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Wasn't trip a little young to be a commander?

Infern0

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
and in the wrong line of work? I mean Scotty took ages to become commander, La forge? Did he ever get to that rank? What about O'Brian, he was an NCO.
 
Trip was in his mid-to-late 30s, so no, not really.

Seriously? I thought he was late 20's, He cant be in his late 30's i.e nearly 40. but still for an engineer to reach that rank it is early. I mean it is a high rank and engineers are not part of the command structure usually. I just thought that he and Reed should have been the same rank, since Reed was obviously older and as Tactical officer would have displayed more heroics, during his time in starfleet.
 
Trip was born in 2121, so he was either thirty at the time of "Broken Bow," or he was close to turning thirty. Will Riker was also 29 when he became XO of the Enterprise-D.
 
I'm pretty sure Trip was supposed to be the same age Connor was... which was about 31. In "First Flight," Archer promised Trip that when he got command of a starship, he'd pick Trip to serve as chief engineer. Apparently he also was allowed to pick his first officer and named his friend of the previous 8 years to take that role as well (until the job was inexplicably handed off to T'Pol.)
 
Trip was in his mid-to-late 30s, so no, not really.

Seriously? I thought he was late 20's, He cant be in his late 30's i.e nearly 40. but still for an engineer to reach that rank it is early. I mean it is a high rank and engineers are not part of the command structure usually. I just thought that he and Reed should have been the same rank, since Reed was obviously older and as Tactical officer would have displayed more heroics, during his time in starfleet.
I'm not sure if heroics are the only basis for promotion in Starfleet.
 
Trip was in his mid-to-late 30s, so no, not really.

Seriously? I thought he was late 20's, He cant be in his late 30's i.e nearly 40. but still for an engineer to reach that rank it is early. I mean it is a high rank and engineers are not part of the command structure usually. I just thought that he and Reed should have been the same rank, since Reed was obviously older and as Tactical officer would have displayed more heroics, during his time in starfleet.
I'm not sure if heroics are the only basis for promotion in Starfleet.

I know, but like I say look at Scotty, Best engineer starfleet has ever seen, working on high profile missions, saving the enterprise so many times and he was still a Leiutenant, but Trip hadn't even started the high point in his
job and was a commander.
 
Engineers tend to get the shaft when it comes to promotion, despite anything you see on TV. When I was still a cadet in AFROTC they told me I would never get above O-5.
 
Engineers tend to get the shaft when it comes to promotion, despite anything you see on TV. When I was still a cadet in AFROTC they told me I would never get above O-5.

That's what I am saying. Engineers don't need to be high rank really, LT commander at the absoloute highest I would say.
 
I'm guessing his involvement with the warp 5 program may have had something to do with it.

Ok, it just bothered me when he pulled rank on Reed, I was like, I know who I would rather have in command and it's not you trip.
 
Trip was also going to be the XO, so he probably had command training and was no doubt 2nd officer.
 
I think it became harder to rise in rank after they actually went into space. Before that, Trip's experience was more in the lab ... kinda like Archer's.

TOS and TNG had better quality officers, I think, due to ENT and the characters' mistakes and successes ... which seems kinda like the point of the show.
 
Plus, this is EARLY Starfleet in its first couple of decades or so of existence. You have far, far fewer men and women in uniform and---with the exception of T'Pol---all humans from Earth. A much tinier pool of talent to promote senior officers from. So you'd be bound to get full commanders or even captains at relatively young ages simply because you don't have many old-timers to pick from.
 
That's what I am saying. Engineers don't need to be high rank really, LT commander at the absoloute highest I would say.
There's one common theory that the rank of "Lt Commander" didn't exist in Earth Starfleet in the 2150s. So one would just go from straight from 'Lieutenant' to 'Commander', as we never see a Lt Commander in any episode of ENT
That's just a fan theory/idea anyway
 
I'm guessing his involvement with the warp 5 program may have had something to do with it.

Ok, it just bothered me when he pulled rank on Reed, I was like, I know who I would rather have in command and it's not you trip.
Reed was a hothead most of the time and wasn't fit for command until at least the third season, perhaps the fourth.

There is something I've noticed in the Trek Universe, though and that is that is that young people mature a lot quicker than they do in the 21st century and enter into SFA a whole lot earlier than kids enter college today.

-Shawn :borg:
 
I'm guessing his involvement with the warp 5 program may have had something to do with it.

Ok, it just bothered me when he pulled rank on Reed, I was like, I know who I would rather have in command and it's not you trip.
Reed was a hothead most of the time and wasn't fit for command until at least the third season, perhaps the fourth.

There is something I've noticed in the Trek Universe, though and that is that is that young people mature a lot quicker than they do in the 21st century and enter into SFA a whole lot earlier than kids enter college today.

-Shawn :borg:

I disagree, he may have been quick to anger on occasion, but he was a good leader of his security teams, had good tactical knowledge and was well respected, all Trip really knew about was engines.
 
I disagree, he may have been quick to anger on occasion, but he was a good leader of his security teams, had good tactical knowledge and was well respected, all Trip really knew about was engines.

Much as I love Trip he ended up a bit too much of a Renaissance man. Engines, Command, Spy, humanist meddler.. all the while scoffing his pecan pie.
 
Being a good leader of a tactical team doesn't mean he had the temperment to be a starship captain and Reed clearly showed a tendency to fly off the handle at a moment's notice.

Don't get me wrong, I think Archer suffered from this problem too and I wouldn't have made him a captain either, but somebosy did so what are you going to do? You're certainly not going to make the same mistake twice by giving a command to Reed.

Trip was pretty level headed... like a scientist.

OTOH I think by the end of Season 4 after the death of Hayes, Reed would have been well on his way to being prepared for a command of his own. But eriously, he was a whiny, paranoid, jealous bitch with ashrot fuse through the first 3/4 of season 4.

-Shawn :borg:
 
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