Did Star Trek not know how to deal with Executive Officers?

[sonak]

In three of the five Trek TV series, the first officer has another area of responsibility besides just being the exec. Spock was science officer, Kira was liaison to the Bajorans, and Trip was chief engineer. But when there was an XO who didn't have another duty, like Riker, Chakotay, or even Decker from ST: TMP, they seemed to think that the first officer's role was to be on the bridge at the same time as the captain, acting as some kind of advisor/co-captain, even giving orders in parallel to the commanding officer during battles and such, which is just silly.

They should have had it so that the executive officer takes care of personnel issues, day-to-day stuff, etc. to keep the ship running smoothly for the captain to be free to make command decisions. (they're also too highly ranked to have Riker as regular away team leader, but TOS was even sillier on this point, so oh well) This would push characters like Riker and Chakotay a little more to the background, like the chief engineers in the later series sometimes, who were off in their engine rooms, but at least it would give them a real job other than to be another Counselor Troi, sitting next to the captain and advising him.

 

[C.E. Evans]

It's easy to reconcile it if you think of Starfleet as a futuristic organization that doesn't do everything the same way that today's navies do.

 

[Timo]

It would be easier if the Captain didn't already micromanage the ship, down to and including actually piloting her himself!

The heroes simply have it too easy. Any one of them can play any of the shipboard roles because the ship essentially runs herself, and so they spend a lot of time stepping on each other's toes. Which may be a preferred leadership model in the mid-to-late 24th century, psychologically advantageous, mentally liberating and empowering, whatever. It does make the XOs of modern Trek look like politruks of some sort, people acting as a "decision filter" between the CO and the crew - but Starfleet may in fact be hoping for that very thing, so that no single person can use the divine powers of a starship to establish him- or herself as god, at least not without an argument.

Klingons may have run into the same problems of way too much power being centered in the hands of the CO, and thus promote the idea of leaving him or her vulnerable to personal attack.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Anwar]

For dramatic purposes, the real job of the XO isn't worth doing anything with. That's why they made sure Spock was also the Science Officer too, Kira was also a Bajoran National, Trip was the head Engineer, etc.

 

[BillJ]

I would think in crisis situations (like The Motion Picture) you would want all hands on deck.

 

[scotpens]

^^ Also, remember that in the pilot film “The Cage,” Spock’s position was that of Science Officer. When the female First Officer “Number One” was eliminated, her cool, emotionless character was combined with Spock into a single character — and their duty positions were combined as well.

 

[Chaos Descending]

Well, considering that Trip wasn't the XO of the NX-01, the problem doesn't seem quite as bad as originally stated.

 

[Skywalker]

Well, considering that Trip wasn't the XO of the NX-01, the problem doesn't seem quite as bad as originally stated.

But the NX-01's actual XO (T'Pol) also had a secondary position (Science Officer).

 

[datalogan]

In modern navies, while the XO is very much an administrator, s/he is also heavily involved in ship operations. It is true that during normal day-to-day ops the CO and XO would not normally be on the Bridge at the same time. Because the CO has to sleep some time, and the XO would normally have to be up then, which means the XO would normally sleep sometime while the CO was up.
But during battle situations, they would most certainly both be on the Bridge (everyone on the ship is up and at battlestations), and the XO would often relay or parrot orders from the CO, especially if a weapon with significant controls on it was going to be used (like nuclear weapons).
And modern landing parties are often lead by the XO, or even the CO. But that's probably because most landing parties today are mostly diplomatic and not exploration or militant in nature.

The administrator aspect of the XO position is sometimes seen on Star Trek (like TNG Lower Decks), but only when it relates to the story, because it's mostly BORING.

My biggest problem with the lack of military regiment on Star Trek is the lack of an Officer of the Deck (OOD) or bridge duty officer. I know Starfleet isn't exactly like modern navies, but the lack of a clear person in charge on the Bridge bothers me. Rarely is the concept of duty officer mentioned (TNG Disaster) or a real turn-over done when relieving people on the Bridge (TNG Data's Day and Rightful Heir). Usually it's just assumed that the highest ranking person on the bridge is in charge. And the CO will often give orders directly (to the helm, etc). This style of command leaves too much on the CO's plate, really. He ends up getting too bogged down in minutia and can't keep his eye on the big picture. (Battlestar-Galactica presented a much more realistic portrait of the Deck Officer concept, but of course that was a more militant show.)

To reconcile that idea in my mind, I've always thought that in Starfleet the Deck Officer is really the role played by the Ops Officer. S/he worries about all the minutia and the CO/XO/etc in the center seat really just has the big picture and control over the helm. This is actually supported by quite a few episodes, most notably TNG Lower Decks. And it does give Starfleet a less militant feel.

So, all that aside, what it leaves is the question of why the CO and XO just happen to be on the Bridge together so often when an unexpected "thing" happens to the ship. On Star Trek most casualties just happen to occur during ship-board "daytime", and even then just coincidentally when the senior officers all just happen to be on the Bridge. I just chalk this up to TV realism. You want/have to tell the story using your regular cast and don't want to get too bogged down showing them having to get woken up in the middle of the night to deal with it. So they have a little conceit that most important things tend to happen when the senior staff (including both the CO and XO, neither of who need to be on the Bridge most of the time) just happen to be up and on station.

 

[neozeks]

They should have had it so that the executive officer takes care of personnel issues, day-to-day stuff, etc. to keep the ship running smoothly for the captain to be free to make command decisions.

Well, we did see them do some of that - like Kira and Riker dealing with duty shifts and rosters, etc. They probably did a lot more of that, it just isn't very interesting to show it.

As for the XO being on the Bridge, isn't it wise to have your second in command nearby if the CO gets incapacitated?

 

[Skywalker]

As for the XO being on the Bridge, isn't it wise to have your second in command nearby if the CO gets incapacitated?

What happens if both your CO and your XO are on the bridge together and the entire bridge is destroyed?

 

[neozeks]

What happens if both your CO and your XO are on the bridge together and the entire bridge is destroyed?

Well, then you're most likely doomed anyway.
I mean, the Bridge is probably the most heavily protected part of the ship. Especially since I'd guess most ships don't have a second reserve bridge.

 

[Chaos Descending]

But during battle situations, they would most certainly both be on the Bridge (everyone on the ship is up and at battlestations), and the XO would often relay or parrot orders from the CO, especially if a weapon with significant controls on it was going to be used (like nuclear weapons).

No. During battle situations the CO is typically on the bridge and the XO is in an Aux Control location. For example, on CVN-68 Nimitz, the XO would be in Damage Control Central. The last time the CO and XO would be together is during a battle situation.

 

[sbk1234]

In my mind, the position of First Officer is much like a "captain in training" position, so much of the situation is designed to give the XO a skilled captain to learn from while he gets prepared to be a skilled captain.

 

[BillJ]

My biggest problem with the lack of military regiment on Star Trek is the lack of an Officer of the Deck (OOD) or bridge duty officer. I know Starfleet isn't exactly like modern navies, but the lack of a clear person in charge on the Bridge bothers me.

I think this was the role Worf was originally suppose to play on TNG.

 

[MacLeod]

What happens if both your CO and your XO are on the bridge together and the entire bridge is destroyed?

Well, then you're most likely doomed anyway.
I mean, the Bridge is probably the most heavily protected part of the ship. Especially since I'd guess most ships don't have a second reserve bridge.

Well we know the Constitution Class had an auxillary control "The Doomsday Machine", the Galaxy Glass had the battle bridge (which could be used as a second bridge). Also in the event of the Bridge being out of action we have seen command transferred to Engineering "Brothers". The Defiant Class can also transfer command to Engineering.

And given starfleets like of redundancy it is likely the larger classes of vessels have a auxillary bridge, whilst the smaller class transfer it to Engineering.

 

[sonak]

yeeesh. Sorry for the brain cramp on ENT's XO, don't know why I put Trip instead of T'Pol for that. At any rate, since she also had another job, it doesn't change my point that they needed to find another job for Riker and Chakotay so they weren't just on the bridge as advisors/co-captains. Logically, any of the bridge crew or senior officers can give a captain suggestions or advice at any time, so that's a pretty redundant/silly thing to have as the XO's role, just to be a walking suggestion box for the captain.

 

[The Badger]

I mean, the Bridge is probably the most heavily protected part of the ship.

On Star Fleet ships, the bridge is in a highly exposed location on top of the main hull. Often with a big glowy thing on top to make it more obvious. Or a window.

 

[neozeks]

No. During battle situations the CO is typically on the bridge and the XO is in an Aux Control location. For example, on CVN-68 Nimitz, the XO would be in Damage Control Central. The last time the CO and XO would be together is during a battle situation.

Is that just a modern carrier practice or is it something universal?

On Star Fleet ships, the bridge is in a highly exposed location on top of the main hull. Often with a big glowy thing on top to make it more obvious. Or a window.

Yes, I'm aware of the sillines of it all. I rationalize it by thinking that once the shields go down, your ship is dead anyway, so it doesn't matter where the bridge is located. When I said "protected" I was thinking about the shields being the strongest and most concetrated around the bridge.

 

[Pauln6]

I think the plans of the consitition refit have an 'auxillary control' room in the saucer section, which is essentially a secondary bridge plus a control room in the secondary hull to function as a bridge in the event of saucer separation.

In Trek the helmsman usually doubles as deck officer when the captain leaves the bridge. In NuTrek the position was given to the least senior officer (Ensign Chekov at navigation) instead of a more senior officer like Uhura which he then passed on to the helmsman when HE then left the bridge (truly shambolic discipline by all concerned).

I think it's true that the XO would usually come to the bridge on general quarters and would likely share a shift on the bridge with a more junior deck officer during his duty shift since at least some of his time is going to be spent dealing with admin in his office just below the bridge.