deep space nine chief of operations position

[hayesc0]

why does ds9 have a chief of operations but not a chief engineer

[Timo]

No engines?

Timo Saloniemi

[MacLeod]

Perhaps on a starbse it combines Operations and Engineering into one.

[hayesc0]

the station does have other systems an engineer could mantain

[SchwEnt]

...and how is a Chief of Operations (O'Brien) different from an Operations Manager (Data)?

Chief of Operations does sound more like a resource allocation position rather than an engineering position, which is what O'Brien had.

Maybe shoulda just made him Chief Engineer, engines or no.
Janus VI has Chief Engineer Ed Appel, and Janus didn't have engines either.

[Pavonis]

The position probably was intended as a resource allocation manager, but with all the broken equipment around, and O'Brien's expertise needed to fix the numerous problems, we just end up thinking he's the chief engineer. The same position on a standard Starfleet starbase is probably more akin to Data's job.

[T'Girl]

SchwEnt wrote:

---

Janus VI [snip] didn't have engines either.

Source?













.

[Deks]

Timo wrote:

---

No engines?

Timo Saloniemi

It does have maneuvering thrusters though - which DO fall into the 'engine' category

[Timo]

One wonders... Starfleet was invited in to administrate the station, but it might be the original Bajoran operators from the time of the occupation who would have a better grasp of the maintenance aspect. Perhaps the station already had plenty of Bajoran engineers (such as those young female officers of Season 1, just the sort of people we could expect the Cardassians to enroll and favor), and Starfleet was careful not to step on Bajoran toes there?

It would have been fun to have two Bajoran characters in the chain of command, just for contrast. Kira would have had at least some sympathy for Starfleet, but the writers could have used a Bajoran of stronger convictions and allegiance to the planetside conservatives in the Chief Engineer role. At the conclusion of S1, this character could have participated in the assassination plan against Bareil, undermining the future of not just the character but also of the position.

We did manage to get through several seasons without needing to see the Starfleet character of Chief of Security, even though he apparently did exist the whole time (Lt. Primmin). His job just didn't trample on Odo's too much; similarly, the Bajoran Chief Engineer might have existed in O'Brien's deep shadow.

Timo Saloniemi

[Bry_Sinclair]

I always took it O'Brien was called the Chief of Operations because the station didn't have engines and his role was to ensure that all onboard systems operated--he did state many many times that he was an engineer. He could have been called the Maintenance Chief, but that just doesn't sound as good.

As for the post being a combination of Engineering and Operations Officers, I would find that doubtful. Dax handled primary sensor usage, whilst communications were open to anyone (though on larger bases I would suspect that they would have a dedicated Chief Comm Officer and staff), and Kira took on a lot of the organisational management. O'Brien has his hands full trying to make Cardassian, Bajoran and Federation technology work together, as well as seeing to maintenance of the runabouts (later the Defiant) and any other ships in dock in need of help.

The point Timo makes about O'Brien's Bajoran assistants could be more of an apprenticeship/mentoring role. Seeing as how education on Bajor would be rudementary at best I doubt any formal advanced qualifications were available to the masses of Bajorans (most likely learning engineering through trial and error), so when the base becomes operational a large number of Militia personnel are assigned to get more formal on-the-job training which they could then use elsewhere.

But those are just some of my random thoughts on the matter.

[Draculasaurus]

It could be political.
They might have chosen the title with the idea of reassuring the Bajorans that DS9 was no longer processing ore.

[MacLeod]

^^Well to be fair TNG did have two science stations on the bridge, it's just that in many respects Data doubled up as a Science Officer. On DSN with a dedicated Science Officer the sciene aspects were passed onto them. Leaving power distribution (part of Ops) to be merged with Engineering aspects.

[Sindatur]

Since when did Engineering relate exclusively to Engines? Engineering is Designing/maintaining, not necessarily just Engines.

[SchwEnt]

^^^ Right on. Fusion power generators, environmental systems, ODN conduits, EPS taps, all kinds of engineering work without specifically needing "engines".

[Bry_Sinclair]

That is very true, he could have been called the Chief of Engineering / Chief Engineer / Engineering Chief and I wouldn't have minded, but I think the title of Chief of Operations just suits O'Brien.

The entire operating of the station just wouldn't happen without him