Even the Yesterday's Enterprise timeline, where Starfleet was intentionally portrayed as a military and the Enterprise was a warship still had a civilian bartender.
Because there must be hundreds if not thousands of non-coms available who could do that kind of job? When someone has to teach people how to work new equipment, it makes sense to get someone who is already familiar with the equipment, which usually means a civilian contractor, since most equipment is designed and tested by civilian companies. When all you're looking for is someone to watch the bar, what on earth do you need outside expertise for?
If I was inclined to take your question very literally, I would probably answer that the job of the bartender may involve more than operating a tap or mixing drinks. Why would Picard have asked for Guinan specifically? I'd suggest it wasn't because she served a mean Martini.
There are professional entertainers serving military interests, but not regularly or frequently. If this were to change, if the various militaries cared enough about live entertainment (as opposed to television and internet) to start providing it to the troops on a regular and permanent basis, then professional bartenders with actual "bartending skills" (whatever those are) might be hired. OTOH, Starfleet obviously cares a lot about keeping the troops happy, and has this weird futuristic no-money to burn. But Starfleet also likes to hog all sorts of jobs, being the only known police organization in the UFP, running colonization sorties, doing so much medicine that it seems there are no civilian doctors anywhere... It might well be that people like Guinan or Mot are actually Starfleet employees of some sorts. Or then they do this work as a hobby, as if the job really needed to be done, Starfleet would take over in an eyeblink. As for Guinan's presence on the E-D, we never learn of bartenders or bars aboard other starships. Learning more about those would clarify things a lot... Timo Saloniemi
Why would you tie down one of your highly train enlisted/NCO's tending bar, or cutting hair? Incidently, tending a busy bar is a trained skill, and requires experience. The same with cutting hair (if it's going to be done properly).
The thing is, military organizations typically have no demand for getting such things done properly; improperly will do just fine if it's cheaper and faster. Probably the only military units that exist in starship-like isolation today are submarines, and those have neither bars nor barbers. I wonder whether smaller starships are similarly austere? Timo Saloniemi
For all intents and purposes, the Galaxy-class was meant to be a mobile starbase, complete with a civilian contingent. The idea it was designed as a long-range exploration vessel meant for missions of 10 or more years is really more of an off-screen thing, IMO.
The mighty big difference is that submarines (and other naval vessels) go on deployments that last for months. Not multiple years. Starfleet personnel live aboard the starships for those years, it's their full time home. They make their life's there. Depends on how small is small.
I don't think it's much of a difference, really. All other military assignments today only last for a few days or weeks between visits to civilian services such as bars or barbers. But in six months of boomer duty, the need for both drinks and haircuts already emerges; sixty months, be it underwater or in outer space, merely means more drinks and more haircuts. If the crew can survive without a bartender for six months, it can do that for sixty as well. Timo Saloniemi
Starfleet would seem to have different standards to naval submarines. Though we don't knowingly see any civilians on Kirk's Enterprise, and only Doctor Phlox might have been considered a civilian on Archer's Enterprise (T'Pol being Vulcan military observer). Chef I believe was Starfleet. However we don't know who does the crew's hair on either ship.
You're assuming the ncos are highly trained, and also that the job qualifies as 'tying them down'. If starfleet considers the position necessary for the functioning of the ship, there's no difference between assigning someone to this and assigning someone to cleaning duty or assigning someone to inventory checks, etc. During normal operations they're performing a necessary function just like everyone else, during an emergency they're available for whatever is necessary (since the bar or the barber shop clearly do not need to be staffed during a battle). Also, the level of skill necessary for bartending (and maybe hairdressing as well) is likely considerably less in the 24th cen, and the skill level required for either is not exactly astronomical to begin with (you don't need someone to be the best, just good). With an organization as large as SF it's probably a simple matter to find any number of people with the necessary skills, or to offer those interested in an extra training course.
Yes I am. The show focuses on the ship's officers (for the most part), but in a modern military the officers provide management, while the nco's are the ones who actually run the day to day operation of the unit.
The same was pretty much true of the Royal Navy 200 years ago, but their 'ncos' were basically shoved straight onto the ships, expected to learn anything they didn't already know hands-on.
Historically, the main reasons are so they will be covered by the same discipline and justice system as applies to the majority of the crew and will follow orders when necessary, and to avoid questions of who is a lawful combatant should they become prisoners. How much of that would apply to the Star Trek world is a fair question, though Picard did mention a convention on the treatment of POWs in "Chain of Command." Well, no. A NCO is what navies call a "petty officer," and petty officers in the Royal Navy 200 years ago got their ratings based on experience, which could be extensive, and demonstrated skills. They had considerable responsibility in areas such as maintaining order and discipline (master-at-arms), handling the rigging and boats (boatswains' mates), steering and navigation (quartermasters), handling gunpowder and guns (gunners' mates), hull maintenance and repair (carpenter's mates), accounting for supplies (yeomen) and so on.
Ok, wrong terminology, but the point remains, the majority of the sailors who were responsible for running those ships were not trained (outside of just being on the ships).
Did they go to a school first? No. But their training would begin their first day aboard the ship, before it even left the dock. They would be assigned to an individual or group for instruction in their duties. Is that what you meant? Or is it your position that they never receive any training at all?
It depends on what you mean by trained. All training was on-the-job, yes, but a sailing warship was too complex an operation to be run with a majority of untrained sailors. When new crewmen came aboard they would be questioned about their experience by the first lieutenant and rated able seaman (skilled), ordinary seaman (semi-skilled) or landsman (unskilled labor, entry-level). The skills of an able seaman took years to acquire. There was no formula for how many of each class, but 40% landsmen, 30% ordinary seamen and 30% able seamen and petty officers would be considered a well-manned vessel.
That's pretty much what I mean - on the job training, ie, not being sent off to sailing school before you're allowed on the ship.
Conscription was fairly common before then. Late one night you get bonked on the head, next morning you are out to sea, man.