Does anybody know what specialty James T. Kirk studied at Starfleet Academy that led him to command? Spock studted science, McCoy studied medicine, just to give a couple of examples.
Thank you,
James
Thank you,
James
Cadet James T. Kirk
- Thread starter James Wright
- Start date
It was Midshipman, not Cadet.
In the old days it was generally accepted that Kirk started in Security, but transferred to Navigation in his second year. That seemed to explain his HTH Combat, Marksmanship and small unit tactical skill while also taking into account that he had served as a navigator (as implied in The Corbomite Manuever).
In the old days it was generally accepted that Kirk started in Security, but transferred to Navigation in his second year. That seemed to explain his HTH Combat, Marksmanship and small unit tactical skill while also taking into account that he had served as a navigator (as implied in The Corbomite Manuever).
"Cadet" is what you call officer candidates in the "ground forces". "Midshipman" is an officer candidate in a "naval type service".
In Star Trek, however, the two terms are essentially interchangeable; at various times Kirk referred to himself as either midshipman or cadet, when speaking of his time at Starfleet Academy.
Edit:
Heh, waited a little too long to hit 'Submit' and Myk got in ahead of me.
You mean here maintained ship's weapons when he was posted to the Farragut, like Worf did on the Enterprise-D, right!?
James
James
More like what Sulu and Chekov did aboard the Enterprise (No A, B,C or bloody D)You mean here maintained ship's weapons when he was posted to the Farragut, like Worf did on the Enterprise-D, right!?
James
Xeno-biological relations
Although midshipman certainly seems more apropos of a naval-type service, cadet is a more generic, easily understood phrase, so I can see why they'd use it more often. As I recall, Kirk did say Starfleet was a "combined service," so while we've seen most of the characters have naval ranks, there are probably other branches of Starfleet where you'd find folks with army/marine/air force ranks like major and colonel.
Apparently both exist in the TOS period: Capt. Pike was said to be inspecting a "cadet vessel" when he was injured, and Kirk said that he had read about Captain Garth while a "cadet at the academy." Yet Kirk also said that he met Ben Finney while a midshipman.
Historically, the British Royal Navy used "cadet" to refer to student-officers at the naval academy/college, while midshipman was more of a probationary junior officer who got more on-the-job training while actually serving in the fleet. We might speculate that Starfleet has a similar arrangement. Or perhaps "midshipman" is just a title for upperclassmen at the academy.
--Justin
A quick glance at wikipedia suggests a way "midshipman" might be used by Starfleet that is distinct from "cadet": a midshipman is a cadet on a ship.
In the early days of sail the way to become an officer was like any other profession: you apprenticed. Apprentice officers were midshipmen, and after 3 years they could try to take the tests to become a Lieutenant.
A few hundred years ago, both the Royal Navy and the US Navy started sending officer candidates to a Naval College, followed by 2 years apprenticeship at sea. And the term "midshipman" continued to be applied to these students during their whole training. By the mid-20th century, the time spent at sea was reduced to less than a year, but the term still held.
Anyway, I'm suggesting that a cadet at the Academy is called a Cadet, but a Cadet assigned to a ship for some training is a Midshipman. And if that is true, then Kirk met Finney while training aboard a ship.
Edit: I guess the Roayl Navy beat me to it. I knew it was a good idea.
In the early days of sail the way to become an officer was like any other profession: you apprenticed. Apprentice officers were midshipmen, and after 3 years they could try to take the tests to become a Lieutenant.
A few hundred years ago, both the Royal Navy and the US Navy started sending officer candidates to a Naval College, followed by 2 years apprenticeship at sea. And the term "midshipman" continued to be applied to these students during their whole training. By the mid-20th century, the time spent at sea was reduced to less than a year, but the term still held.
Anyway, I'm suggesting that a cadet at the Academy is called a Cadet, but a Cadet assigned to a ship for some training is a Midshipman. And if that is true, then Kirk met Finney while training aboard a ship.
Edit: I guess the Roayl Navy beat me to it. I knew it was a good idea.
A quick glance at wikipedia suggests a way "midshipman" might be used by Starfleet that is distinct from "cadet": a midshipman is a cadet on a ship.
In the early days of sail the way to become an officer was like any other profession: you apprenticed. Apprentice officers were midshipmen, and after 3 years they could try to take the tests to become a Lieutenant.
A few hundred years ago, both the Royal Navy and the US Navy started sending officer candidates to a Naval College, followed by 2 years apprenticeship at sea. And the term "midshipman" continued to be applied to these students during their whole training. By the mid-20th century, the time spent at sea was reduced to less than a year, but the term still held.
Anyway, I'm suggesting that a cadet at the Academy is called a Cadet, but a Cadet assigned to a ship for some training is a Midshipman. And if that is true, then Kirk met Finney while training aboard a ship.
Edit: I guess the Roayl Navy beat me to it. I knew it was a good idea.
Makes sense to me, esp. the last part about Kirk meeting Finney while on board a starship. After all, it was Kirk noticing and correcting a mistake Finney made ("Except for Finney, and his one mistake!") that apparently stalled Finney's career.
A regular Sherlock Holmes.
The Novel Republic has the second year cadet Kirk promoted to Lt. and teaching history IIRC.
Similar threads
