A Starbase NCO in "Court Martial"?

[Wingsley]

If you look at this image from the TOS ep "Court Martial" and observe the non-speaking actor standing before the court bench, and if you observe his behavior during the court scenes, it would seem that this non-speaking character is yet another depiction of non-commissioned officer in TOS.

Observe his uniform: it is not as glittery or as finely detailed as the dress uniforms of any of the officers (including Lt. Shaw, as well as Spock and McCoy). Could this be TOS' way of showing us what a non-comm's dress uniform would look like? From what I've seen of the U.S. Navy, petty officers, especially chiefs, have dress whites that have a look to them in-between that of lesser sailors and the "chokers" of commissioned officers.


This man appears to be functioning as a clerk of the court, no? And he operates the courtroom's master computer console, which suggests he has a technical job. Again, this would be consistent with a naval petty officer.

(One thing conspicuously absent from the trial scenes are any signs of a bailiff.)

 

[JNG]

I'll buy it, sure. I don't really think there is any convincing way to say that he is an NCO and not just an enlisted man, though.

 

[DRMidnite]

I'll go with you on this one.

 

[Starscape]

If you look as this image it appears his uniform is made of same material as Commodore Stone's and has the same gold piping as McCoy's dress uniform (here)

If the amount of gold-piping indicates rank (as it appears to in this ep) then that would make this officer the same rank as McCoy.

But it's difficult to make sense of dress uniforms: Ensigns don't appear to wear them, Commodore Mendez's uniform has less gold-piping than Commodore Stone's, and Areel Shaw's is the only one we've seen with rank stripes.

 

[Wingsley]

It could be that chiefs have roughly the same gold piping as some junior officers. (Although there is contradictory evidence that Spock and McCoy are the same rank of LCDR).

Just in case anyone is interested, FWIW: here are the Pentagon's tables for rank and insignia for enlisted and commissioned personnel in the U.S. armed services.

 

[Unicron]

This seems more suited perhaps to TOS, so I'm moving it there.

 

[Neopeius]

If you look as this image it appears his uniform is made of same material as Commodore Stone's and has the same gold piping as McCoy's dress uniform (here)

That settles it for me. Does he have any rank insignia?

 

[Outpost4]

Good call, Humbugsley. I'll agree.

 

[Chaos Descending]

From what I've seen of the U.S. Navy, petty officers, especially chiefs, have dress whites that have a look to them in-between that of lesser sailors and the "chokers" of commissioned officers.

Chiefs traditionally have worn the same uniforms as officers. They do NOT wear the same uniforms as the "lesser sailors" and petty officers.

 

[cooleddie74]

I could see this guy being an NCO. Or at the least an enlisted guy. We know from deleted footage in STAR TREK VI that Starfleet has ground troops and officers with the rank of colonel, so it's not out of the realm that this guy at Starbase 11 is the equivalent of a private or sergeant.

 

[J.T.B.]

Observe his uniform: it is not as glittery or as finely detailed as the dress uniforms of any of the officers (including Lt. Shaw, as well as Spock and McCoy). Could this be TOS' way of showing us what a non-comm's dress uniform would look like?

That uniform is essentially the same as Scotty's dress jacket, except it has a Starbase daisy badge instead of decorations. Seeing as there is no conventional rank insignia on the dress jackets, I would think it most likely that the amount of trim indicates LCdr rank.

It is pretty well established that TOS uniforms don't differentiate between enlisted personnel of any grade and ensigns, so it's questionable whether the dress uniforms would be any different.

From what I've seen of the U.S. Navy, petty officers, especially chiefs, have dress whites that have a look to them in-between that of lesser sailors and the "chokers" of commissioned officers.

Chief petty officers (E-7, E-8, E-9) in the US Navy wear uniforms basically identical to commissioned officers except for the insignia. Historically, this applied only to everyday wear, with officers having much more elaborate dress uniforms, but since WW2 they have been pretty much the same. Only officers wear a sword and sword knot for full dress, though.

But it's difficult to make sense of dress uniforms: Ensigns don't appear to wear them, Commodore Mendez's uniform has less gold-piping than Commodore Stone's, and Areel Shaw's is the only one we've seen with rank stripes.

Agreed. At the formal dinner in "Space Seed," Uhura, McGivers and Leslie wear standard uniforms, so it might be that dress uniforms are optional for officers below a certain rank, as is the case with evening/mess jacket uniforms in many services today.

As for rank, it is possible that the males' jackets use the amount and location of gold trim rather than a system of rank insignia. Here is a quick sketch of how such a system might work out.

Female officers uniform, having such a different style without the standing collar and front flap, may necessitate using the standard rank stripes? But that's not a very satisfactory explanation to me.

--Justin

 

[Neopeius]

It is pretty well established that TOS uniforms don't differentiate between enlisted personnel of any grade and ensigns, so it's questionable whether the dress uniforms would be any different.

It's pretty well established that TOS doesn't *have* enlisted personnel of any grade.

As for rank, it is possible that the males' jackets use the amount and location of gold trim rather than a system of rank insignia. Here is a quick sketch of how such a system might work out.

That's pretty cool.

 

[Wingsley]

The problem with all of this is that is you look at the McCoy-on-the-witness-stand image that Starscape/Snowscape linked to, McCoy's and Spock's uniforms are visibly different. Yet both are identified as having the same rank.

It's all very contradictory and confusing, so there's very limited rhyme or reason to it.

Are we concluding that it is impossible for the court clerk to be enlisted?

 

[Wingsley]

It's pretty well established that TOS doesn't *have* enlisted personnel of any grade.

There are occasional references to chiefs and yeomen sprinkled throughout TOS, but it is never made abundantly clear. To say there categorically weren't any is inaccurate.

 

[Neopeius]

It's pretty well established that TOS doesn't *have* enlisted personnel of any grade.

There are occasional references to chiefs and yeomen sprinkled throughout TOS, but it is never made abundantly clear. To say there categorically weren't any is inaccurate.

That's true. I was trying to be cute. I usually fail

But while there are many yeomen, it is not said if that is their rank or their job. As for chiefs... do we have any examples?

 

[J.T.B.]

That's pretty cool.

Thanks!

The problem with all of this is that is you look at the McCoy-on-the-witness-stand image that Starscape/Snowscape linked to, McCoy's and Spock's uniforms are visibly different. Yet both are identified as having the same rank.

It's all very contradictory and confusing, so there's very limited rhyme or reason to it.

Indeed. But, in ordinary uniform Spock wears the insignia later established firmly as commander's, despite what the dialogue says, so I'd say it's likely that his dress uniform reflects Cdr rank rather than LCdr. That's "just one of those things."

Are we concluding that it is impossible for the court clerk to be enlisted?

As loosely as they played rank and uniforms in TOS, I'd say nothing is impossible. But I think he's more likely an officer. He might be a JAG officer serving as legal advisor to the court, since they are not lawyers themselves, a common arrangement in some systems of courts martial.

But while there are many yeomen, it is not said if that is their rank or their job. As for chiefs... do we have any examples?

There's "Chief Humboldt" in "The Menagerie," but, though my inclination is that this means CPO, it is possible that it comes from his job title. Chief DiFalco in TMP is more likely a CPO, as "chief" hasn't normally been associated with the navigator position. In "Charlie X" a character is introduced as "Yeoman 3rd Class Tina Lawton." In "Space Seed," commendations are logged for "Technicians 1st Class" so-and-so. With "ensign" and other officer ranks so readily used with people's names, I have to conclude that these are enlisted rate titles, and they would fit into a USN-style 3rd Class-2nd Class-1st Class-Chief Petty Officer system, but there's not much to go on.

--Justin

 

[Wingsley]

A yeoman is a clerical petty officer. In TOS, Yeoman Rand seemed to be managing Kirk's log entries ("Balance of Terror") and also acting as the captain's personal assistant.

I do not have a comprehensive list of references to chiefs, although, off the top of my head, I know there was a definite mention in "The Cage" and in "Mirror, Mirror". I also know that Watkins was given a rating of Engineer, Grade 4 in "That Which Survives".

 

[Neopeius]

A yeoman is a clerical petty officer. In TOS, Yeoman Rand seemed to be managing Kirk's log entries ("Balance of Terror") and also acting as the captain's personal assistant.

They are petty officers today. Doesn't mean they are in the future.

I do not have a comprehensive list of references to chiefs, although, off the top of my head, I know there was a definite mention in "The Cage" and in "Mirror, Mirror". I also know that Watkins was given a rating of Engineer, Grade 4 in "That Which Survives".

Watkins is a good call... Raises more questions than it answers, but it is interesting.

 

[warriorsfan]

A yeoman is a clerical petty officer. In TOS, Yeoman Rand seemed to be managing Kirk's log entries ("Balance of Terror") and also acting as the captain's personal assistant.

They are petty officers today. Doesn't mean they are in the future.

In Voyager's "Flashback" episode, Janice Rand tells Ensign Tuvok that it took her "three years to make Ensign." So clearly she started out in the enlisted ranks (as depicted in TOS) and was eventually commissioned later on.

 

[Starscape]

But it's difficult to make sense of dress uniforms: Ensigns don't appear to wear them, Commodore Mendez's uniform has less gold-piping than Commodore Stone's, and Areel Shaw's is the only one we've seen with rank stripes.

Agreed. At the formal dinner in "Space Seed," Uhura, McGivers and Leslie wear standard uniforms, so it might be that dress uniforms are optional for officers below a certain rank, as is the case with evening/mess jacket uniforms in many services today.

As for rank, it is possible that the males' jackets use the amount and location of gold trim rather than a system of rank insignia. Here is a quick sketch of how such a system might work out.

Female officers uniform, having such a different style without the standing collar and front flap, may necessitate using the standard rank stripes? But that's not a very satisfactory explanation to me.

--Justin

Nice uniform system there.

At one time I was determined to flesh out the TOS uniform system, but it came to a halt whilst I tried to sort out the dress uniforms based on on-screen evidence. My first attempt was to sort the uniforms by rank, but what I found that fit the evidence better (though not perfectly) was to sort them by position, so that only department heads and above were required to wear dress uniform:

In this scheme
Scotty, McCoy - Department Head dress-uniform
Spock - Executive Officer dress-uniform
Kirk - Commanding Officer dress-uniform

Commodore Stone, wears CO dress uniform with extra gold trim because he holds a rank above captain.
(If we assume Commodore Mendez is Stone's XO we could say he's wearing an XO uniform with extra trim to denote his higher rank, but maybe that's pushing it a bit).

An addition to this scheme (which just came to me) would be as department heads and XO's are usually Lt. Cmdr's and CO's are captains then they wouldn't be required to wear rank braids unless they held that position at a lower rank.
This would explain Areel Shaw's Lieutenants braid - head of the JAG depmartment but only a Lt in rank.

However, how the court crewman/officer fits in is a mystery. Maybe he's head of the Commodore's personnel staff?