SNW uniforms and characters revealed (old and new)

KIRK: It's been five years since his last message. (c. 2266).
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So if SNW is set eight years earlier, Chapel has three years to leave Starfleet, engage to marry Kirby, lose him, and then “[give] up a career in bio-research to sign aboard a starship.” Easy peasy.

 

Not needed if she has already decided to delay her marriage to Corby in order to serve in Starfleet. She just got lucky that the Enterprise happened to be assigned to check for him for the third time. I expect they are currently "on a break", but when he disappears, propriety would demand that he revert to her beloved fiance.

 

Couple of different possibilities:
A) SNW is set in 2261 or later. Chapel's history is either unreferenced or (presumably) unchanged.
B) SNW is set before 2261, and Kirk was just inexact with the "five years" figure, really meaning six-to-eight years, or he had incorrect information, or didn't account for time dilation.
C) SNW is set before 2261, and Chapel's engagement and bio-research careers are things of the future, after this stint on the Enterprise. Maybe we'll meet Korby. Maybe she's a biologist on the Enterprise, and not a nurse. Perhaps Spock is the one who had her assigned to the Enterprise post-2261 based on the time they worked together years before.

 

The first season of SNW is likely in 2259. That gives Chapel two years give or take before Korby's last message is sent from Exo III and he disappears. Christine may well leave the Enterprise after Season 1 and it'll be described that she's fallen in love with a prestigious scientist named Dr. Roger Korby. Then she'll either return in Season 3 or we won't see her again except in random episodes where her character becomes integral to helping Pike and the crew of the Enterprise.

 

I wasn't sure if it was meant as such, and my reply was intended to work either way.

Thanks. I couldn't remember the name, and was looking for him. Found a second communications non-com (an unnamed supernumerary woman) instead.

 

That's the timeframe I'm thinking of, as well. It would then fit in with Pike's second five-year mission, returning to Earth for overhaul, repairs and transfer of command to Kirk.

 

It's never said in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" that Chapel joined Starfleet to find Roger Korby. Only that she gave up a career in bio-research to sign aboard a starship. At the end of the episode, she decides to stay with the Enterprise. That's it. Check the transcript and see for yourself.

Why do so many people interpret that line to mean that Chapel wasn't already in Starfleet? It seems perfectly reasonable to assume that you pursue a career in bio-research in Starfleet. In fact, it's much more logical to assume Chapel was able to get a starship posting because she was already in the service.

 

I don't think anyone has said that, explicitly. I stated above that she might be a biologist (and not a nurse) to fit that dialogue (although she's probably a nurse).

 

I see no reason why she couldn't have degrees in both biology and nursing.

*****

As Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson) put it:

 

I'm assuming that the "second 5-year mission" included lots of crew transfers, as it logically should, and most of these new characters are veterans of the worst war in Federation history. There might even be some resentment at Pike for (not his fault) staying out of the war.

 

BTW for all us continuity obsessed geeks remember that even in TNG:

At the end of TNG S1 - Beverly Crusher was promoted to be the Head of Starfleet Medical. ONE YEAR LATER (maybe she was fired/found incompetent? ) she was BACK as simply the CMO of the 1701-D again in TNG S3.

So yes, serving in Starfleet seems to lead to WIERD career choices one can drop into and out of quickly.

 

Jose Tyler, Garrison, Amin, all getting promoted off or mustered out?

I remember The Enterprise War citing Tyler as having gotten his own ship command...? If Amin isn't going to be part of this series, I'd prefer that method being the character's exit.

 

Yes. Weird.

I still think she was put in charge of the "shore detachment" of that department for Earth specifically, not straight up into the medical corps' admiralty.

 

Honestly, I would expect promotions/retirements/transfers to be the norm, not staying on one ship. After a terrible war there would be a shortage of experienced officers. Taking those officers and moving them around the Fleet would make sense, as well as doing stints at the Academy to train new recruits.

Yes, Star Trek has show weird career paths. But, I don't see their absence as very strange at all. Starfleet is big. Honestly, there is no reason to expect everyone from the Cage to still be on with Pike.

 

Exactly. After Pike's first five-year mission, and maybe even seeing Enterprise back at Earth after Season 2 of DSC, Starfleet most likely reassigned that crew to different ships or starbases (maybe even Earth-based assignments).

In the cases of Uhura, Chapel and M'Benga, I'm thinking that they will eventually be reassigned here or there, finding their way back to the Enterprise under Kirk's command.

 

That's more of less my headcanon.

But to elaborate, there are at least two "billets" that could be referred to as "Head of Starfleet Medical":

1/ The Starfleet Surgeon General. They would be overall head of the Medical Corps and the senior medical advisor to the UFP President. Based on RW practice, this would be held by a Vice Admiral, but a full Admiral holding the post for Starfleet isn't unlikely.

2/ Director of the Starfleet Medical Center, San Francisco (referred to as Starfleet Medical in at least one script). Based on RW practice, would be either a Captain or Commodore.

While 2 being the case is a bit of a stretch, we could perhaps speculate that Commander Crusher was Interim Director and an Acting Captain and would have confirmed in the rank and position if she'd stayed long-term.

 

Works for me.

 

And she went back to that position at the end of NEM

 

Maybe they'll be realistic in that people get transfered get transfered around alot. and then transfered back to the same ship latter in there career.