Which Captain could you serve under best?

[Balok's Decoy]

I'd want to serve with Archer. He set the tone for that crew dynamic -- laid back, friendly, almost informal. Picard, Janeway and Sisko feel very...tightly wound? Kirk would get me killed but I would die proudly boldly! I'd be happy with Archer and that NX crew. Making history with every lightyear and so on.

 

[Voth commando1]

I'd say Archer and Janeway there both pretty inspiring and more competent than their detractors give them credit for.

I wouldn't feel comfortable under Sisko with his visions, who knows the prophets might demand the institution of child sacrifice or something no way to tell. Sisko also seems to have a war fetish and apparently will go off hunting people on personal vendettas yeah Iwouldn't want to be under him.

Kirk-the crew are pretty much expendable to him, in a war scenario I'd respect his leadership but wouldn't want to be on an away mission with him.

Picard-I'm sure I'd respect his intellect and stature I wouldn't want to meet him in the elevator alone though.

 

[Balok's Decoy]

I wouldn't feel comfortable under Sisko with his visions, who knows the prophets might demand the institution of child sacrifice or something no way to tell.

So you're saying Sisko is basically John F. Kennedy?

 

[publiusr]

I'd say Archer and Janeway there both pretty inspiring and more competent than their detractors give them credit for. I

Agreed. They'd be my pics.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Good thread. I'm having to put a little thought into it.

My first impulse is that I'd like to serve under Captain Sisko aboard a starship, not necessarily DS9. He seems to be a good blend of a lot of the other command personalities in Trek. He's a man of action like Kirk, a thinker like Picard, and as we saw, not beyond delving into the grey areas when he has to for the greater good, like Janeway. Based on my own time as a Navy officer and having served under several CO's (good and bad), Sisko's character seems like a CO I would mesh pretty well with given my own personality and leadership style.

I'd find Picard too touchy-feely and cerebral, Janeway far too temperamental and inconsistent, and Archer just plain incompetent. Realistically speaking, from about S4 of TNG onward, Picard would have made a better admiral than a captain.

I think behind Sisko, my other preferences would be Kirk and Riker, probably in no particular order. Riker always seemed like a TNG version of Kirk anyway. Those guys were great leaders, and would tend to always inspire my best efforts even if their demands were a bit chafing.

Since we're taking captains, I shouldn't leave out my opinion of the most notorious of them all: Jellicoe. A lot of old school Navy captains were cut from that mold. It gets the job done, but leaves those under his command perpetually deflated and feeling undervalued. Retention under commanders like Jellicoe always suffers, but the efficiency numbers are usually good. Ironically, few of them make flag rank in the real world. Every admiral I ever met (with one exception) was a politician and a 'people person.'

 

[Prax]

Archer or Janeway. Preferably Archer.

Kirk isn't bad, but you have to take your survivability into account. I've heard that he lost 90some crewmen.

You could serve under Picard for years and probably never even come into contact with him. He wouldn't know your name or who you are...no thanks.

Sisko would scare me if he was really my boss in REAL life. I think he might be possessed by devils...I'd stay away. Jake seems pretty cool. though, so I could be wrong.

Scotty, Sulu, Chakotay, Trip, and Riker seem to make good captains.

Spock, Tuvok, and T'Pol make BAD captains...is that racist?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Captain Braxton, because then I'd be in the 29th Century instead of the dark ages of the 24th.

Which Braxton actor did you like better? Allan Royal (fun fact: he was a main cast member on the greatest cop show of all time, Night Heat) or Bruce McGill?

Oh, and in my head canon, Braxton is Al the Bartender from the final episode of Quantum Leap. Not just the same actor (McGill) but literally the same character.

 

[Kor]

I would like to serve under Captain Pike. I like his command style.

Kor

 

[dahj]

Captain Harriman.

I hear you don't actually have to show up till Tuesday.

Wouldn't mind Mondays free.

 

[Prax]

They're both good, but I think McGill. especially when he says "Third time's a charm, eh?"

 

[1001001]

Oh, and in my head canon, Braxton is Al the Bartender from the final episode of Quantum Leap. Not just the same actor (McGill) but literally the same character.

Sure. He was D-Day when he was younger.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Ha ha.

No, the reason I thought of it wasn't just because of the actor. I just thought it would be a fitting ending for Braxton's arc - after his trial and retirement, I envision Starfleet giving him a choice of time periods to live out his remaining days, so he chooses the 1950s and builds the bar. Reasoning that even if HE can't time travel anymore, he can help others who do.

(We never find out Al's last name, or Braxton's first.... )

And I seem to recall that Scott Bakula suggested that QL takes place in the Trek universe and that Archer is a descendant of Sam...

 

[Voth commando1]

Ducane from Star Trek Voyager Relativity

 

[Mojochi]

Actually..... Sulu. I think he had everything you might see in someone like Picard, but I'd have found him an easier captain to voice myself to.

It's thoroughly established that Picard was a hard man to relate to. Kirk's crew didn't seem to have any voice at all, unless they were Spock, or Bones, I rarely saw anything from Archer or Janeway that would make me aspire to serve under them. While I would find Sisko inspiring, I don't think I'd find it at all comfortable serving under him, especially with all that weird ass profit stuff going on. I can't say I know enough about either Pike to give an opinion. NuPike, while generous & friendly, seemed a little preachy, but that's because we only ever see him in his mentoring of Kirk

I respect Jellico, but at the same time, I don't think we're really seeing the genuine article in his actions & behavior among the Enterprise crew. I think his whole posture there is done solely because there was no other way to play it, given the mission & timetable. I'd be surprised if he had that kind of abrupt forcefulness at all times on the Cairo. No, there was "No time for a honeymoon" Which means he probably does do honeymoons, or getting to know you warm up grace periods, ordinarily. I bet the people on the Cairo think of him entirely differently

 

[The Old Mixer]

If I were a helmsman under Sulu, I'd turn around and look at him every time something came up on the viewscreen, just to frak with him.

 

[Vorpal_Blade]

I'd serve under Kirk. So long as I don't have to wear a red shirt.

 

[Voth commando1]

I think being a runabout commanded by Tom Paris would be exciting and fun. Not to mention not awkward.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

That's a hard question to answer.

I guess it depends on what your role would be under the captain, how close you'd be to their inner circle. Whether you knew them before or have gotten closer over time.

Not every department's members have the opportunity to experience reporting directly to the captain; many from less glamourous/less landing party applicable sub-specialties are insulated from the captain by their more immediate superiors - department heads, shift leaders, etc.

If you have an excuse to come into contact with the captain often, you might find that although you admire them from afar, you have problems with relating to them up close, and vice versa. So much of it depends on who you are to them, both on and off duty.

I don't really know who I'd choose.

 

[Plutodawn]

Krall from StarTrek Beyond.

He was technically a Star Fleet Captain. He definitely put the lives of his crew first. Was always trying to make them better, more than they thought they could be. That's inspired leadership.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

^ When you put it like that...you should take a job in Starfleet's PR department.