Re-watching the "JOURNEY to BABEL" episode yesterday they show the Vulcan shuttle at the beginning as it enters the landing bay. A redshirt honour guard enters to receive the ambassadorial party and I realize right there this is probably the highest number of security guards ever shown in one place: 8 in all.
Obsession had multiple numbers of cannon fodder, ...uh, security officers getting killed off but the JtB group is the highest count in a single appearance, I think.
It had me thinking again, with the full Enterprise complement of 430 give-or-take crewmembers, you have a need for security officers, but you also have a clear need for engineers, for medical personnel, operations technicians, and whatever other category of needed personnel so there can't be an unlimited number of security goons loafing around their mancave office when the Enterprise is just riding out in deep space with no emergencies requiring their presence.
I guess that's the magic of television, you can have as much of something as you need when you need it, but were this real, I couldn't imagine a ship having more than a half-dozen full-time crewmembers designated officially as security officers, with selected personnel from other sections pulling reserve duty when needed.
I still chuckle at seeing crewmen like Marla McGivers being assigned to a deep space exploratory craft on a 5-year mission hoping that her easy gig as an Earth history specialist won't get disturbed too often when visiting a planet thousands of light-years away.
It probably makes a lot more sense that most Starfleet personnel pull double- or triple-duty as they rise up the ranks.
Obsession had multiple numbers of cannon fodder, ...uh, security officers getting killed off but the JtB group is the highest count in a single appearance, I think.
It had me thinking again, with the full Enterprise complement of 430 give-or-take crewmembers, you have a need for security officers, but you also have a clear need for engineers, for medical personnel, operations technicians, and whatever other category of needed personnel so there can't be an unlimited number of security goons loafing around their mancave office when the Enterprise is just riding out in deep space with no emergencies requiring their presence.
I guess that's the magic of television, you can have as much of something as you need when you need it, but were this real, I couldn't imagine a ship having more than a half-dozen full-time crewmembers designated officially as security officers, with selected personnel from other sections pulling reserve duty when needed.
I still chuckle at seeing crewmen like Marla McGivers being assigned to a deep space exploratory craft on a 5-year mission hoping that her easy gig as an Earth history specialist won't get disturbed too often when visiting a planet thousands of light-years away.
It probably makes a lot more sense that most Starfleet personnel pull double- or triple-duty as they rise up the ranks.
