Is Starfleet Military?

[Deks]

It isn't completely free, though. According to the estimate of his son, young Benjamin Sisko would have used up about a month's worth of 'transporter credits' during his first few Starfleet Academy days, just to get back to New Orleans to have dinner with his parents.

Or perhaps it is practically free, just not at Starfleet Academy, to teach those cadets dealing with limited resources.

Its probably free at the point of use for the general public (which likely also doesn't overuse transporters to such a high degree)... at SF Academy, this would probably be an equivalent to training exercise in dealing with limited resources.

The general public is probably also educated in school about how to use resources responsibly.

 

[NCC-73515]

BOBW mentions Starfleet Tactical. Perhaps that's Starfleet's military branch

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Starfleet Tactical is noted as the command responsible for anti-Borg countermeasures, therefore it's most likely equivalent of DARPA or the Office of Naval Research. If we were to accept the canonicity of the (fake) version of the Operation: Retrieve briefing charts which reference the "Starfleet Tactical Marine Corps", then it could also incorporate elements of the service war colleges and Naval Special Warfare Command.

 

[Sci]

BOBW mentions Starfleet Tactical. Perhaps that's Starfleet's military branch

If that were the case, only officers who are part of Starfleet Tactical could be court-martialed. Awful hard to have a martial court if it's not the military, isn't it?

 

[Citiprime]

I did wonder whether the season 3 premiere of Star Trek: Picard might throw some more fuel on the fire for this argument.

Spoiler

Given the way Captain Shaw treats Picard and Riker, as well as some of the disrespect we've seen given Picard by various Starfleet officials over the course of the series, there's some on-screen evidence that there might be a segment of Starfleet that resents a way of leadership that involves "taking or engaging in fire." Shaw explicitly calls Riker's and Picard's leadership "irresponsible" adventures.

The easiest explanation is that this is just another character introduced to be a jerk. But it did make me wonder whether there might be a segment of the Federation and Starfleet that has the exact opposite reaction to stories of Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway. Instead of being admired, they see them as aberrations who drifted away from Starfleet's mission of cataloguing gaseous anomalies and scientific research.

 

[NCC-73515]

Like Esteban, he likes to play it safe and avoid risks (Titan is an exploratory ship)

 

[fireproof78]

nstead of being admired, they see them as aberrations

Probably just abberations. They think that Starfleet is much different than what these head liners did.

 

[Farscape One]

Or another possibility...

Spoiler

Possibly Shaw is just jealous. He might be egotistical enough to think that his 5 years and 36 missions are outstanding, but because they don't get the fanfare others get, he turns bitter.

 

[Sci]

I don't think Captain Shaw's behavior is indicative of any stance one way or the other on Starfleet's "true" purpose.

 

[fireproof78]

Or another possibility...

Spoiler

Possibly Shaw is just jealous. He might be egotistical enough to think that his 5 years and 36 missions are outstanding, but because they don't get the fanfare others get, he turns bitter.

Certainly possible though I have a feeling it's tied to a number of factors rather than just one.

 

[Farscape One]

I agree. And I think it directly relates to..

Spoiler

Either Wolf 359 or the second Borg attack in FIRST CONTACT, due to his insisting Seven have herself be called by her birth name.

 

[Dodd]

No I think its scientific body but will serve a defensive purpose when required.

 

[fireproof78]

No I think its scientific body but will serve a defensive purpose when required.

Then what is the military for the Federation?

 

[Oddish]

Then what is the military for the Federation?

If the Federation had an actual military, they wouldn't use Starfleet (an organization meant for something else) as their military.

 

[JesterFace]

Then what is the military for the Federation?

Does the Federation even have military? Starfleet can do things military does but it's not the main task.
Starfleet is military only when military is needed? Starfleet is military occasionally?

 

[fireproof78]

Does the Federation even have military? Starfleet can do things military does but it's not the main task.
Starfleet is military only when military is needed? Starfleet is military occasionally?

That's not how militaries work. You either are legally empowered to defend the state against threats or not. Starfleet being an organization meant for other tasks does not make it less a military if it has that legal power. And if it doesn't have that legal authority then why did Kirk and Picard and other captains get placed situations were that is their explicit task?

 

[JesterFace]

That's not how militaries work.

Militaries of our day, what actually is the military in the future?

 

[fireproof78]

Militaries of our day, what actually is the military in the future?

The legal definition cannot change. You cannot be sometimes the military and sometimes not. Either they are empowered to protect the boarders of their nation and support their nation's interests in combat or they are not.

 

[JesterFace]

The legal definition cannot change. You cannot be sometimes the military and sometimes not. Either they are empowered to protect the boarders of their nation and support their nation's interests in combat or they are not.

Well, we'll just see how that turns out in few hundred years....

 

[fireproof78]

Well, we'll just see how that turns out in few hundred years....

It would become rather unwieldly if it could be changed on a whim. What was legal yesterday is now illegal today because the authorization was changed and was not communicated properly.