Was Chekov busted by Starfleet for the Khan debacle?

[enterprisecvn65]

I know this was never addressed in film but in any non canon source was it ever talked about if Chekov was punished by Starfleet for negligence in letting Khan escape?

At the beginning of TWOK he's a first officer on the Reliant, one step away from being a captain and the first of TOS characters to show that indeed it is possible for them to be promoted and assigned to other posts besides the Enterprise.

I know Kirk was at starfleet HQ in TMP but we never saw him actually do anything there and within 10 minutes of his first appearance in the film he's back at the CO of the Enterprise. So I don't count that.

So after he's rescued and recovers he helps the Enterprise destroy the Reliant......and then apparently just resumes his old duties aboard the Enterprise. Wouldn't it make sense, and wouldn't Chekov want, to be given another posting as first officer? Was there a reason starfleet chose not to do so?

I know they couldn't hold him responsible for anything that happened after the eels were put in his brain because he was basically controlled by Khan at that point. He also had Kirk and McCoy to back up those claims by saying "Yep, we saw this horrible thing some out of his ear that Kirk vaporized."

BUT.....The Reliant did mistake one planet for another and I think that's a pretty big goof to make, especially when that mistake led to Khan's escape and all the events that followed.

I know Terrell should take the most blame for that mistake, but he's dead so you can't very well discipline him, which makes Chekov the next in line to suffer any punitive actions Starfleet would take for such negligence.

I know Chekov could argue he was just following Terrell's orders and the navigator screwed up in taking them there and it wasn't really his fault...etc, etc, etc. The military has shown on many occasions that they have no problem holding a senior officer responsible for the actions of his ship and/or crew even if they were really something that was beyond his/her control. In light of Terrell not being available to answer for it then Chekov would be the most senior officer involved.

So, aside from reuniting the full crew, was a ST reason ever given for Chekov apparently being given the shaft at another spot as a first officer which, logically, would probably lead to him being a captain sooner or later. Instead of just going back to the same duties he was doing 15 years ago?

 

[Karzak]

How on god's green earth was Chekov 'negligent' ? It's pretty clear in the film that he was compromised by the ear worms, and it's revealed in full view of several people after Terrell offs himself.

If anything, the only real issue would be why Kirk let's him back on duty so soon afterward.

Kirk's a flag officer, so he probably had tons of pull to be able to excuse any problems on Chekov's record, or Starfleet may have just been like "Great, he's your problem then." and left it to Kirk to resolve.

Re: Ceti Alpha V -- its also made very clear nobody ever thought to go back and check on Khan or the other planets in the system in 15 years. Which is totally believable given how few starships Starfleet had at the time. Space is big, and there are tons of other places to go. There's no reason anyone would have expected a planet to explode. Why would that be Chekov's fault?

Better question: are you actually suggesting that Chekov be held accountable for all of Khan's actions/kills solely because of the planet misidentification? If so, then why not just blame Kirk too, since he was the one who planted that Space Seed in TOS? Why not blame Spock for supporting them? Why not you know, blame Khan?

 

[Lance]

Well, the timeline works against him getting it before The Final Frontier. He helps Kirk break McCoy out in TSFS and goes into exile along with the rest of the crew, which isn't lifted until the end of TVH.

Do we know for sure he wasn't first officer aboard 1701-A? They already had three Captains serving on one ship (Kirk, Spock and Scotty), and Sulu and Uhura are the only other candidates for XO. Sure, Kirk is overall mission commander, but we see Spock give Kirk an order in The Undiscovered Country, so there's clearly no etiquette for the situation, with the two of them basically being co-Captains of the ship rather than being skipper and first officer like they used to be back in TOS. So maybe Pavel was the 'official' second in command? He is given the conn while Kirk, Spock and Sulu go down to Nimbus III in TFF.

Come to that, we never really learn who the first officer is in TWOK. Kirk's an Admiral. Spock's the captain. That leaves Sulu and Uhura, unless the implication is that, being a training vessel, Saavik is the XO to Spock's captain.

 

[Ithekro]

If I recall, in both Star Trek V and VI Chekov sits in the captain's chair when Kirk is away. Spock does not.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

If I recall, in both Star Trek V and VI Chekov sits in the captain's chair when Kirk is away. Spock does not.

Actually, he was only in the captain's chair because both Kirk and Spock were off the bridge, which changed after Gorkon's ship showed up. Later, when Spock was on the bridge during the night watch, Chekov was back at the navigator station.

As far as his getting busted by Starfleet, I don't know that any official action was taken against him, but his involvement in the Khan fiasco (which resulted in his captain getting killed and his ship being destroyed) would certainly have weighed heavily on the minds of Starfleet brass any time his name came up for promotion.

--Sran

 

[Greg Cox]

If I recall, in both Star Trek V and VI Chekov sits in the captain's chair when Kirk is away. Spock does not.

Which is odd because, back on TOS, Scotty routinely took command when both Kirk and Spock were away. Yet there's a bit in STAR TREK V where Chekov is definitely in command of the bridge and issuing orders--despite the fact that "Captain Scott" is standing a few feet away.

Did we ever see Scotty in the captain's chair in the movies? I don't think so.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Nope. I'm not sure Scotty was a part of the Enterprise chain-of-command following the five-year mission, at least as far as bridge duty was concerned. He was still chief engineer, of course. Between 2273-2293, the Enterprise pecking order went something like this:

Kirk ----> Decker (TMP only) ----> Spock ----> Sulu (pre-TUC) ----> Chekov ----> Uhura

Additionally, Saavik was acting first officer (and second officer after Kirk took command) during TWOK, as she took command of the bridge in both Kirk's and Spock's absence in spite of their being more experienced officers around.

--Sran

 

[The Wormhole]

Do we know for sure he wasn't first officer aboard 1701-A? They already had three Captains serving on one ship (Kirk, Spock and Scotty), and Sulu and Uhura are the only other candidates for XO. Sure, Kirk is overall mission commander, but we see Spock give Kirk an order in The Undiscovered Country, so there's clearly no etiquette for the situation, with the two of them basically being co-Captains of the ship rather than being skipper and first officer like they used to be back in TOS. So maybe Pavel was the 'official' second in command? He is given the conn while Kirk, Spock and Sulu go down to Nimbus III in TFF.

Spock was very likely the XO of the Enterprise A. Modern day US Navy ships have captains and XOs holding the same rank, why can't the Enterprise A?

 

[Trimm]

I doubt the Khan incident would have hurt Chekov's career very much, as essentially all of it was well out of his control. What probably really hurt his, and the rest of the gang of 4's careers was the events of TSFS. You have a group of officers that aided and abetted conspiracy, assault, theft, and the loss of a starship. Whatever the outcome of the events of TVH, what admiral in their right minds is going to hand one of those officers a starship? What captain is going to want to have them as their XO? Exonerated or not, the only guys walking away from the events of TSFS without some career impact are Kirk and Spock, and Kirk is up for debate.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I doubt the Khan incident would have hurt Chekov's career very much, as essentially all of it was well out of his control. What probably really hurt his, and the rest of the gang of 4's careers was the events of TSFS. You have a group of officers that aided and abetted conspiracy, assault, theft, and the loss of a starship. Whatever the outcome of the events of TVH, what admiral in their right minds is going to hand one of those officers a starship? What captain is going to want to have them as their XO? Exonerated or not, the only guys walking away from the events of TSFS without some career impact are Kirk and Spock, and Kirk is up for debate.

Pretty much my thinking exactly.

 

[Ithekro]

After Kirk's "death", assuming Chekov remains in the fleet, he should be up for promotion, and wouldn't have the strings of loyalty to Kirk pulling on him for the Admirals to be warry of.

 

[Lance]

Do we know for sure he wasn't first officer aboard 1701-A? They already had three Captains serving on one ship (Kirk, Spock and Scotty), and Sulu and Uhura are the only other candidates for XO. Sure, Kirk is overall mission commander, but we see Spock give Kirk an order in The Undiscovered Country, so there's clearly no etiquette for the situation, with the two of them basically being co-Captains of the ship rather than being skipper and first officer like they used to be back in TOS. So maybe Pavel was the 'official' second in command? He is given the conn while Kirk, Spock and Sulu go down to Nimbus III in TFF.

Spock was very likely the XO of the Enterprise A. Modern day US Navy ships have captains and XOs holding the same rank, why can't the Enterprise A?

It's a step down, though, from having been the captain in TWOK. And as I said, in TUC there's a distinct feeling that Spock even outranks Kirk due to him being Mister Diplomacy behind the scenes.

 

[Ithekro]

Spock is the mission commander. Kirk is the ship commander. Kirk's job is to get from point A to B and back. Spock's job is to get the Klingons to go to point A and sign treaties with the Federation.

Once things go boom, mission changes hands. Probably to Sarek since Spock's gone off the grid in his quest to prove the Enterprise (and Kirk's) innocence. He partly fails. The assassins were from Enterprise, but were not under Kirk's orders. The torpedoes were not fired from Enterprise.

Once Kirk gets back to his ship, Spock alters the mission to defend the peace confrence. Kirk's job is now to get there and shoot up or capture any bad guys. Spock takes responsibility for everything that happened on that mission. Kirk takes the hero spot for saving the day. Sulu get to add to his own legend by being there that day.

Chekov? "I served on USS Enterprise under Captain Kirk."

 

[The Wormhole]

Do we know for sure he wasn't first officer aboard 1701-A? They already had three Captains serving on one ship (Kirk, Spock and Scotty), and Sulu and Uhura are the only other candidates for XO. Sure, Kirk is overall mission commander, but we see Spock give Kirk an order in The Undiscovered Country, so there's clearly no etiquette for the situation, with the two of them basically being co-Captains of the ship rather than being skipper and first officer like they used to be back in TOS. So maybe Pavel was the 'official' second in command? He is given the conn while Kirk, Spock and Sulu go down to Nimbus III in TFF.

Spock was very likely the XO of the Enterprise A. Modern day US Navy ships have captains and XOs holding the same rank, why can't the Enterprise A?

It's a step down, though, from having been the captain in TWOK. And as I said, in TUC there's a distinct feeling that Spock even outranks Kirk due to him being Mister Diplomacy behind the scenes.

Spock probably prefers his old job of Science and Executive Officer and is glad to turn the reigns back over to Kirk. To be honest, not much about the careers of the TOS characters makes sense by the time Trek V comes around anyway.

 

[Greg Cox]

I doubt the Khan incident would have hurt Chekov's career very much, as essentially all of it was well out of his control. What probably really hurt his, and the rest of the gang of 4's careers was the events of TSFS. You have a group of officers that aided and abetted conspiracy, assault, theft, and the loss of a starship. Whatever the outcome of the events of TVH, what admiral in their right minds is going to hand one of those officers a starship? What captain is going to want to have them as their XO? Exonerated or not, the only guys walking away from the events of TSFS without some career impact are Kirk and Spock, and Kirk is up for debate.

And yet Sulu ends up as captain of Excelsior . . ..

 

[Gotham Central]

I doubt the Khan incident would have hurt Chekov's career very much, as essentially all of it was well out of his control. What probably really hurt his, and the rest of the gang of 4's careers was the events of TSFS. You have a group of officers that aided and abetted conspiracy, assault, theft, and the loss of a starship. Whatever the outcome of the events of TVH, what admiral in their right minds is going to hand one of those officers a starship? What captain is going to want to have them as their XO? Exonerated or not, the only guys walking away from the events of TSFS without some career impact are Kirk and Spock, and Kirk is up for debate.

And yet Sulu ends up as captain of Excelsior . . ..

One might argue the Chekov got a double whammy that really hurt his career in Starfleet. Sulu got the Excelsior, but Chekov was involved in incidents that resulted in the loss of TWO starships in a short period of time. Add in the mind control and Its a good bet that his reputation, unfairly or not, was somewhat tarnished.

The person I was always curious about was Uhura. She out ranked Chekov in TOS and held the same rank as Sulu until TUC. Yet somehow she fell behind both.

Sulu is something of an anomaly anyway. We never saw him in command of anything before TUC. How exactly did he get that command? Did Kirk pull strings?

 

[Trimm]

I doubt the Khan incident would have hurt Chekov's career very much, as essentially all of it was well out of his control. What probably really hurt his, and the rest of the gang of 4's careers was the events of TSFS. You have a group of officers that aided and abetted conspiracy, assault, theft, and the loss of a starship. Whatever the outcome of the events of TVH, what admiral in their right minds is going to hand one of those officers a starship? What captain is going to want to have them as their XO? Exonerated or not, the only guys walking away from the events of TSFS without some career impact are Kirk and Spock, and Kirk is up for debate.

And yet Sulu ends up as captain of Excelsior . . ..

True enough. But, depending on your timeline prefrences, anywhere from 3 to 6 years pass between TFF and TUC. It isn't anymore unreasonable to assume that a stigma could fade with time than it is to posit it existed in the first place.

 

[Iamnotspock]

Sulu is something of an anomaly anyway. We never saw him in command of anything before TUC. How exactly did he get that command? Did Kirk pull strings?

The Crucible novel trilogy postulates that Sulu transfers to the USS Exeter between TMP and TWOK, eventually rising to XO. Just before the events of TWOK, the Exeter puts in to spacedock for a refit and Sulu, while awaiting reassignment, is asked by Kirk if he'd like to spend three weeks sitting in at the helm for the Enterprise's training cruise for old times' sake. He's then caught up in the events of TWOK-TVH and ends up 'doing time' as helmsman of the Enterprise-A until enough water passes under the bridge with Starfleet for his career to get back on track.

 

[Greg Cox]

Chekov was also something of a bad-luck magnet in the movies. He got zapped by V'ger's probe in the first movie, got an eel in his brain in the second movie, needed emergency brain surgery in the fourth movie, and got brainwashed again in the fifth.

Maybe somebody at Starfleet just thought he was jinxed?

 

[Doctorwhovian]

Reportedly there's some cut dialogue in the shuttle sequence in TWOK (Right after, I think "Any chance to go onboard the Enterprise"), where Sulu says he's been assigned to captain Excelsior. However, at this point in the franchise I don't think the concept of Excelsior as an advanced prototype ship was really in development at that point, and this was kind of ignored (Although Sulu does point out Excelsior's transwarp in III, and is expecting to be assigned to Excelsior in TVH, if only as helmsman).

Sulu up for captaincy but is also something that's addressed in the comics and maybe some of the novels of the time.

It's pretty much ignored completely in V (We only see the Excelsior briefly in the movie and that's stock footage), but I think Meyer or the writers might have remember the cut dialogue and made Sulu captain of Excelsior. (Thankfully, instead of the taxi driver idea they initially were thinking of).


As for Chekov, there's a reference to him being a Captain in some of Generation's dialogue, so it's possible he got his own ship or something.