Spock as Science Officer and First Officer

[CuttingEdge100]

Doesn't that sound like quite odd that you'd have one guy doing two jobs? Especially when you consider that the Executive Officer/First Officer's job is really demanding (on real ships at least), and Spock seems to always be at the Science Console (not like he's the F/O and the Science Head, who occasionally is working the science console, and a Junior officer or two is/are doing the job predominantly)...

At least in Phase II, the Enterprise had a dedicated F/O or X/O (CDR Willard Decker), and a dedicated science-officer (Xon) though it never aired. Star Trek TNG though also had a dedicated F/O.


CuttingEdge100

 

[trekkerguy]

I think that's the point. It was a different era and a different system.
This question may be why it changed in TNG.
For the TOS movies though this was already the established way so they probably didn't feel the need to change it.

 

[ria 75]

Maybe Spock can pull it because not only is he brilliant, but Vulcans sleep less than Humans. He can get some work done.

 

[BillJ]

I actually like the idea of the First Officer pulling double duty. The next step is a captaincy, you have to show you can handle many responsibilities at one time.

Also, in The Motion Picture after the death of Sonak, Kirk told Decker he would have to double as science officer. Decker didn't flinch, so I doubt the arrangement is unusual in the 23rd century.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

And it was also done in the 22nd century...

 

[Forbin]

Spock had it easy compared to Worf!

Head of the Security department; tactical officer working sensors at all times and weapons during combat; communications officer; default away-team bodyguard... and he never gets to sit down!

 

[Colonel Midnight]

I actually like the idea of the First Officer pulling double duty. The next step is a captaincy, you have to show you can handle many responsibilities at one time.

Also, in The Motion Picture after the death of Sonak, Kirk told Decker he would have to double as science officer. Decker didn't flinch, so I doubt the arrangement is unusual in the 23rd century.

Hopefully, by the time you get to be XO, you've got the "handling many responsibilities" part down to a, errr, science. (*bad pun*)

Heck, if anything the XO's job is MORE difficult than being the CO.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It was probably for dramatic license, so we - the viewers - would be able to see the XO actually doing something, rather than just standing around.

 

[JNG]

Maybe Spock can pull it because not only is he brilliant, but Vulcans sleep less than Humans. He can get some work done.

I agree. I don't think it was a different system; I think Mr. Spock just shouldered an exceptional responsibility.

 

[Timo]

One might argue that Spock pulled double duty because the ship was unexpectedly short of personnel.

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Spock wears command gold, the only person besides Kirk to do so. There is no indication there that he would be a/the Science Officer in that pilot episode, and every indication that he might be the First Officer (although there are some contenders for that title, to be sure). However, at the end of the episode, several high-ranking officers are dead - and when the next episode ("Corbomite Maneuver" in production order, "Mudd's Women" in stardate order) rolls, several of the players have been reassigned, with e.g. Sulu moving from Sciences to Helm. More shifts come after these episodes, too, before things stabilize.

Now granted that Kirk's ship got a thorough overhaul after "Where No Man", with many interiors redone, and possibly some exteriors also tweaked (although that's a bit arguable). But while a frontier starbase may have been able to do that refurbishing, the frontier might not have had another qualified top officer on offer, so Kirk had to get his new Science Officer from his own ranks. And Spock would be qualified for that, as we'd already guess from seeing him do Sciences in "The Cage".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Wormhole]

XO pulling double duty seemed to be the way things were always intended in TOS. After all, in The Cage, Number One was also the navigator.

 

[Sector 7]

Spock was an exceptional officer who could do many things, but I don't think he was an exception as far as holding multiple jobs. I agree that TOS established that the XO had a functional bridge duty as well.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

XO pulling double duty seemed to be the way things were always intended in TOS. After all, in The Cage, Number One was also the navigator.

There's nothing really in "The Cage" that indicates that where Number One sat and what she did was related to the helm, even though the station she occupied was later associated with the helm from WNMHB on. All the navigation and helm duties seemed to be handled solely by Lieutenant Jose Tyler.

 

[trekkerguy]

After the TOS era DS9 is the only instance I've seen this and only with the stations crew. Every other ship I've seen in the Federation beyond that has had the XO as seperate from any other assigned position. So I still believe it's mainly a change in the system.

 

[bintak]

Pure speculation on my pART, in ToS GR had military experience enough draw upon to understand how a man of war functioned asnd a writers stable that did the same..

In the Berman era, there was no-one writing with a jot of military experience to know how a warship functions. ST/TNG was the warning bell for this to me. You don't have a divided captaincy, ever.

Spock can do science on his head as a specialty. XO is his command position. Not to difficult to reconcile since a science officer has to coillate information and offer advice. The XO burden is mostly administrative and procedural to keep the ship running. That, too, requires information collation and advising the captain. The science just is a little extra thrown in.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Pure speculation on my pART, in ToS GR had military experience enough draw upon to understand how a man of war functioned asnd a writers stable that did the same..

In the Berman era, there was no-one writing with a jot of military experience to know how a warship functions. ST/TNG was the warning bell for this to me. You don't have a divided captaincy, ever.

Yet that was Roddenberry's idea. Of course, Justman was there as well - GR's contemporary, and he'd also worked on TOS.

Roddenberry did not consider the TNG Enterprise to be a warship in any way - he was explicit about that in the writer's guide - and in fact, the first season writer's guide had the crew structure diverge from the familiar Naval version of TOS in other specific ways (for example, many of the regulars were to have civilian jobs aboard ship in addition to their crew duties. Geordi would have been a teacher).

 

[CuttingEdge100]

Colonel Midnight,

That's exactly my point, the XO's job is WAAAAY harder than the CO...


CuttingEdge

 

[Mysterion]

Colonel Midnight,

That's exactly my point, the XO's job is WAAAAY harder than the CO...


CuttingEdge

Agreed.

The CO only has to decide what to do. The XO has gotta make sure it gets done.

Maybe Spock was talented/motivated enough to XO the ship and head a (presumably) large department on the Enterprise, but I suspect that it's not typical in the fleet. Maybe in vessels with smaller crews, but not in cruisers and bigger, especially.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

^ Indeed. As the CO of my one ship used to say often:

'My job is easy -- all I have to do is show up, shake hands with someone, and sign my name.'

Whereas my friend, who was the XO at the time, used to greet newbies on board with:

'You will find I have a positive work attitude. At some time within the next 2 years, I'm POSITIVE you will screw up and be standing in front of me.'

(The sad part was just how often that was true...)

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[bintak]

Pure speculation on my pART, in ToS GR had military experience enough draw upon to understand how a man of war functioned asnd a writers stable that did the same..

In the Berman era, there was no-one writing with a jot of military experience to know how a warship functions. ST/TNG was the warning bell for this to me. You don't have a divided captaincy, ever.

Yet that was Roddenberry's idea. Of course, Justman was there as well - GR's contemporary, and he'd also worked on TOS.

Roddenberry did not consider the TNG Enterprise to be a warship in any way - he was explicit about that in the writer's guide - and in fact, the first season writer's guide had the crew structure diverge from the familiar Naval version of TOS in other specific ways (for example, many of the regulars were to have civilian jobs aboard ship in addition to their crew duties. Geordi would have been a teacher).

Ocean liners and freighters, even oceanagraphic science ships, have only one commanding officer, the Captain. ST/TNG was the only Trek series to ignore this setup and present us a captaincy by committee with its resultant in-built character and story confusion. Most of what I disliked about the series starts from that major defect in premise and continues downhill from it.