Why wasn't Sisko promoted at the start of Season 3?

[Poltargyst]

The only character who had received a genuine promotion was Tuvok, which is odd considering that he had started the series as a lieutenant-commander but was demoted by the writers to First Lieutenant without any explanation. Paris got demoted from lieutenant j.g. to ensign and it took him over a year-and-a-half to regain his old rank. Otherwise, no one else got promoted during "Voyager".

And this doesn't excuse why Sisko wasn't a captain from the beginning of "Deep Space Nine". Come to think of it, his pattern of promotion followed (or almost followed) that of Michael Burnham of "Discovery". Like Sisko, she began as a commander, lost her rank completely before regaining it by the end of the show's Season 1. Like Sisko, she was finally promoted to captain by the end of her series' third season. And like Sisko, she was portrayed by an African-American actor/actress. They are the only two leading characters in a Trek live-action production that experienced this.

It just seemed to me that those were the arcs that the producers of the shows wanted those characters to go on. I don't see a problem with it. Are you suggesting that the fact that they were portrayed by black actors is the reason they didn't have the characters be Captains from the start? I mean they are no less important to their shows, the characters are no less prominent regardless of what their stated ranks are.

 

[Jayson1]

Being a commander is also no shame. The idea that Sisko was inferior came when Voyager was introduced.

In the pilot Picard was talking about how long he stayed in command at Utopia Planitia. Something like 3 plus years or so. The idea being that it made more sense I think that he should have moved on earlier to a Starship or more high profile assignment. Especially since Sisko was young and on a command track you would assume.

My impression is if Wolf 359 didn't happen he would have already been promoted to Captain and be in charge of a ship. Instead he has spent most of that time riding a desk job because the assignment was safe and he wanted that because he didn't want to raise Jake in a environment where he might loose him like he lost his wife at 359.

This is why as soon as he is assigned to a place like DS9 that might be dangerous like Ds9 we know he was considering civilian work. Of course he instead encountered the profits and helped heal him to a degree and he choose to finally start moving on with his life and stays and in ups finding a home,a women to love and new purpose and even a promotion but the irony is that I don't think that mattered as much to him as it might have earlier in his career.

Dax once talked about how he wanted to be Captain by 30 and Admiral by 40 but instead he found something deeper at DS9. A family,Bajor, new friends.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Leadership. Fatherhood. He was more approachable with his crew. Tactics. Growth.

(I am a bit biased, as Sisko is my favorite captain. However, I stand by my assertion and the reasons.)

He was also better at being bald than Stewart ... and Shatner.

 

[Jayson1]

He was also better at being bald than Stewart ... and Shatner.

But not Robau.

 

[Farscape One]

In the pilot Picard was talking about how long he stayed in command at Utopia Planitia. Something like 3 plus years or so. The idea being that it made more sense I think that he should have moved on earlier to a Starship or more high profile assignment. Especially since Sisko was young and on a command track you would assume.

My impression is if Wolf 359 didn't happen he would have already been promoted to Captain and be in charge of a ship. Instead he has spent most of that time riding a desk job because the assignment was safe and he wanted that because he didn't want to raise Jake in a environment where he might loose him like he lost his wife at 359.

This is why as soon as he is assigned to a place like DS9 that might be dangerous like Ds9 we know he was considering civilian work. Of course he instead encountered the profits and helped heal him to a degree and he choose to finally start moving on with his life and stays and in ups finding a home,a women to love and new purpose and even a promotion but the irony is that I don't think that mattered as much to him as it might have earlier in his career.

Dax once talked about how he wanted to be Captain by 30 and Admiral by 40 but instead he found something deeper at DS9. A family,Bajor, new friends.

True. He also said to Worf that he thought he could 'wrap his pain in his Starfleet uniform and toss them both away'.

He was also better at being bald than Stewart ... and Shatner.

Indeed.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

My impression is if Wolf 359 didn't happen he would have already been promoted to Captain and be in charge of a ship. Instead he has spent most of that time riding a desk job because the assignment was safe and he wanted that because he didn't want to raise Jake in a environment where he might loose him like he lost his wife at 359.

My own interpretation is that his attitude changed while working at UP: the ship he would command might not yet have been built after the Borg wrecked the fleet. Perhaps that's a bit too fanon, but it makes sense that he may have become more cynical while trying to design ships to confront the Borg ... on top of dealing with the trauma.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

But not Robau.

Not sure I agree, but a Captain Robau show would be awesome. It could be both prime universe and prequel to the Kelvin universe.

 

[Oddish]

He was also better at being bald than Stewart ... and Shatner.

Sisko sought baldness. Picard had baldness thrust on him. And, Sisko added the Power of the Beard, too.

 

[fireproof78]

Leadership. Fatherhood. He was more approachable with his crew. Tactics. Growth.

(I am a bit biased, as Sisko is my favorite captain. However, I stand by my assertion and the reasons.)

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[Farscape One]

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Yes, Sisko was better.

(I can't believe I am agreeing with a clip from (shudders) INTO DARKNESS. I feel so dirty.)

 

[kkt]

In the pilot Picard was talking about how long he stayed in command at Utopia Planitia. Something like 3 plus years or so. The idea being that it made more sense I think that he should have moved on earlier to a Starship or more high profile assignment. Especially since Sisko was young and on a command track you would assume.

My impression is if Wolf 359 didn't happen he would have already been promoted to Captain and be in charge of a ship. Instead he has spent most of that time riding a desk job because the assignment was safe and he wanted that because he didn't want to raise Jake in a environment where he might loose him like he lost his wife at 359.

This is why as soon as he is assigned to a place like DS9 that might be dangerous like Ds9 we know he was considering civilian work. Of course he instead encountered the profits and helped heal him to a degree and he choose to finally start moving on with his life and stays and in ups finding a home,a women to love and new purpose and even a promotion but the irony is that I don't think that mattered as much to him as it might have earlier in his career.

Dax once talked about how he wanted to be Captain by 30 and Admiral by 40 but instead he found something deeper at DS9. A family,Bajor, new friends.

In addition to Jake's safety, after Wolf 359 Ben is Jake's only surviving parent so he probably feels a greater responsibility to keep himself safe too. Grandpa Sisko wasn't going to be up to raising a teenager again and we don't know anything about Ben's sister in Oregon besides that she exists.

 

[CmndrSela318]

My answer to the title of this thread is so the viewing audience could see and, hopefully, feel he had earned the rank of captain. Think about Kirk in TOS and Picard in TNG. They were already captains when we first see them on screen. Kirk in the original series episode "Court Martial", at his Court Martial we hear a short list of some of his awards and commendations. Some of the reasons he was made captain. We never got to see him earn the rank. At least we got to see Riker earn the rank of captain before he finally became a captain in Nemesis. Also, sticking with my theory, the writers may have felt any sooner than the end of season 3 was too soon. That's my answer to this thread's title.

 

[Tenacity]

Are you suggesting that the fact that they were portrayed by black actors is the reason they didn't have the characters be Captains from the start?

We saw Black admirals during TOS, so that's unlikely.

 

[Dee1891]

My answer to the title of this thread is so the viewing audience could see and, hopefully, feel he had earned the rank of captain. Think about Kirk in TOS and Picard in TNG. They were already captains when we first see them on screen. Kirk in the original series episode "Court Martial", at his Court Martial we hear a short list of some of his awards and commendations. Some of the reasons he was made captain. We never got to see him earn the rank. At least we got to see Riker earn the rank of captain before he finally became a captain in Nemesis. Also, sticking with my theory, the writers may have felt any sooner than the end of season 3 was too soon. That's my answer to this thread's title.

This doesn't make sense to me. Why did we have to wait after three seasons for Sisko to achieve the rank of captain and not the other live action leads (aside from Burnham)? And the idea that it was only right for him to be a commander, because he was in command of a space station instead of a starship doesn't make sense to me either. Especially since being in command of an important place like DS9 strikes me as having a wider range of responsibilities.

 

[Farscape One]

There's precedent for a starbase to have a Commander as the commanding officer instead of a captain.

"11001001" - Commander Orfil Quinteros
"Starship Mine" - Commander Calvin Hutchinson

And DS9 wasn't an important post until the wormhole was discovered. Before that, Sisko's orders were simply to help Bajor, short of violating the Prime Directive, be ready for Federation membership.

And even after the wormhole was discovered, exploring the Gamma Quadrant wasn't Sisko's primary orders. (At least, it was never said.) He did have Dax go on a few missions, but those seemed to be more charting the region past the wormhole for other ships more suited for exploration, like in "MELORA" and "PLAYING GOD".

The Dominion wasn't even a threat until the season 2 finale, so Sisko's primary responsibilities were no different than any other starbase commander's, like Quinteros and Hutchinson. Once the Dominion threat was more established by the end of season 3, and given Sisko had more dealings with them than anyone else up to that point, he was promoted.

(Also, Admiral Toddman said to him at the end of "THE DIE IS CAST" that if he pulled another stunt like that again he'd 'court martial or promote' him. Given his smile at the end of that conversation, Toddman was probably alreadly going to see that Sisko got the promotion.)

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Especially since being in command of an important place like DS9 strikes me as having a wider range of responsibilities.

It wasn't really intended to be an "importance place" though.

It wasn't until Dominion and Klingon tensions started rising that that was the case, and he was promoted fairly soon after.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I’d think the Wormhole would kick up the station’s importance and before that Bajor’s position as a potential Federation member and proximity to Cardassia.
When my dad was in the USAF the bases we lived on were commanded by a colonel or higher. That included bases in Japan.

 

[Oddish]

I’d think the Wormhole would kick up the station’s importance and before that Bajor’s position as a potential Federation member and proximity to Cardassia.

I think that's about the size of it. Though really, once O'Brien got the station to put on its walkin' shoes and amble over to the wormhole, that's where DS9 went from backwater to major hub. So arguably, Sisko's rank boost should have occurred sooner.

Plus, if he was knocked up to captain early on, they could bump him to Commodore or something around S6, when he was ordering whole fleets around.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Drawing direct comparisons from real life poses some problems. The US never had an empire at a time that required numerous ports to operate around the world. Currently, nuclear vessels can function independently for long periods of time, and bombers can take off from Missouri to attack any part of the world. Every base currently is one of few, but are either absolutely critical or else serve the purpose of maintaining presence and diplomacy. Moreover, the US works cooperatively with other governments. The UFP is the only force covering the Federation. Bases seem to be more critical to the security infrastructure. A lower officer might make more sense. By comparison, the military governor of South West Africa, which included Walvis Bay, a key port for Germany's navy in the 19th and 20th centuries, was Theodor Leutwein, who was appointed when he was first a major, rising to Colonel before he was dismissed.

The fetishizing of the captain as CO is really the heart of the problem. Picard should have been a captain for the Enterprise, and Riker should also have been. Kirk and Janeway could have been commanders. After DS9 was taken over, Sisko should have been reassigned to a Galaxy or Nebula class, and the Defiant turned over to a Lieutenant. Dax was over qualified as CO for the Defiant, and should have gone to something more like the Excelsior refit, like thr Crazy Horse.

 

[at Quark's]

I think that's about the size of it. Though really, once O'Brien got the station to put on its walkin' shoes and amble over to the wormhole, that's where DS9 went from backwater to major hub. So arguably, Sisko's rank boost should have occurred sooner.

Plus, if he was knocked up to captain early on, they could bump him to Commodore or something around S6, when he was ordering whole fleets around.

In-universe, that early in his assignment (only having been there for a few days at most), wouldn't it have been more logical for Starfleet (seeing that the station had suddenly gained in importance immensely) to simply 'fly in' a much more experienced Captain to take over, rather than prematurely promoting Sisko? (As far as I know, Sisko had been a commander for 3 years at the very most, but could also have just received his promotion to commander with this assignment).