No salutes

[Velocity]

(Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseum) I was wondering why no one salutes in Star Fleet. They use the military ranks but I don't remember anyone ever saluting superior officers. I notice this since I used to work on a Coast Guard base and saw salutes and heard the calls of "Captain on deck", etc. every day.

 

[Unionized Elf]

I figure they follow the customs of the US military which is don't salute when indoors (unless for ceremonial purposes) and don't salute when in the field. Since this is the setting we always see Starfleet personnel in, it stands to reason why we never see them saluting.

Although, the Mirror Universe seems to be all about saluting.

 

[Velocity]

Hats are absent also, although we mostly see them on board ships or indoors where hats would be inappropriate. But outside, heads are supposed to be covered in the military. Ties have disappeared, but even today those are becoming less necessary.

 

[ScottJ85]

They had hats in the Kelvin timeline movies, and I'm pretty sure Pike's crew had them in The Cage, though it's been forever since I've seen it.

 

[Vger23]

Is Starfleet a military? We should talk about that.

 

[at Quark's]

^yeah, now that you mention it, I wonder why no-one has ever brought up this intriguing topic before.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Being a spaceship navy centuries from now, Starfleet observes some ancient naval practices and ignores others.

 

[Longinus]

It was intentional choice by Roddenberry to make Starfleet to seem less militaristic. More like NASA, less like the navy.

 

[JesterFace]

Saluting is silly, good thing Trek doesn't have that.

 

[Tenacity]

It was intentional choice by Roddenberry to make Starfleet to seem less militaristic. More like NASA, less like the navy.

Then why didn't he get rid of ranks too?

 

[Longinus]

Then why didn't he get rid of ranks too?

Because it is still semi-military. He did want to get rid of officer/enlisted distinction though, but in practice that didn't happen.

From TOS Writer's Guide:

"Is the starship U.S.S. Enterprise a military vessel?

Yes, but only semi-military in practice -- omitting features which are heavily authoritarian. For example, we are not aware of "officers" and "enlisted men" categories. And we avoid saluting and other annoying medieval leftovers. On the other hand, we do keep a flavor of Naval usage and terminology to help encourage believability and identification by the audience. After all, our own Navy today still retains remnants of tradition known to Nelson and Drake."

 

[at Quark's]

Also, I can imagine that removing the navy-like command structure would significantly impact the type and atmosphere of stories you want to tell ("our CEO has been taken captive by the Borg, Riker you're interim manager now until the board can meet to elect a new CEO" really doesn't sound as good, does it ), whereas just omitting the salutes is probably inconsequential, while still making it seem slightly less military.

 

[Timewalker]

Hats are absent also, although we mostly see them on board ships or indoors where hats would be inappropriate. But outside, heads are supposed to be covered in the military. Ties have disappeared, but even today those are becoming less necessary.

Considering all the running and fighting Kirk and Spock did in TOS, they would have gone through a lot of hats (seriously, can you imagine telling Scotty, "Don't beam me up yet, my hat fell off and I have to go get it" even though it's a split-second to being killed?), or the damn things would have had to be glued on to their heads.

They did wear hats in the Nazi episode, and in "A Piece of the Action" and "Assignment: Earth."

 

[Velocity]

Hey! If Voyager can have an unlimited supply of shuttlecraft, an unlimited supply of hats shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Captain Rob]

Ancient naval tradition: What happens if you keel-haul someone in space?

 

[galad2003]

They would just salute wrong and/or sloppy like most TV shows and irritate me anyway.

Saluting was the most annoying thing ever when I was in the military and I could see where the custom would die off. They don't wear hats all the time either. Starfleet should just reserve it for formal ceremonies, if they have it at all.

P.S. Saluting on a ship is rarely done. Pretty much when you come aboard and when you first see an officer (there's more to it but ZI will summarize). Realistically we never saluted underway when I was in the Navy.

Also, Starfleet I don't think I have ever heard Starfleet call attention on deck for the Captain.

 

[Unionized Elf]

Also, Starfleet I don't think I have ever heard Starfleet call attention on deck for the Captain.

It was done all the time on the Enterprise D when Jellico commanded.

 

[Jedi_Master]

It may make for realism, but it makes for awkward and repetitive viewing.

While we are at it, I wonder if officers are fined or lose a portion of their salary if they forget to salute?

 

[Six of Twelve]

It was done all the time on the Enterprise D when Jellico commanded.

It was done a few times for Captain Janeway on Voyager. I remember it was on the one where Seven has to keep jumping around in time to keep Voyager from being blown up and another time at the end of the second Work Force episode.

 

[Timo]

An obvious way for the tradition to die: the Navy moves to outer space, into spacecraft that are tin cans all. A sailor salutes, sending himself spinning in zero gee and hitting all the wrong buttons. A ship blows up. An order comes from on high to stop saluting.

Of course, Trek never had space navy ships with zero gee. Nor were they quite as cramped as one would expect, and the dangerous buttons were out of reach. But we didn't see all the stages of development; perhaps the unseen USAF spacecraft in the 2010s were the ones to get rid of saluting?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kor]

(Sorry if this has been discussed ad nauseum) I was wondering why no one salutes in Star Fleet. They use the military ranks but I don't remember anyone ever saluting superior officers. I notice this since I used to work on a Coast Guard base and saw salutes and heard the calls of "Captain on deck", etc. every day.

Let the 1967 Star Trek writers' guide answer all your questions:

Is the starship U.S.S. Enterprise a military vessel?
Yes, but only semi-military in practice -- omitting features which are heavily authoritarian. For example, we are not aware of "officers" and "enlisted men" categories. And we avoid saluting and other annoying medieval leftovers. On the other hand, we do keep a flavor of Naval usage and terminology to help encourage believability and identifica-tion by the audience. After all, our own Navy today still retains remnants of tradition known to Nelson and Drake.

Edit: @Longinus already posted this yesterday. That's what happens when I respond to a thread without reading anything after the OP.

Kor