Why was Picard given the Enterprise?

[Tomalak]

Yeah, in "The Measure Of A Man" Captain Phillipa Louvois who serves as the JAG officer prosecuted Picard for the loss of the Stargazer said point blank that the court martial was standard procedure. It was only the relentless nature of her prosecution that Picard took issue with.

Exactly, he resented the fact she didn't just jump through the hoops, but seemed to enjoy making his life a misery. This suggests he felt he had done nothing wrong, and everyone knew that. Even her findings totally exonerated him.

The big mystery is why neither Picard nor Riker got the bullet for their gross negligence in Generations!

 

[Satyrquaze]

^ Well, in fairness... Troi was driving.

Maybe she'll never Captain a starship.

 

[indolover]

Losing the Stargazer was not his fault, how could it have been? Was losing the Enterprise-D his fault as well? Even though Riker was in command and he was on the planet with Soran?

I think Picard had gained a name for himself as CO of the Stargazer, and Starfleet Command thought he was suitable enough to command the flagship.

 

[indolover]

I wouldn't be surprised if Edward Jellicoe had been on that short list too though, and may even had been secretly a frontrunner at one point before the Admiralty made their final decision...

Jellico was clearly a mental case. He was stuck commanding an old ship because Starfleet knew he was one bad night away from a Ben Maxwell incident. Nechayev gave him the Enterprise because she knew he'd put the shits up the Cardassians whilst Picard did his thing. Jellico was as surprised as anyone to find himself on the Enterprise, and couldn't believe his luck.

Or Riker and co. weren't professional enough to adapt, or realise that all commanders have unique management/command styles.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I wouldn't be surprised if Edward Jellicoe had been on that short list too though, and may even had been secretly a frontrunner at one point before the Admiralty made their final decision...

Jellico was clearly a mental case. He was stuck commanding an old ship because Starfleet knew he was one bad night away from a Ben Maxwell incident. Nechayev gave him the Enterprise because she knew he'd put the shits up the Cardassians whilst Picard did his thing. Jellico was as surprised as anyone to find himself on the Enterprise, and couldn't believe his luck.

Or Riker and co. weren't professional enough to adapt, or realise that all commanders have unique management/command styles.

And if that style means being a willfully obtuse asshole, you'll get the expected reaction.
A starship isn't boot camp. Jellico is the type that would be better suited to teaching at the Academy.
I still have to give him props for getting Troi into uniform though.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Picard's crew had become spoiled and self-indulgent under his command. People don't like Jellico because he wasn't having none of that.

 

[Timo]

It's simply standard protocol. Even in a murder case where you killed someone in self defense, you're still going to go to trial and you are probably still going to be convicted of manslaughter.

Which is because you are suspected of wrongdoing. And that's the point: Starfleet had a standard protocol for dealing with captains suspected of wrongdoing, and Picard was one of them. A skipper who loses his vessel has failed Starfleet, and is guilty until proven innocent, as per standard procedure. So we know Picard screwed up big time.

In addition, we know Starfleet found him not guilty of anything that'd warrant a punishment we'd have heard of, and then gave him the E-D. But unless the Federation and Starfleet are generally unpleasant organizations, Picard was dragged to the court because of wrongdoing, not just because it's standard procedure to go and prosecute random loyal citizens.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

It's simply standard protocol. Even in a murder case where you killed someone in self defense, you're still going to go to trial and you are probably still going to be convicted of manslaughter.

Which is because you are suspected of wrongdoing. And that's the point: Starfleet had a standard protocol for dealing with captains suspected of wrongdoing, and Picard was one of them. A skipper who loses his vessel has failed Starfleet, and is guilty until proven innocent, as per standard procedure. So we know Picard screwed up big time.

In addition, we know Starfleet found him not guilty of anything that'd warrant a punishment we'd have heard of, and then gave him the E-D. But unless the Federation and Starfleet are generally unpleasant organizations, Picard was dragged to the court because of wrongdoing, not just because it's standard procedure to go and prosecute random loyal citizens.

Timo Saloniemi

The Star Trek Encyclopedia does stay it is standard Star Fleet procedure to court-martial a captain who has lost a ship though.

 

[Lighthammer]

Picard's crew had become spoiled and self-indulgent under his command. People don't like Jellico because he wasn't having none of that.

Anyone who has worked in their life should realize that some of the stuff Jellico was doing was really bat crazy.

Changing from a 3 shift to a 4 shift without completely re-evaluating your staff? Thats completely insane. If you work at a job retail or otherwise, you should know 3 shift is very, very, very standard.

Then completely disregarding the specialized education of engineering members and transferring them to security where they may only have an extension course worth of knowledge for? Would you really want to have an advanced degree and be told "Go on guard duty!" ?

Most of the changes this guy did were ludicrous, pure and simple!

It's simply standard protocol. Even in a murder case where you killed someone in self defense, you're still going to go to trial and you are probably still going to be convicted of manslaughter.

Which is because you are suspected of wrongdoing. And that's the point: Starfleet had a standard protocol for dealing with captains suspected of wrongdoing, and Picard was one of them. A skipper who loses his vessel has failed Starfleet, and is guilty until proven innocent, as per standard procedure. So we know Picard screwed up big time.

Timo Saloniemi

You might be well advised to go back and re-read the comparison I made with the death penalty. It, errr, might be good for you know your civic rights before blasting a fictional character for an adjacent issue.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Picard's crew had become spoiled and self-indulgent under his command. People don't like Jellico because he wasn't having none of that.

Anyone who has worked in their life should realize that some of the stuff Jellico was doing was really bat crazy.

Not really. He's simply someone who expects people to do their job and not give him any lip about it.

Changing from a 3 shift to a 4 shift without completely re-evaluating your staff? Thats completely insane. If you work at a job retail or otherwise, you should know 3 shift is very, very, very standard.

And that's one aspect where the Enterprise crew showed how spoiled they were. In a 24-hour day, a four-shift rotation would reduce the number of hours on duty for everyone from eight to six. They'd actually get more off-duty time. It would only be a problem is if one shift repeated itself during a 24-hour period. Bunch of cry babies.

Then completely disregarding the specialized education of engineering members and transferring them to security where they may only have an extension course worth of knowledge for? Would you really want to have an advanced degree and be told "Go on guard duty!" ?

Cross-training. Comes in handy during an emergency.

Most of the changes this guy did were ludicrous, pure and simple!

Or they would have made more sense in the long run with a crew that was ultimately more flexible and didn't have debates on every single course of action. If Jellico wanted someone's opinion or a lengthy technical explanation, he'd ask for it.

 

[indolover]

Jellico was clearly a mental case. He was stuck commanding an old ship because Starfleet knew he was one bad night away from a Ben Maxwell incident. Nechayev gave him the Enterprise because she knew he'd put the shits up the Cardassians whilst Picard did his thing. Jellico was as surprised as anyone to find himself on the Enterprise, and couldn't believe his luck.

Or Riker and co. weren't professional enough to adapt, or realise that all commanders have unique management/command styles.

And if that style means being a willfully obtuse asshole, you'll get the expected reaction.
A starship isn't boot camp. Jellico is the type that would be better suited to teaching at the Academy.
I still have to give him props for getting Troi into uniform though.

Again, all commanders are different and manage differently.

I hardly see anything wrong in what Jellico did, for the most part. He wasn't as relaxed and amiable as Picard, well people are different. He wanted a 4-shift rotation, well again so what? He was more formal and stuffy compared to Picard, again so what?

What the senior staff should have done is to have met with Jellico and lay down some mutual expectations. If anything, Jellico should have done this at the outset, if he had a failing as the new CO.

 

[BillJ]

He was more formal and stuffy compared to Picard, again so what?

I actually found him less so. Calling those under his command by first name early on and sharing pictures his children had drawn with Troi and decorating his ready Room with them. The audience just knew Picard better.

What the senior staff should have done is to have met with Jellico and lay down some mutual expectations. If anything, Jellico should have done this at the outset, if he had a failing as the new CO.

I'm not sure that I even find this a failing. They were headed for a potential war zone with very little time to prepare, not going to investigate the intelligent fungi of 'Beta Whothehellcares'.

 

[Dukhat]

He had been captain of a long-range ship of exploration for a couple decades (building up a decent reputation

Not quite. The only official information we know about Picard's time in Starfleet between his Stargazer court-martial and his taking command of the Enterprise is that he met Tasha Yar earlier when she was assigned to another ship. At the time it was assumed he was already in command of the Ent-D, but "All Good Things" showed that wasn't the case. So he was at least a member of the crew of another ship that met Tasha's ship prior to "Encounter at Farpoint." He might not necessarily have been its captain; he could have been just an observer or passenger.

 

[BillJ]

He had been captain of a long-range ship of exploration for a couple decades (building up a decent reputation

Not quite. The only official information we know about Picard's time in Starfleet between his Stargazer court-martial and his taking command of the Enterprise is that he met Tasha Yar earlier when she was assigned to another ship. At the time it was assumed he was already in command of the Ent-D, but "All Good Things" showed that wasn't the case. So he was at least a member of the crew of another ship that met Tasha's ship prior to "Encounter at Farpoint." He might not necessarily have been its captain; he could have been just an observer or passenger.

I was under the impression he commanded the Stargazer for two decades prior to the incident at Maxia Zeta?

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/USS_Stargazer

I guess the intent was for Picard to have had another command between the Stargazer and the Enterprise.

 

[Dukhat]

I was under the impression he commanded the Stargazer for two decades prior to the incident at Maxia Zeta?

I was speaking of his Starfleet career post-Stargazer.

I guess the intent was for Picard to have had another command between the Stargazer and the Enterprise.

While that's entirely possible, there's no direct evidence to substantiate it, other than the line about "[Tasha's] ship had responded, as had mine." Picard never mentioned commanding another ship to anyone.

 

[BillJ]

I was under the impression he commanded the Stargazer for two decades prior to the incident at Maxia Zeta?

I was speaking of his Starfleet career post-Stargazer.

I guess the intent was for Picard to have had another command between the Stargazer and the Enterprise.

While that's entirely possible, there's no direct evidence to substantiate it, other than the line about "[Tasha's] ship had responded, as had mine."

I always thought Picard, like Spock, was a pretty precise speaker.

 

[Dukhat]

I always thought Picard, like Spock, was a pretty precise speaker.

What I mean is that there's no evidence that he was in command of the ship, other than calling the ship "mine." Riker or LaForge could easily have called the Enterprise-D "their ship," even though they weren't the commanding officer.

If Picard were that precise, he would have said "the ship I commanded at the time." Although quite frankly I like the idea that he had a post-Stargazer, pre-Enterprise command. It's just that he never says anything about it, while he's always blabbing about the Stargazer.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

He had been captain of a long-range ship of exploration for a couple decades (building up a decent reputation

Not quite. The only official information we know about Picard's time in Starfleet between his Stargazer court-martial and his taking command of the Enterprise is that he met Tasha Yar earlier when she was assigned to another ship. At the time it was assumed he was already in command of the Ent-D, but "All Good Things" showed that wasn't the case. So he was at least a member of the crew of another ship that met Tasha's ship prior to "Encounter at Farpoint." He might not necessarily have been its captain; he could have been just an observer or passenger.

Where is this from I don't remember it?

 

[Timo]

TNG "Legacy". Picard mentions "Yar's ship" and "his own ship" in relation to an incident with a "Carnelian minefield", but this does not mean that Yar would have commanded one ship and Picard the other. Quite possibly, both were lowly members of the respective crews, or even passengers.

I was under the impression he commanded the Stargazer for two decades prior to the incident at Maxia Zeta?

Nope. Canonically, we don't know when Picard became the captain of the Stargazer. Might have been two decades before Maxia Zeta, might have been two years before it.

Some of the background material indicated a 22-year command, but this was never included in the dialogue of any episode or movie.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Dukhat]

TNG "Legacy". Picard mentions "Yar's ship" and "his own ship" in relation to an incident with a "Carnelian minefield", but this does not mean that Yar would have commanded one ship and Picard the other. Quite possibly, both were lowly members of the respective crews, or even passengers.

Yep. Picard's exact quote was "Her ship had responded to their distress call, as had mine. When it was all over, I requested that Tasha be assigned to the Enterprise."

Now at the time of "Legacy's" broadcast, these lines were obviously meant to imply that Picard was already captain of the Enterprise at this point. The first edition of the Star Trek Chronology even confirms this. However, "All Good Things" shows that Yar was already a member of the crew when Picard takes command, which happens right before the Farpoint mission. So now some have retconned Picard's statement in "Legacy" to infer that he was in command of another ship, when he most likely wasn't.