If Spock and Scotty are Captains.....

[Nick086]

I would assume McCoy should be promoted to Captain if he is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer/Doctor. This way he can relieve Scotty and Spock of their post. I would think a ship in the past, present, and future can't have three Captains on aboard. I would assume there would be some chaos and a lot of lock horns as to which order should be follow.

 

[Dukhat]

IIRC, the chief medical officer can relieve anyone of duty, even his/her captain, no matter what rank that CMO is.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I would assume McCoy should be promoted to Captain if he is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer/Doctor. This way he can relieve Scotty and Spock of their post. I would think a ship in the past, present, and future can't have three Captains on aboard. I would assume there would be some chaos and a lot of lock horns as to which order should be follow.

Rank is less important than billet or assignment. Although Spock and Scotty held the rank of captain, Kirk was the Enterprise's commanding officer, and Spock was his executive officer. The Enterprise chain of command functioned like this during the films:

Kirk (either as acting or permanent CO) -----> Decker (TMP only) -----> Spock -----> Sulu (pre-TUC) -----> Chekov -----> Uhura

Scotty and McCoy operated outside of the chain of command, as both had responsibilities elsewhere on the ship. Scotty had been second officer during the five-year mission but seemed to have given up his bridge responsibilities by the time TMP rolled around.

IIRC, the chief medical officer can relieve anyone of duty, even his/her captain, no matter what rank that CMO is.

Correct.

--Sran

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Then you have the "line officer" aspect. Dr. Crusher went through separate training so she could take command of E-E.

Any idea if McCoy did the same?

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^As did Bashir, as evidenced by his manning tactical stations during the Dominion War. I don't know if McCoy did or not, as it's not clear if he actually attended the Academy or enlisted later. His backstory suggests that his MD was from a civilian medical school (Ole' Miss) rather than the Academy or another military institution.

--Sran

 

[BillJ]

Then you have the "line officer" aspect. Dr. Crusher went through separate training so she could take command of E-E.

Any idea if McCoy did the same?

Nope. I don't think McCoy ever had any command aspirations.

To echo others here, the rank of Captain and position of Captain are two distinct things. One can hold the rank without being the commanding officer of the ship.

 

[Shaw]

On US Aircraft Carriers both the CO and XO hold the rank of Captain. It isn't that uncommon. Position in the chain of command matters more than rank.

More interesting is the fact that Spock (the last Captain of the original Enterprise) was willing to assume the XO position on the Enterprise A (though he had stated many times that command wasn't something he sought).

 

[BillJ]

On US Aircraft Carriers both the CO and XO hold the rank of Captain. It isn't that uncommon. Position in the chain of command matters more than rank.

More interesting is the fact that Spock (the last Captain of the original Enterprise) was willing to assume the XO position on the Enterprise A (though he had stated many times that command wasn't something he sought).

But that Enterprise was a training ship at that point in its life. Spock was in command, but more as a teacher than line officer.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

More interesting is the fact that Spock (the last Captain of the original Enterprise) was willing to assume the XO position on the Enterprise A (though he had stated many times that command wasn't something he sought).

Spock had been Kirk's first officer before and was comfortable having at least some command responsibilities; it's likely he saw his position as another chance to continue teaching younger officers, as opposed to having authority over others. And as the Enterprise-A bridge crew was made up of experienced officers, it's unlikely he needed to provide that much direction to his senior officer colleagues.

But that Enterprise was a training ship at that point in its life. Spock was in command, but more as a teacher than line officer.

And the novels about that era indicate that Kirk assumed command of the vessel and used it as his flagship whenever the Enterprise was needed for actual missions (as seen in TWOK).

--Sran

 

[sonak]

Star Trek has always been a bit silly about rank and assignments. There's no realistic way that the senior staff would all have stuck around in the same place for so long, many of them stalling their careers. So giving them the rank of "captain" was a way of acknowledging the passage of time without having to break up the team.

 

[Trimm]

There is plenty of evidence in the films to suggest that they were in fact moving on with their careers and off the Enterprise. In TWOK, Chekov is XO on Reliant, and Kirk's line about having Sulu "at the helm for three weeks" suggests that the Ent is not his regular posting. Having everyone on the Ent-A in TFF is easily explained by all of their careers suffering some fallout from the events of TSFS. In TUC, Uhura references chairing a seminar at the Academy, McCoy wonders if they are being thrown a retirement party etc. Sulu has been in command of Excelsior for a number of years at that point also.

The only clear time in the films that all of our principals seemed to be permanently assigned to the Enterprise are in TMP, TFF, and TUC. TUC is clearly stated to be the last mission for that group on the ship.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Star Trek has always been a bit silly about rank and assignments. There's no realistic way that the senior staff would all have stuck around in the same place for so long, many of them stalling their careers. So giving them the rank of "captain" was a way of acknowledging the passage of time without having to break up the team.

See below.

There is plenty of evidence in the films to suggest that they were in fact moving on with their careers and off the Enterprise. In TWOK, Chekov is XO on Reliant, and Kirk's line about having Sulu "at the helm for three weeks" suggests that the Ent is not his regular posting. Having everyone on the Ent-A in TFF is easily explained by all of their careers suffering some fallout from the events of TSFS. In TUC, Uhura references chairing a seminar at the Academy, McCoy wonders if they are being thrown a retirement party etc. Sulu has been in command of Excelsior for a number of years at that point also.

The only clear time in the films that all of our principals seemed to be permanently assigned to the Enterprise are in TMP, TFF, and TUC. TUC is clearly stated to be the last mission for that group on the ship.

Correct. To add a few things, Uhura was apparently splitting time between the Academy and Starfleet Intelligence (and returned to SI after the Enterprise-A was decommissioned). It's not entirely clear what Sulu was doing between TMP and TWOK (some materials list him as first officer of the Exeter, whereas others list him as Kirk's adjutant at the Academy; either way, he wasn't on the Enterprise).

The only crew members who were still serving aboard the Enterprise at the outset of TWOK were Spock, McCoy and Scotty. Things changed only because of the fallout from TWOK/TSFS/TVH; the end result was the assignment of the bridge crew to the Enterprise-A.

Although his novels contradict a number of events included in other books, David R. George, III's Crucible trilogy includes a nice scene in which Kirk invites his former senior staff to serve with him again.

--Sran

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^As did Bashir, as evidenced by his manning tactical stations during the Dominion War. I don't know if McCoy did or not, as it's not clear if he actually attended the Academy or enlisted later. His backstory suggests that his MD was from a civilian medical school (Ole' Miss) rather than the Academy or another military institution.

--Sran

I don' think manning a tactical station requires being in the chain of command. Bashir was a super genius after all, but did he receive any command training?

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I would assume McCoy should be promoted to Captain if he is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer/Doctor.

I'd say that's a big assumption, since McCoy had that same position during TOS and never really displayed any interest in moving up in rank (He apparently didn't attend the Academy, and he resigned his commission between TOS and TMP). I'm sure that McCoy's rank of Admiral by the time TNG rolled around was largely ceremonial.

I'd also say that the TOS movies having three Captains on one ship is highly unusual, as we never see it anywhere else in Trek.

 

[Leto_II]

I would assume McCoy should be promoted to Captain if he is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer/Doctor.

I'd say that's a big assumption, since McCoy had that same position during TOS and never really displayed any interest in moving up in rank (He apparently didn't attend the Academy, and he resigned his commission between TOS and TMP). I'm sure that McCoy's rank of Admiral by the time TNG rolled around was largely ceremonial.

David Gerrold's "Encounter at Farpoint" novelization sheds some interesting light on this subject, with McCoy's internal monologue claiming that he only accepted promotion to the rank of Admiral so that he could "commandeer a shuttlecraft whenever he wanted," or words to that effect.

 

[Ithekro]

The Enterprise's engines seem to require more intensive supervision after the refit than they did during the Five-year mission. Perhaps because they were so new. The older engines were more or less proven and reliable enough that Scott could go off and do other things and be confindent that the engine room will still be there when he gets back. The new intermix shaft and related systems seem to be more touchy. Also might explain the need for radiation suits for engineering staff.

Captain Scott, got his promotion when they finally tried to rip him from the Enterprise's tired old engine room and put him into Excelsior. He kept the promotion when he was assigned to the next USS Enterprise, which while the engines seemed less fussy thatn before, the rest of the ship seems to have issues (he doesn't need to wear the radiation suit anymore).

Captain Spock seems to be heading towards the diplomatic corp between TFF and TUC, yet can call on Captain Kirk to pull Enterprise out of spacedock for one more mission. We can assume Spock was still part of the regular crew by TUC, rather than temporary due to himself being the leading ambassador to Gorkon and the Klingons.

Captain Kirk...well this was his reward/punishment for his acts in TSFS/TVH. He has the command of a starship again. We don't know if he's allowed to do much with his starship. We know he'd rather be out exploring. He had been a desk admiral for perhaps a decade prior to the loss of USS Enterprise and his later demotion to captain (with a temporary retirement as seen in Generations sometime before TWOK). He may have commanded missions on Enterprise as an Admiral. He may have even kept his "temporary grade deduction to captain" following the V'Ger incident in order to keep Enterprise under his command following the loss of Captain Decker. Because someone had to be the CO of Enterprise before she became Spock's commmand going on training cruises.

 

[T'Girl]

Uhura was apparently splitting time between the Academy and Starfleet Intelligence

No, the movies make no mention of this.

 

[Stevil2001]

There is plenty of evidence in the films to suggest that they were in fact moving on with their careers and off the Enterprise. In TWOK, Chekov is XO on Reliant, and Kirk's line about having Sulu "at the helm for three weeks" suggests that the Ent is not his regular posting. Having everyone on the Ent-A in TFF is easily explained by all of their careers suffering some fallout from the events of TSFS. In TUC, Uhura references chairing a seminar at the Academy, McCoy wonders if they are being thrown a retirement party etc. Sulu has been in command of Excelsior for a number of years at that point also.

The only clear time in the films that all of our principals seemed to be permanently assigned to the Enterprise are in TMP, TFF, and TUC. TUC is clearly stated to be the last mission for that group on the ship.

I would suggest that McCoy's "If we're all here, where's Sulu?" when Sulu's been gone for three years (!) would suggest that most of the crew is no longer regularly assigned to the Enterprise in TUC, and have not been for some time.

Also that McCoy never checks facebook.

 

[Trimm]

There is plenty of evidence in the films to suggest that they were in fact moving on with their careers and off the Enterprise. In TWOK, Chekov is XO on Reliant, and Kirk's line about having Sulu "at the helm for three weeks" suggests that the Ent is not his regular posting. Having everyone on the Ent-A in TFF is easily explained by all of their careers suffering some fallout from the events of TSFS. In TUC, Uhura references chairing a seminar at the Academy, McCoy wonders if they are being thrown a retirement party etc. Sulu has been in command of Excelsior for a number of years at that point also.

The only clear time in the films that all of our principals seemed to be permanently assigned to the Enterprise are in TMP, TFF, and TUC. TUC is clearly stated to be the last mission for that group on the ship.

I would suggest that McCoy's "If we're all here, where's Sulu?" when Sulu's been gone for three years (!) would suggest that most of the crew is no longer regularly assigned to the Enterprise in TUC, and have not been for some time.

Also that McCoy never checks facebook.

That's a very fair point.

I should also point out that there is 6 years between TFF and TUC. That is nearly as long as the 8 year gap between TMP and TWOK. There is plenty of time there for our intrepid heroes to have undertaken a long mission/missions together on the Ent-A and to also begin the process of splitting up and following their own paths, just as there was between TMP and TWOK. TUC of course indicates that such took place, just as TWOK did.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would assume McCoy should be promoted to Captain if he is the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer/Doctor.

I'd say that's a big assumption, since McCoy had that same position during TOS and never really displayed any interest in moving up in rank (He apparently didn't attend the Academy, and he resigned his commission between TOS and TMP). I'm sure that McCoy's rank of Admiral by the time TNG rolled around was largely ceremonial.

David Gerrold's "Encounter at Farpoint" novelization sheds some interesting light on this subject, with McCoy's internal monologue claiming that he only accepted promotion to the rank of Admiral so that he could "commandeer a shuttlecraft whenever he wanted," or words to that effect.

While on the Enterprise, McCoy may have had no aspirations to higher rank, but that probably came later. When he was faced with the possibility that he may never make starship duty again, he could have decided that he wanted to make policy - that he wanted to run Starfleet Medical itself. Which he may well have been doing for most of his Admiral career.

I can totally see McCoy wanting to head SF Medical so he can ensure that Starfleet's doctors work the way he wants them to.