Questions tagged [starfleet-rank]
For questions about the rank of an individual in Starfleet (Star Trek). Starfleet ranks and insignia are fictional titles and badges that form the hierarchy of Starfleet in the Star Trek television shows and movies. It goes from Crewman to Fleet Admiral. Always use with the [star-trek] tag and any appropriate work tags.
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In DS9: Paradise Lost, why is a vice admiral in charge of Starfleet?
In the Deep Space 9 episode, Paradise Lost (S04E12):
Why is Leyton considered the "head of Starfleet"? He is wearing a 3-pip admiral insignia, which is vice admiral, a solid two ranks ...
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Are there any examples of Starfleet officers who were captains or admirals without ever having been in command of a starship or base?
The question says it all - from my experience watching the shows, but not reading any books or other media, all "captains" are captains of ships. Is it possible for a starfleet officer to be ...
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How does command get transferred on a Starfleet vessel as officers come onto or leave the bridge?
Say that an ensign has the conn during a night shift and the captain walks onto the bridge in passing, perhaps to go to the ready room to read a report. Does the captain briefly assume command simply ...
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On a Starfleet vessel, what happens if there are no officers available to take the command?
Thinking about the TNG episode "Disaster", Lt. Munroe was killed during the impact. The episode plays out with Deanna taking command, but what would have happened if the only remaining crew ...
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In the TNG episode "Disaster", could Worf have given an order to a higher ranking officer?
In "Disaster", Worf is put in charge of ten-forward by Commander Riker. However, there are higher ranking officers on board (for instance a department head like Dr. Crusher). If one of those ...
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Are there any full commanders in yellow shirts through ST:Voyager?
Are there any characters who carry the rank of full commander who served in the yellow-shirt era for security, engineering, or tactical? Did these positions max out at Lieutenant Commander?
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In Star Trek (2009), was Chekov actually wrong for calling Spock "Commander" instead of "Captain"?
At some point after Spock becomes the captain but before Kirk does, he gives an order to Chekov who replies "Aye, Commander", then immediately corrects himself, saying "Ah! Captain, ...
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What are the typical duties of Rear Admirals in Starfleet?
In Starfleet, a Captain-rank officer typically serves as the Captain of a Starship. Of course there are also lots of Captains in other positions, especially on planets and in Starbases, and perhaps ...
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What is Spock's rank in "Ask Not"?
The short trek "Ask Not" is hard to accurately place in the timeline. Even Memory Alpha just puts the timeframe at "2250s or 2260s". However, as Spock is an ensign in "Q&A&...
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What universities provide a path to a Starfleet commission?
In the main Star Trek universe, most Starfleet officers that we meet attend Starfleet Academy in San Francisco before receiving their first commission in Starfleet as an Ensign, but Michael Burnham ...
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Who is the youngest Starfleet Admiral?
Admirals in Star Trek tend to be middle-aged or elderly. Meanwhile, Kirk became a Captain in his early to mid 20's in the Kelvin-verse. I am trying to set a lower bound on the age at which one could ...
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Starfleet officer promotions (Prime universe only)
Given that in Star Trek Discovery we don't yet know for certain if Tilly will be the XO at the start of the next season and she (currently) holds the rank of ensign, is there any precedent in the ...
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How are top-ranking Starfleet officers appointed/elected?
If fleet admiral is the highest rank that a Starfleet officer can reach, which is seems to be, can a fleet admiral promote someone else to their own rank? Otherwise, who appoints/promotes people to ...
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Is there an official process to remove a high-ranking Starfleet officer for misconduct?
In DS9's Paradise Lost episode (season 04, episode 12), the plot is heavy with Starfleet intrigue: Sisko discovers that Admiral Leyton is plotting to take over control of Earth and put it under a ...
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Under what circumstances can a higher-ranking Starfleet officer give an order to a lower-ranking officer?
If I understand how many real militaries work (I don't really, so if I'm wrong then this question is moot), just because you outrank someone doesn't necessarily mean you can give them an order all the ...
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Is there any official correspondence between Starfleet and Bajoran Militia ranks?
This question is borne mainly out of this statement given on the Memory Alpha page for Bajoran ranks:
The Star Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed.), proposes that the ranks below major were captain, ...
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Why does Riker not have to be Admiral to command a fleet?
Why does Riker not have to be Admiral to command a fleet in the last episode of Picard?
I would have expected that he gets a field commission and is, during having this, addressed as Admiral.
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How big is Starfleet (at the top)? [duplicate]
During the TNG years (or at any point you like until the end of DS9), how many active Starfleet officers were there overall, at a given time, of the ranks:
Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Vice-Admiral
?
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Can lower-ranked personnel refuse promotions?
Commander Riker refused his own command (and, by extension, a promotion) a few times during TNG's run. Captain Picard rejected Admiral Quinn's attempt to have him promoted to admiral.
If a lowly ...
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What are the criteria for advancing from Ensign to Lieutenant junior grade in Starfleet?
The Memory Alpha Wiki says:
At this rank [LTjg], [officers] had begun to prove their ability to perform acceptably in Starfleet, and typically began to take on more senior roles in command ...
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Geordi's authority in Arsenal of Freedom [closed]
Just watching The Arsenal of Freedom, and I thought La Forge was a bit arrogant. I usually like the character, but he was acting like Logan's superior rank meant nothing!
Can a junior grade ...
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Why is Tuvok so accepting of others calling him by his first name?
As Tuvok is Vulcan, I would think that he'd view basically everything in light of Starfleet guidelines, including how subordinates address him. However, he is apparently okay with Harry Kim and Tom ...
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How come there are no middle-aged senior officers on the Enterprise D other than Picard?
In a military organization, the number of members of a given rank is generally lower the higher the rank is: fewer Lt. Commanders than Lieutenants, fewer Captains than Commander and so on. Also, ...
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Besides the famous captains, do we actually know anything any Admiral did to earn that rank?
As far as I recall, we know of the following admirals in the future:
Adm. Archer (future), Adm. Riker (future),
And we know of Adm. Janeway (comtemporary in Star Trek: Nemesis), Arm. Kirk (...
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Why would Worf be First Officer of the Enterprise?
I'm specifically referring to the episode(s) Gambit. In the absence of Riker and Picard, Data takes command of the Enterprise and Worf is second in command.
This seems wrong however, because he is ...
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Why is there a prominent cadet on Discovery?
Why is Cadet Tilly on the U.S.S. Discovery?
This seems like an odd choice based on previous Star Trek precedent in general and also given that U.S.S. Discovery is the most advanced starship in the ...
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Why are all Starfleet ships commanded by Captains?
To my knowledge every Starfleet ship we see is commanded by a Captain. From what I know of modern navies: Lieutenants, Lieutenant Commanders, and Commanders can also command ships. I'm just curious as ...
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Why is O'Brien, who operates the transporter, called “Chief” in Star Trek?
Chief suggests someone high-ranking and/or the job is very difficult. There are higher-ranking officers in Star Trek but they are not called chief.
I do not know how difficult the job is but on a ...
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In Star Trek, what's the rank progression from cadet to captain?
In Star Trek, Starfleet academy students take various different courses, for example: medicine, science, communications, exobiology.
But how do cadets make the big chair - what's the career ...
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How did Beverly Crusher attain the rank of Commander?
Reading Dr. Crusher's biography on Memory Alpha, I don't understand how it is exactly that she got to be a Commander. When did she put in the time as an officer in a non-medical capacity, enough to ...
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Why was Dr. Bashir a lieutenant instead of an ensign?
In Deep Space 9, Dr. Bashir was posted to the space station as his first assignment, but he had the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Why didn't he have a rank of Ensign? Was he fast-tracked?
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What's the command structure at the top of Starfleet?
We seem to meet an awful lot of mostly non-recurring admirals.
What's the command structure at the top of Starfleet?
Does Starfleet report to a Commander-in-Chief? Is the Federation Council ...
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Why did DS9 need a Science Officer (pre-wormhole!)?
There is some suggestion that there's a position of Science Officer aboard starships.
On NCC-1701, this was Spock. On NX-01, this was T'Pol.
But there really isn't such high-ranking position on ...
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What's the origin of referring to female superior officers as "sir"?
It is well established in Star Trek: The Next Generation that female superior officers are normally referred to as sir. This is applied to Dr. Crusher, Counselor Troi, Cmdr. Shelby, Maj. Kira, Lt. ...
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Why did they film a scene for Nemesis with Lt. Wesley Crusher?
In this deleted scene, Wesley appears at the Riker-Troi wedding in a Lt JG uniform.
Why would this occur? It's clear from "Journey's End" that
And then he resigns from the Academy and goes and ...
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Which Star Trek character appeared on screen with the most different ranks?
I don't mean due to inconsistency and prop goofs (like O'Brien's notoriously inconsistent depiction).
But field commissions, flashbacks, alternate timelines, Q-manipulations, etc would be in-bounds. ...
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How did Starfleet have an admiralty if it didn't have a fleet?
When you watch Star Trek: Enterprise you see them communicating with Starfleet command, Admiral Forrest is a recurring character.
It seems to me that the admiralty and command structure is very ...
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Why wasn't Harry Kim promoted beyond ensign, when others like Tom Paris were multiple times?
I read this question, but it's not the same as mine: Why is Harry Kim senior staff?
ST Voyager "Nightingale":
JANEWAY: You've been in command on Voyager before.
KIM: On the night shift, for ...
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Was there ever a time that the crew of the Enterprise-E would have worn TNG S1-7 / DS9 / Generations-style uniforms?
In 'First Contact', La Forge makes reference to the crew of the Enterprise-E having been in space for over a year by that point. Given that the revised ST:FC Starfleet uniforms (grey shoulders) were ...
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In Star Trek, are there any (named) low-ranking older officers?
Of course, I mean besides Lt. JG Picard in "Tapestry":
Is it just Hollywood bias or are we to believe that officers either get promoted, get killed, or retire if their career is not advancing?
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How did Worf's adoptive father know O'Brien's rank?
In "Family", Worf's adoptive father, Sergey Rozhenko beams aboard and is instantly buddies with Chief O'Brien (from his point of view).
WORF: They still have not signalled?
O'BRIEN: No sir.
...
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How many admirals are in Starfleet?
Let's say in the TNG era.
They seem to be pretty rare given that they have to be promoted mostly from the ranks of the most accomplished captains. I would guess maybe twenty are encountered or ...
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In TNG novels, how did this key character leapfrog another for promotion?
Entire question is spoilers for TNG novels.
I'm not into reading Star Trek novels, but I somehow stumbled upon the publisher's description for Takedown:
Question:
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Why is Harry Kim senior staff?
Harry Kim is an ensign, the most junior of post academy officers. Voyager is Harry's first posting after the academy (VOY: Non-sequitur). Kim is the primary operations officer even before half of ...
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Chief medical officer outranks captain; what is the specific limit to this, and when is it first established?
This answer discusses how combat and non-combat officers fit into a military hierarchy, how this impacts the ability of one to command the other, and how that fits into the ST:TOS hierarchy.
However, ...
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Beverly Crusher's rank aboard The Enterprise
In TNG, Riker is the first officer and has the rank of Commander. Lt. Commander Data is the 2nd officer, yet Crusher outranks Data. Why is it that he's the 2nd officer and she isn't?
Where does she ...
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Limit of promotions or officers (Starfleet, Klingon fleet, etc.)
Is there any sort of limit as to how many officers a Captain may promote on his/her ship to the appropriate position?
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Is there a minimum ranking a Chief Medical Officer on a Starfleet Starship needs to be?
In TOS McCoy was a Lt Cmdr and Crusher was a full Cmdr. It seems that to be Chief Medical officer you need to be a reasonably high-ranking officer. The exception to this is The Doctor (EMH) in VOY, ...
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What happened to Nog's field promotion on the Valiant?
During "Valiant" (S06E22), Nog is given a field promotion from Ensign to Lieutenant Commander when he's assigned by Tim Watters (himself only a Red Squad Cadet who received a field commission to ...
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Is there a tendency for captains to call their first officers 'Number 1'?
I've noticed that Picard calls Riker 'Number 1' regularly and I thought nothing of it. But in a recent episode I watched (where there's the simulated battle between the Hathaway and Enterprise-D), ...
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