Why Was Riker Demoted?

[NigellaDeanna20]

It's likely that Riker had offended a superior or two with his attitude. As the Pegasus Admiral said to Picard, not everyone likes an underling that disobeys their orders. Sure, the Pegasus Admiral (I forget his name) was a bad one, but he had a point.

you mean Admiral Eric Pressman. Not Really. That guy broke Federation law in regards to the Pegasus' cloaking device which was illegal under the Treaty of Algeron because in that episode you can very clearly see that Riker wants to tell the truth to Picard but Pressman orders him not to until he's eventually forced to tell Picard the real truth later on in the episode. The most that Riker probably got after that incident was just a possible reprimand and a slight mark on his service record but he still remained as a commander while Pressman was more than likely thrown out of starfleet and lost his career which he deserved.

 

[thribs]

It was a battle promotion so I don’t think it was official.

 

[Kor]

you mean Admiral Eric Pressman. Not Really. That guy broke Federation law in regards to the Pegasus' cloaking device which was illegal under the Treaty of Algeron because in that episode you can very clearly see that Riker wants to tell the truth to Picard but Pressman orders him not to until he's eventually forced to tell Picard the real truth later on in the episode. The most that Riker probably got after that incident was just a possible reprimand and a slight mark on his service record but he still remained as a commander while Pressman was more than likely thrown out of starfleet and lost his career which he deserved.

And thank goodness Riker had that handy historical holodeck program to teach him the right thing to do.

Kor

 

[Makarov]

Pressman prolly ended up at section 31 developing high tech cloaks on a daily basis

 

[Prax]

I doubt Pressman lost any rank. Just court martialing him would cause an enormous scandal.

 

[Kor]

Maybe he was forcibly retired. And then kept getting called back to oversee tribunals like "retired" Admiral Satie.

Kor

 

[JesterFace]

Maybe Riker wasn't demoted, perhaps field promotion in Starfleet isn't a permanent move in the ranks.
Perhaps it's just something that has to be done because of the circumstances but will be looked closer after a crisis is over.

Shelby did say that after the fleet was rebuilt Riker could choose from many different ships where to serve as captain.
Riker chose to stay on the Enterprise.
Maybe he had the option to become a captain had he left the Enterprise after the Borg attack.

- EDIT - This is a long thread, has everything I typed already been discussed?

 

[Timo]

Well, "what Starfleet does" has been discussed - several episodes deal with the CO going missing, presumed dead, and none but "BoBW" involve promoting the next guy in rank. Something happened differently here, and perhaps this was an in-universe blunder that was soon remedied by revoking the promotion.

Or then Riker indeed got a chance to choose, and chose to be demoted, because that's what big heroes like Kirk get for saving all mankind... A "no no no, I'm no Emperor - just call me First Citizen. And bow deeper!" sort of deal.

Pressman... Probably was part of the reason Riker's career skyrocketed originally. Not that Riker would have made demands. But Pressman could not afford to hold back with his career support, and we know that Starfleet is a rather nepotist organization, the word of the "foster fathers" of officers counting for a lot. Perhaps Pressman could be assumed to have been behind Riker getting that fourth pip, too, and soon afterwards he realized he had pressed too hard and made himself look suspicious, so he toned it down and let the now-deceased Hanson take the blame for the inappropriate field commission.

Or then old Hanson was well in excess of his powers, and the fourth pip never was legit, simple as that. The Admiral did have difficulty with that reality thing, being in deep denial about Picard's betrayal and all.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Armus]

In The Best of Both Worlds, Riker is given a promotion to the rank of captain along with being put in command of the Enterprise following Picard's apparent loss to the Borg. Later, when Picard is recovered, he is put back in command of the Enterprise and Riker goes back to the rank of commander. My question is: Why?

Sure, I understand why Picard would be given back command of the Enterprise. Even if Starfleet offered to let Riker stay in command, I think he would insist that Picard get the ship back. Part of the story was that Riker essentially made peace with the fact that what he really wanted, more than getting his own ship, was to be Picard's first officer at that point in his career.

But why would they take back the promotion? The rank of captain and the position of commanding officer are not one and the same. In TFF and TUC, we have Spock with the rank of captain but the position of first officer. It might be unusual, but it's not unprecedented. Why give Riker a demotion right after he literally saved the Federation from the Borg?

The only even remotely analogous situation I can think of is when Decker was bumped down to the rank of commander in TMP when Kirk took over. But even that was specifically stated as a temporary grade reduction. And at the end of the film, in Kirk's report to Starfleet, he is referred to as Captain Decker. It was not a permanent demotion as Riker's was.

Thoughts?

I don't think a Captain can serve as a first officer. The Captain should outrank his first officer. Unless they had a place for him to go, it made sense that he was demoted back to a Commander. As for Spock and Scotty, that just seemed odd. "Captain of Engineering"?

 

[The Wormhole]

It was a battle promotion so I don’t think it was official.

Considering he saved the Federation and there was a severe loss of personnel, the promotion would have been made permanent. I suspect the only reason it wasn't was because having just saved the Federation, Starfleet likely felt inclined to grant Riker any favor he asked, and asking to go back to Commander isn't the most unreasonable thing out there. It's a bit of a dick move at a time when experienced command officers are needed to fill the Captain vacancies that have just opened, but it's not an impossible wish to grant.

I don't think a Captain can serve as a first officer. The Captain should outrank his first officer.

Most COs and XOs in the US Navy hold the same rank.

 

[Discofan]

It was a battle promotion so I don’t think it was official.

Acting captain then?

 

[Timo]

The weird thing is that Admiral Hanson calls it a "field commission". Riker has already been commissioned to serve as an officer in Starfleet, back at the conclusion of his Academy days. Should a field promotion to a higher rank really be called a "commission"?

As usual, we could exploit the random weirdness of the writing to see meaning where there is none, and decide that a "field commission" is an exceptional and temporary thing whereas field promotions usually stick (like elsewhere in Trek) and impromptu assignments to CO position usually get reversed as soon as the crisis is over (like elsewhere in Trek).

Why Hanson would go for this super-special procedure when nothing of the sort was done in "Gambit" et al. then remains to be handwaved.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Discofan]

Speaking of Gambit, I wonder if Data went through throwing Riker in the brig and if so for how long. I could see Data leaving Riker there until Picard finally tells him to let him out.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

As usual, we could exploit the random weirdness of the writing to see meaning where there is none, and decide that a "field commission" is an exceptional and temporary thing whereas field promotions usually stick (like elsewhere in Trek) and impromptu assignments to CO position usually get reversed as soon as the crisis is over (like elsewhere in Trek).

Seems reasonable.

Why Hanson would go for this super-special procedure when nothing of the sort was done in "Gambit" et al. then remains to be handwaved.

Well, IIRC Data never communicated his taking command to Starfleet (certainly no direct communication was shown), so essentially he was de facto "Acting Captain" purely on the basis of previously being Second Officer.

 

[Discofan]

I think it's standard procedure in all armies that when a superior officer is incapacitated, the second in command immediately takes his/her functions. It would be a shame if a battle was lost because the general fell victim to a heart attack right in the middle of it.

 

[Timo]

Well, IIRC Data never communicated his taking command to Starfleet (certainly no direct communication was shown), so essentially he was de facto "Acting Captain" purely on the basis of previously being Second Officer.

In turn, Riker did communicate with Starfleet, and apparently received formal command of the vessel, in a "crisis over" situation where the ship already was supposed to be dealing with her next mission, unrelated to Picard's demise. No fourth pip was required for that, or was there a mention of a "field commission"... So we have quite a spectrum of situations and responses.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[MAGolding]

The weird thing is that Admiral Hanson calls it a "field commission". Riker has already been commissioned to serve as an officer in Starfleet, back at the conclusion of his Academy days. Should a field promotion to a higher rank really be called a "commission"?

As usual, we could exploit the random weirdness of the writing to see meaning where there is none, and decide that a "field commission" is an exceptional and temporary thing whereas field promotions usually stick (like elsewhere in Trek) and impromptu assignments to CO position usually get reversed as soon as the crisis is over (like elsewhere in Trek).

Why Hanson would go for this super-special procedure when nothing of the sort was done in "Gambit" et al. then remains to be handwaved.

Timo Saloniemi

As I remember, every time an officer is promoted to a new grade he gets a new commission in that new grade. And I believe that the old commission expires when he gets the new commission so that he doesn't hold two separate commissions and get paid for two different ranks at once.

So I think that "a field commission" is a reasonable choice of words for a field promotion.

 

[Discofan]

I don't remember if Riker held the rank of Captain in Nemesis or if it was still in the offing.

 

[Kor]

Well, "what Starfleet does" has been discussed - several episodes deal with the CO going missing, presumed dead, and none but "BoBW" involve promoting the next guy in rank.
...

Didn't Picard get command of the Stargazer because the officers above him died?

Kor

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

That's certainly Q's version of the story (perTapestry), whether it's true...

 

[ConRefit79]

I cannot think of a valid reason. After the loss of so many captains and First officers at Wolf 359, I would think he willingly accept his duty to Starfleet and command another ship. And I would expect Starfleet to not make it optional.