Commodore Stocker: Why "Sir" and Why The Hearing?

[LMFAOschwarz]

Weird outfit, this Starfleet. It seems that these starship Captains are pretty much given carte blanche decision-making powers when it comes to big decisions involving the fates of entire worlds, but if you want to relieve a clearly unable or incapacitated Captain of duty, you've got to navigate through all sorts of rigid, time-consuming regulatory hoops to do so.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Why did he have to have Spock convene the competency hearing? In "The Doomsday Machine," Decker asserts that he has authority as a Starfleet Commodore to assume command, and Spock offers no rebuttal. Why couldn't Stocker assume command the same way?

I presume the primary reason that Decker was just able to assume command, whereas Stocker initiated the competency hearing, is that in "The Doomsday Machine" Kirk was not actually on board the Enterprise. Since the actual CO was not present, it presumably made it easier for Decker to exercise his command authority and take over.

In "The Deadly Years", Kirk was present, so Stocker had to go through the legal channel to get him relieved. (And as Elvira has already pointed out, Stocker originally thought that once he had Kirk relieved of duty, command would fall to Spock.)

 

[CoveTom]

In "The Deadly Years", Kirk was present, so Stocker had to go through the legal channel to get him relieved. (And as Elvira has already pointed out, Stocker originally thought that once he had Kirk relieved of duty, command would fall to Spock.)

Which is interesting, in and of itself. Did Stocker really think Spock would be more inclined to agree with him, and head on over to Starbase Four, than to continue the same course of action Kirk had begun?

 

[Timo]

That would be a reasonable assumption, I think, from Stocker's point of view. The reason Kirk needed to go was that his advanced years clearly made him irrational (i.e. he didn't agree with a rational course of action); thanks to his Vulcan blood, Spock would supposedly be less challenged by his aging, and more rational to begin with, so of course he would agree with Stocker's rational assessment of the necessity of going to SB 10 posthaste.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[BillJ]

If I were Stocker, I would have deferred to Sulu's judgement, "we've tangled with them before", and let him take the chair. But that would have fouled up the story, removing the need for the newly-young-again Kirk to save the day at the end of the episode.

I think they could've had Kirk still save the day, and without the sweaty close-ups of Stocker.

 

[Melakon]

The script sort of deliberately sets out to make Stocker a weak individual, overly polite, useless suggestions, and finally failing his Kobayashi Maru moment with "What am I going to do? I've got to do something!"

 

[Silvercrest]

Clearly none of you have ever served.

I served 6 years in United States Marine Corps. "Aye, aye, sir" was my standard response to an order. Among my fellow NCOs, when an enlisted man referred to us as "Sir", we usually replied, "We're not officers. We work for a living. You don't have to call us 'Sir.'"

Same with the United States Army (except we didn't say "Aye aye"). John, it's poor of you to make broad assumptions about people's service. Officers may call each other "sir", but enlisted men do not, at least not in all the services.

 

[CoveTom]

^ But in today's real world military, would a flag officer call a line officer (or whatever the equivalent terms are) "sir"?

 

[BillJ]

^ But in today's real world military, would a flag officer call a line officer (or whatever the equivalent terms are) "sir"?

Maybe Stocker had just been promoted and hadn't broken old habits yet?

 

[Wingsley]

I have not seen this episode in ages, but some things stand out in my memory.

Stocker's referring to Kirk as "sir" is simply courtesy with aboard ship. Stocker clearly respects Kirk for taking him to Starbase 10. The Enterprise, is after all, Kirk's command. Stocker seems to show almost reverence for that. Add to that, Kirk is a starship captain, while Stocker is indicated to have been a "chair-bound paper pusher". In an organization like Starfleet, is seems natural that starship captains are held in special reverence just for serving in those positions. Remember what Stone said to Kirk in the first act of "Court Martial" about commanding a starship:

STONE: Then why, Captain, does the computer log from your ship, made automatically at the time, indicate that you were still on Yellow Alert when you jettisoned and not on Red?

KIRK: I don't know. There's been a mistake.

STONE: It would seem so. Could the computer be wrong?

KIRK: Mister Spock is running a survey right now, but the odds are next to impossible.

STONE: Stop recording. Now, look, Jim. Not one man in a million could do what you and I have done. Command a starship. A hundred decisions a day, hundreds of lives staked on you making every one of them right. You're played out, Jim. Exhausted.

KIRK: Is that the way you see it?

STONE: That's the way my report'll read if you co-operate.

(Note my emphasis in italics.)

Clearly, this episode underscores that Starfleet's record, to this point, is flawless in promoting and assigning its best command-track officers to positions of starship command, "a valuable commodity".

What is strange and ironic is the suggestion that Stocker, already a commodore, is being assigned to command an entire Federation starbase, just like Stone (another starship command veteran) yet Stocker supposedly has no such command experience himself. This makes no sense. Why would the Federation, with such a flawless record, allow an inexperienced officer to such a position and rank? This would clearly contradict the reputation that the show had built up over the previous year-and-a-half for starship commanders, that they are a cut above even those astronauts who have the right stuff. Surely, command of a Federation starbase would be treated much the same as a starship.

The only conclusion I could reach is that Stocker's actual record was never discussed in earnest, and therefore Kirk's rant about him would be unwarranted. As for Stocker getting in over his head with the Romulans, this seems ridiculously uncharacteristic for any command-grade personality in TREK. We've seen TOS-era authority figures that are corrupt, perhaps influenced by diseases or other issues that could affect their ability to function or exercise proper command judgement, but never before this episode have we seen dangerous incompetence in command ranks without extenuating circumstances.

If we accept that Stocker was being portrayed as being in over his head, then this had to be the writers' way of showing how some military figures can disappoint in a time of crisis by having been promoted far above their true abilities and/or experience. There was a string of generals in the early Civil War that, history tells us, were not up to the command challenge. But this notion is obviously at odds with the spotless reputation that TOS had repeatedly manifest around command.

 

[BillJ]

What is strange and ironic is the suggestion that Stocker, already a commodore, is being assigned to command an entire Federation starbase, just like Stone (another starship command veteran) yet Stocker supposedly has no such command experience himself. This makes no sense. Why would the Federation, with such a flawless record, allow an inexperienced officer to such a position and rank? This would clearly contradict the reputation that the show had built up over the previous year-and-a-half for starship commanders, that they are a cut above even those astronauts who have the right stuff. Surely, command of a Federation starbase would be treated much the same as a starship.

Why would starship command be the only way to reach flag rank? Stocker may be an excellent administrator who has always served at starbases instead of aboard starships.

 

[Wingsley]

My concern is that starship command can't be that different from starbase command. In an emergency, Stocker may be expected to do what Sisko did to repel the Klingons and Dominion in DS9. (Especially given Starbase 10's relative proximity to the Romulan Neutral Zone.)

 

[Ithekro]

There are plenty of differences to commanding a starbase to commanding a starship. A starbaes is typically in one known location. It has fixed defenses and usually support in the area. Deep Space Nine seems to be out of sorts as it was in Bajoran space, plus they encountered an unexpected wormhole to another quadrant of the galaxy. Most starbases would be a known location with known problems.

A starship goes everywhere and can encounter anything. A captain needs to adapt to a lot and make a mountain of choices every day so that his crew lives and his ship continues moving.

A starbase command needs to keep the station running and maintain a supply network for any other Federation assets in his area of responsibility. This includes making sure to have materals and personel to repair any starships that might come into the area. Starbase 11 seemed to be able to handle the resupply and repair of a large number of starships. Starbase 10 seems situationed in a potentally hostile area, depending on what the Romulans do. However given that until relatively recently in Star Trek time, the Romulans have been quiet. Even afterwards the Romulans don't seem to be all that active outside their Neutral Zone and border regions. They don't seem to be aggressively advancing on other world like the Klingons are known to do. A starbase commander does not seem to have to adapt to a changing situation all that often and even when it is required, there are very few options that involve moving the station at warp speed.

 

[Timo]

The nature of SB 10 is an interesting question as such. Regardless of his other qualities, Stocker seems to be the antithesis of "expert on Romulans", and an odd choice for the new commander of an "anti-Romulan" installation at a time when Starfleet, through Kirk (and perhaps others), has learned a lot about the belligerent nature of the modern Romulans.

Yet the farther away SB 10 is from Romulan intrigue, the less sense it makes for Stocker to take a shortcut through Romulan space, because the controversial stretch of the journey would represent a smaller part of the whole and wouldn't help that much in reducing total travel time.

Who knows, perhaps these low-numbered starbases are in fact more or less clustered around Romulan space, having been founded soon after the old war - and the long peace has turned many of them into specialized "peaceful" assets, with SB 10 becoming a dedicated medical facility that does very little defending because SB 9 and SB 11 flanking it are taking care of the fighting stuff. And are commanded by badass anti-Romulan experts.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Commishsleer]

Yet the farther away SB 10 is from Romulan intrigue, the less sense it makes for Stocker to take a shortcut through Romulan space, because the controversial stretch of the journey would represent a smaller part of the whole and wouldn't help that much in reducing total travel time.


Timo Saloniemi

Still don't understand how going from Federation Space to another point in Federation Space would be faster going via Romulan Space.

 

[Timo]

All you need is positive curvature on the RNZ. Say, if it's an eggshell like portrayed in Star Charts, and positioned where various Okudagrams or Probertographs put it, then it lies between Gamma Hydra and Earth, and it's quite plausible that dipping into it (even shallowly) and then back out would be shorter than going around it when the goal is to reach Earthling assets. And the introductory episode does suggest the RNZ is a compact little enclosure surrounded by UFP assets...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[J.T.B.]

A starbase commander does not seem to have to adapt to a changing situation all that often and even when it is required, there are very few options that involve moving the station at warp speed.

On the one hand, if the starbase is mostly a repair, maintenance and support facility, it might make sense for it to be run by an technical type whose career has been spent on spaceship building and refit projects, not flying around on space missions. Sort of like a USAF air base wing, which is separate from the air wings and squadrons located at the base (and which may pick up and deploy elsewhere), and can be commanded by a non-flight-rated officer.

OTOH, it seemed like Enterprise got orders directly from the starbase-level command. It would be odd for an officer who knew little about starship operations to be giving starship operational orders. Perhaps, just as a US AFB can have a colonel commanding the base wing and a colonel commanding the air wing, there could be a commodore who just ran the facilities and a commodore who was in charge of the operating ships. Which might also help explain Stone's red shirt vs. Mendez's gold at Starbase 11.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Starbase 10, Starbase 10...Not Starbase 4!

I swear, I think I'm in need of a competency hearing of my own...

 

[Timo]

Which might also help explain Stone's red shirt vs. Mendez's gold at Starbase 11.

Quite so. Although the other option is that Mendez never was formally associated with the base. Sure, he seems to supervise the efforts to find out why Kirk got a message that was never sent, but he never calls the place "my" starbase, only "this" starbase... Mendez might be one of the half a dozen goldshirted Commodores currently residing at the base while their ships or formations are undergoing maintenance or resupply - and the one who personally knows "Jim" Kirk and thus is the go-to person at the start of the episode.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Wingsley]

This opens up an interesting, and, I feel overdue line of discussion. Both "Court Martial" and "The Menagerie" started on Starbase 11. These episodes were back-to-back. And yet each episode shows Kirk meeting with a different commodore. Both Stone and Mendez are shown to be command personalities, yet they wear different colors and seem to have different responsibilities. (Stone seems concerned with justice, base operations and ship repairs; Mendez seems to have broader, fleet-command responsibilities). Yet both Stone and Mendez were stationed at this same installation. Does this mean that Mendez succeeded Stone, or that both officers served there in different roles? Memory Alpha suggested that the red-shirted Stone was a "portmaster".

If so, perhaps Stocker could be Starbase 10's "portmaster" as well. But what does not make sense is that Stone indicated he commanded a starship just as Kirk is doing. Stocker, if Kirk's brusque appraisal holds water, has no such command experience. Look at it this way: if Stocker had been at Starbase 11 instead of Stone, would Stocker be able to handle the situation as Stone did?

Also, another question: is it possible that, though Stone and Mendez are the same rank, could it be that Mendez is still Stone's superior officer and overall commander of both the starbase and the overall sector of space around it?