal rank when possible. None were available on the bridge in TNG:"Disaster". If Dr.Crusher is on the bridge, could she take command? The answer is YES. In fact, I think she did so once, when all of the other senior officers fell sick. (If someone remember the episode please tell me.) In short, when officers of equal rank are present, command-trained personnel (recognized by their gold shirts in TOS or red shirts in TNG) will take command. If not, the most senior officer will take command or pass it down to the next most senior. If O'Brien is a lieutenant, does that mean he outranks Ro in TNG:"Disaster", and therefore could be eligible for command? According to rules that I had just laid down, yes. However, it would be unlikely, since O'Brian has neither command experience nor training, while Troi at least had some command experience. ================================================================= AND NOW ABOUT O'BRIAN... Transporter Chief O'Brien's rank has most people puzzled. Is he a Lieutenant or a Chief Petty Officer? The answer is: no one knows, not even the TNG staff. Evidences available are contradictory. However, TNG Companion stated several times that O'Brian is a lieutenant. I believe that the evidence favors "lieutenant". However, I will list all the arguments by both sides and some counterpoints. If you have any more points to add please reach me in the ways listed. On the "chief petty officer/NCO" side: * In TNG:"Family", Sergei Rozshenko, after taking a look at O'Brian, said "I too, was a petty officer," which would seem to indicate that O'Brian is a NCO/CPO. > TNG Companion claimed Sergei have made a mistake, since "O'Brian is clearly wearing two pips". * O'Brian is usually referred to as "Chief O'Brian", which IN THE PRESENT corresponds to "chief petty officer" > On the other hand, O'Brian is also the "transporter chief", and in TOS, "Chief Kyle" was a lieutenant. * Writer's Bible showed that O'Brian never went to the Academy > O'Brian could have came up through 24th Century's equivalent of ROTC, or received a field commission. * O'Brian deferred to Ro's judgement in TNG:"Disaster", which should mean he is lower than an ensign. > Only because Ro's a command ensign, and has command training, while O'Brian didn't. On the "lieutenant" side: * Numerous shots showed he wore two pips, which should indicate rank of full lieutenant > Those pips are of a different color other than gold. >> No, because you can't differentiate officers just by color of their pips. From a distance, they look the same. The only exception is current navy ensign have a silver bar while ltjg have a gold bar. However, both ensign and ltjg are officers, and is only one grade's difference. * O'Brian is senior enough to temporarily replace Worf at tactical in TNG:"Redemption II", and there is no evidence that any NCO have ever served on the bridge. In fact, the lowest rank on the bridge ever was an "acting ensign". * In TOS, "Chief Kyle" was clearly identified as a lieutenant, and he is also the "transporter chief" like O'Brian. * Picard had called an ensign transporter operator "chief" in TNG:"We'll Always Have Paris" and TNG:"The Next Phase" At this moment, I will take the "lieutenant" side until I receive conclusive evidence otherwise. 5-25-01: http://www.episodeguides.com/shows/ds9/images/pic27b.jpg The following picture shows Chief O'Brian's rank quite clearly. It has three marks }}} followed by two dots. One centered the other above. A Senior Chief Petty Officer. A Master Chief has three dots and a Chief Petty Officer has one. Later, Cameron ================================================================ IN CONCLUSION That is all about the ranks of Federation StarFleet, for now. Watch for other articles coming soon to an on-line service near you! Thanks to Robert West (BobWest1@AOL) for editorial assistance, and William F.B. Vodrey for additional feedback. Please send any comments via the ways listed at the front of this article. Keep trekkin'! --Kasey K.S. Chang, treknologist ENDNOTES 1 While never totally explained, TNG:"Encounter at Farpoint" novelization (David Gerrold) has showed that Admiral McCoy is head of StarFleet Medical Corps. I can only assume that Scotty, who is already outranking McCoy in ST5 and ST6 as "Captain of Engineering" would do just as good. 2 The branches are listed in STAR FLEET TECHNICAL MANUAL. 3 Conventions borrowed from current navy and Star Fleet Universe, property of Task Force Games. 4 Yes, someone did remind me that the REAL military have enlisted ranks from E-1 to E-9 (and officer ranks O-1 to O-9), but the division is TOO fine, and in Star Trek, things are simple. Oh well... Who knows? When you throw in the various classes within each rank, you could still come up with 9 different grades... c4 B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Sure I like the trivia... but I couldn't even bring myself to read this (except the bit about O'Brian). It's taking valuable time away from cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest c4evap Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I know. It's rather long but interesting. Too bad it's not totally up to date. c4 B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Yeah, I'm sooooo not gonna read all that. I gave it a shot, and decided to just take a shot (of Whiskey) instead. I feel much better now. :cyclops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayden Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 yeah it is out of date isnt. Even with O'brian.. n he's been noted to be a chief petty officer.. hasnt he? in ds9 when nog trials for star fleet admitance, at the end of the episode he goes to bashire, you know when he graduates from the acadmy ill have to call him sir.. that means he is an inlisted person, meaning not gone to the acadmy??? i think i just donfused my self.. drrr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Yeah, it clearly was written around the time DS9 started... O'brien was clearly stated to be a NCO in DS9. Which is why when Nog becomes an Ensign, he outranks him. They also have Chakotay and Be'lanna wear provisional ranks the whole way through Voyager - but not Tom. Which is strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Tom was reinstated by Starfleet. Be'lanna and Chakotay were not; their ranks were provisional since their basis was situational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antipodean Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Thanks C4 & others - really informative and filled in some gaps I was wondering about. You know, I was just really getting into this thread, and I mean seriously finding it interesting, when the thought occured to me... "my god, we are all uber nerds". Fair enough, I guess. I don't reckon thats a bad thing - and I don't mean to insult anybody here, but seriously, imagaine how this thread would look to a trek outsider? Hah. Who cares anyhow? We know we're on to a good thing. Catch yez all later ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arktis Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 No sense in getting hung up on these things, Antipodean. This IS a primarily Star Trek oriented sci-fi forum after all. Try posting the values of the individual electron cloud orbits of a magnesium atom on a stamp collector's forum and see how well that goes over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symok Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 I haven't read through the whole thing, but I did skim a bit... Some notes: From the Star Trek Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded Edition (1999): - There are 5 "levels" of Admiralty, "one star" to "five star", designated by Full pips on a black backing, with gold trim. - A single half-pip represents "Chief Warrant Officer" - "Kieran MacDuff" is refered to in the encyclopedia as Commander Counselor Troi IS in the chain of command. Counselor is the head of the civilian administration, which qualifies as a department onboard a GALAXY-class starship. She is also a senior bridge officer. It is true that she probably did not attend the Academy, and received no command training. On the other hand, her rank of Lieutenant Commander is NOT honorary, despite numerous claims. If Troi wore regular uniforms, it would be blue, like Dr.Crusher. In fact, she did wear such an uniform in TNG:"Encounter at Farpoint". Troi was not a Bridge Officer as of Disaster. She takes the bridge officer tests in a later episode (And references the events of Disaster as one of her reasons). Troi would have to have gone through the Academy to have a Starfleet rank, as opposed to an enlisted rank (or none at all, if she were a civilian). According to the Encyclopedia (citing "Conundrum" as its source) she graduated in 2359. Finally, "treknologist"? :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Civilian administration? The Enterprise-D might have looked and acted like a pleasure boat but the notion it had a civilian administration is possibly the most hilarious thing I've heard for a while. She was clearly a part of Starfleet. That's why she was allowed to crash the Enterprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TetsuoShima Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Well, I don't mean to be a 'bugger', but there is a lot of incorrect and incomplete information in there. I would not take this info as is if I were you. There is a lot better info on the net. Even simply on wikipedia there is better info. Appart from other things mentioned above (Troi, O'Brien,...): Some things that are also wrong: - flag officer ranks are not correct and incomplete - enlisted personel is nearly completely incorrect - commissioned officers: ensign j.g. does not exist and the mentioned 'half pip' has a better explanation for it. Maybe it is because the revision says '92. Maybe they hadn't made their minds up by then, but 14 years down the road this information is very misleading and is for a large part misinformation... Sorry I had to put this reply in, but I wouldn't want people to be misinformed about this if there is more correct info available. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 It took c4evap 14 years to find it... of course it was going to be a bit out of date. But I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "that information is wrong", so long as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underscore Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Man!!! I so couldnt read the first couple of lines of that even. I would have just felt ashamed to try and learn all that shtuph!! Props to all of us in our diversity, but this is what gives sci fi fans a bit of an unsexy rep imo :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenebrae Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 There's a definite difference between knowing a lot about a show because you watch it or talk about it... and going out to actively learn all there is to learn and then write (factually inaccurate) dissertations on those things. Besides, I save my dissertation writing skills for porn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Symok Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 There's a definite difference between knowing a lot about a show because you watch it or talk about it... and going out to actively learn all there is to learn and then write (factually inaccurate) dissertations on those things. I wrote an essay on the Borg, and another on general Trek, for a university English class. What does that tell you about me? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amnot Borg Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 Most of my book reports in high school were about scifi novels. I hated looking out at the class and seeing that "what the heck is he talking about?" look. Oh yeah, topic wise, this is obviously before they find Scotty trapped in a transporter pattern. He never would have gotten the ranks they were hoping for. He wasn't available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest c4evap Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 It took c4evap 14 years to find it... of course it was going to be a bit out of date. It took me that long to find my glasses! c4 :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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