You know, as a small unit that can be expanded as needed, but would serve as a SOP unit from within the Security apparatus. That way, Starfleet can still be considered to be a "non-military organization". If not, then place the MACOs within Section 31 and be done with it.
Bring back MACOs?
- Thread starter dswynne1
- Start date
I would love to see the MACOS again, but I'd call them Starfleet Marines.
Rather difficult to live in denial concerning a falsehood.
Don't go there, step away
Discussions on whether Starfleet is or isn't a military are no longer permitted?
Not in this thread, start up a new one (if you really, really need to)
.
I would love a canonical explanation for why the late and great René Auberjonois portrayed the infantry-ranked 'Colonel West' in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country despite Starfleet using naval ranks in everything else.
For its part, the 2013 novel sequence Star Trek: The Fall depicted a 'Starfleet Ground Forces' division active in 2385.
For its part, the 2013 novel sequence Star Trek: The Fall depicted a 'Starfleet Ground Forces' division active in 2385.
It would be hilarious if they just pretend the MACOs never left, the way they did the rank of Commodore in PIC. They can have LaForge say things like, "We'd never have made it through that time Picard was assimilated without our MACO squad on the Enterprise-D!"
Please it would make me so happy.
Please it would make me so happy.
On the one hand, I'd be fine with MACOs coming back - or Starfleet Security acting a bit more like MACOs - because it does make sense given that Starfleet (in spite of their pretensions) is at least partially a military. If they're going to take on the duties of a military, that means sometime fighting like one.
On the other hand, I don't really trust modern writers not to go overboard with a shiny war toy like the MACOs and spend way too much time on Starfleet doing war stuff. Section 31 went from a shady cabal to just an excuse for writers to do James Bond stuff in Starfleet, and that mostly wasn't a good thing, IMO.
So on the balance I'd probably leave MACOs out of the picture.
SNW has helmets being used on away missions.
On the other hand, I don't really trust modern writers not to go overboard with a shiny war toy like the MACOs and spend way too much time on Starfleet doing war stuff. Section 31 went from a shady cabal to just an excuse for writers to do James Bond stuff in Starfleet, and that mostly wasn't a good thing, IMO.
So on the balance I'd probably leave MACOs out of the picture.
SNW has helmets being used on away missions.
I'd be perfectly fine with something like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deployable_Operations_Group#Maritime_Security_Response_Team_(MSRT) or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostage_Rescue_Team because they're consistent with what we see of Starfleet and broadly in line with the "multi-purpose but military capable" ethos of Starfleet. I can also very much see something like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deployable_Operations_Group#National_Strike_Force_(NSF) being a thing that Starfleet has in their "toolkit".
There's a great scene in "Elite Force II" where your character, who led Voyager's equivalent of the MACO's (the Hazard Team) meets Captain Picard, now commanding the Enterprise E.
PICARD: "I enjoyed watching your holodeck session, lieutenant. Where did you train?"
MUNRO: "The Delta Quadrant."
PICARD: "Beg pardon?"
MUNRO: "I led the Hazard Team on Voyager. The Hazard Team was..."
(before he can describe what the team was, Picard's escort interrupts)
ESCORT: "Completely superfluous. My research has indicated that starship captains do not need Hazard Teams."
(Picard, unsurprisingly, does not take it well when some Starfleet bureaucrat tells him what starship captains do and don't need. And he shows Munro that he knew what the Hazard Team was)
PICARD: "I see. And are you a starship captain?"
ESCORT: "Well... no, but..."
PICARD: "The challenges we face on the edge of Federation space are not that different from what Voyager faced in the Delta Quadrant. I could use an elite team of tactical officers." (to Munro) "Tell me, lieutenant... do you ever think of getting back out into the field?"
MUNRO: "Every second of my life, sir."
PICARD: "I'll talk to your commander, see if I can arrange a transfer..."
Picard understood that a starship, especially the flagship, needs its own elite unit; a SWAT unit of sorts (or the aforementioned HRT, the FBI's equivalent), and establishes one. It doesn't make sense that it didn't happen in canon... maybe if they hadn't killed off Tasha, that would have been Worf's job.
PICARD: "I enjoyed watching your holodeck session, lieutenant. Where did you train?"
MUNRO: "The Delta Quadrant."
PICARD: "Beg pardon?"
MUNRO: "I led the Hazard Team on Voyager. The Hazard Team was..."
(before he can describe what the team was, Picard's escort interrupts)
ESCORT: "Completely superfluous. My research has indicated that starship captains do not need Hazard Teams."
(Picard, unsurprisingly, does not take it well when some Starfleet bureaucrat tells him what starship captains do and don't need. And he shows Munro that he knew what the Hazard Team was)
PICARD: "I see. And are you a starship captain?"
ESCORT: "Well... no, but..."
PICARD: "The challenges we face on the edge of Federation space are not that different from what Voyager faced in the Delta Quadrant. I could use an elite team of tactical officers." (to Munro) "Tell me, lieutenant... do you ever think of getting back out into the field?"
MUNRO: "Every second of my life, sir."
PICARD: "I'll talk to your commander, see if I can arrange a transfer..."
Picard understood that a starship, especially the flagship, needs its own elite unit; a SWAT unit of sorts (or the aforementioned HRT, the FBI's equivalent), and establishes one. It doesn't make sense that it didn't happen in canon... maybe if they hadn't killed off Tasha, that would have been Worf's job.
What if they were always there in the modern incarnations, just renamed to something different.
My wife and I watch the TV show SWAT. They identity as LAPD. So, it would easily make sense for MACO to be a division within Starfleet and these MACO officers simply identify as Starfleet
Yeah, in US Department of the Navy terms, it's more likely that they'd SEALs/VBSS (SWAT) or DEVGRU (FBI HRT) than USMC infantry (which might exist as a wartime reserve, but certainly not as a regular active duty force). Similar to my point above re: the NSF it's also likely that Starfleet has Seebees or similar (logically the Starfleet Corps of Engineers are partly or mostly this rather than the program lead for starship engineering officers.)
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