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Admirals

Qew

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Red Shirt
Why are the Admirals such schmucks? I thought the great past captains were the ones that became Admirals, yet the Admirals depicted in TNG are seen as petty, immature, rash, quick tempered, and even corrupt. Hardly Starfleets finest eh?
 
It was just the same in TOS. virtually every Admiral, Commodore or superior that Kirk had to deal with a pain in the neck, corrupt or just plain useless!
 
Why are the Admirals such schmucks? I thought the great past captains were the ones that became Admirals, yet the Admirals depicted in TNG are seen as petty, immature, rash, quick tempered, and even corrupt. Hardly Starfleets finest eh?

They did the same thing with the brass in M*A*S*H :bolian:
 
Well, think about it..........

Where you work: Consider your boss, over-seers, managers, team-leads, department heads etc.

Now also consider your government: Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, public employees etc.

Don't you ever wonder how they have kept their jobs/positions? A lot seem kind of incompetent and oafish don't they?

SAME with Starfleet admirals. Dim-witted boobs get into positions of power and micro-manage their underlings.

In Trek's case, it makes good drama. ;)
 
FWIW, here's a more or less comprehensive list of TNG Admirals.

Aaron from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Blackwell from "Pegasus": possibly in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Brackett from "Unification": no obvious faults
Brand from "First Duty": exposed a conspiracy involving Wesley
Brooks
from "Suspicions" and "Descent":no obvious faults
Drazman from "Starship Mine": boring
Gromek from "The Emissary": no obvious faults
Haden
from "The Defector" and "The Wounded": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Haftel from "The Offspring": tried to take custody of Data's "child", but was sympathetic and helped out Data with said child's "illness"
Hahn from "Menage a Troi": regretted that Wes didn't get into the Academy
Hanson from "Best of Both Worlds": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard
Hayes from "Realm of Fear": no obvious faults
Henry from "Drumhead": put an end to an attempt to harass Picard
Holt from "Interface": no obvious faults
Jameson from "Too Short a Season": tried too hard to make up for a past blunder
Kennelly from "Ensign Ro": conspired with Cardassians, was played for sucker
McCoy from "Encounter at Farpoint": an utter asshole and a senile geezer
Mitchell from "Starship Mine": no obvious faults
Nakamura from "Measure of a Man": allowed Data to be treated as property, then to fight for his rights
Nechayev from "Chain of Command", "Descent", "Journey's End": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the female "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Pressman from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Raner from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Rossa from "Suddenly Human": no obvious faults
Satie from "Drumhead" and "All Good Things..": harassed Picard
Savar from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Shanti from "Unification" and "Pegasus": no obvious faults
Quinn from "Coming of Age" and "Conspiracy": tried to uncover the parasite conspiracy, then fell victim to it

That's 27 people of whom half a dozen were mere neutral name-drops, three suffered from parasitic infection when shouting "Off with Picard's head!", three or possibly four conspired for perceived greater good of the UFP and thus were at odds with Picard, and three considered Picard their prize stallion for the most difficult missions. Plus one was boring.

"Petty, immature, rash, quick tempered, and even corrupt"? Statistically speaking, not really...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Brand from "First Duty": exposed a conspiracy involving Wesley

Technically, Picard uncovered the conspiracy, Wesley admitted to it. Brand was about to close the hearing, before Wesley grew a set.
 
Well, think about it..........

Where you work: Consider your boss, over-seers, managers, team-leads, department heads etc.

Now also consider your government: Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, public employees etc.

Don't you ever wonder how they have kept their jobs/positions? A lot seem kind of incompetent and oafish don't they?

SAME with Starfleet admirals. Dim-witted boobs get into positions of power and micro-manage their underlings.

In Trek's case, it makes good drama. ;)

The military is different, people dont last that long if they are incompetent, especialy during war.

Unless its WW2 italian military.
 
Brand from "First Duty": exposed a conspiracy involving Wesley

Technically, Picard uncovered the conspiracy, Wesley admitted to it. Brand was about to close the hearing, before Wesley grew a set.


if by "grew a set" you mean screwed over his friends

Lacrno was a bully looking out for his interests. Wesley finally got the courage to stand up to him. A really good Wesley episode.

Hey this the first time I'm using my phone to post. I like it.
 
FWIW, here's a more or less comprehensive list of TNG Admirals.

Aaron from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Blackwell from "Pegasus": possibly in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Brackett from "Unification": no obvious faults
Brand from "First Duty": exposed a conspiracy involving Wesley
Brooks
from "Suspicions" and "Descent":no obvious faults
Drazman from "Starship Mine": boring
Gromek from "The Emissary": no obvious faults
Haden
from "The Defector" and "The Wounded": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Haftel from "The Offspring": tried to take custody of Data's "child", but was sympathetic and helped out Data with said child's "illness"
Hahn from "Menage a Troi": regretted that Wes didn't get into the Academy
Hanson from "Best of Both Worlds": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard
Hayes from "Realm of Fear": no obvious faults
Henry from "Drumhead": put an end to an attempt to harass Picard
Holt from "Interface": no obvious faults
Jameson from "Too Short a Season": tried too hard to make up for a past blunder
Kennelly from "Ensign Ro": conspired with Cardassians, was played for sucker
McCoy from "Encounter at Farpoint": an utter asshole and a senile geezer
Mitchell from "Starship Mine": no obvious faults
Nakamura from "Measure of a Man": allowed Data to be treated as property, then to fight for his rights
Nechayev from "Chain of Command", "Descent", "Journey's End": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the female "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Pressman from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Raner from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Rossa from "Suddenly Human": no obvious faults
Satie from "Drumhead" and "All Good Things..": harassed Picard
Savar from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Shanti from "Unification" and "Pegasus": no obvious faults
Quinn from "Coming of Age" and "Conspiracy": tried to uncover the parasite conspiracy, then fell victim to it

That's 27 people of whom half a dozen were mere neutral name-drops, three suffered from parasitic infection when shouting "Off with Picard's head!", three or possibly four conspired for perceived greater good of the UFP and thus were at odds with Picard, and three considered Picard their prize stallion for the most difficult missions. Plus one was boring.

"Petty, immature, rash, quick tempered, and even corrupt"? Statistically speaking, not really...

Timo Saloniemi


Pretty good record compared to TOS admirals
 
Well, think about it..........

Where you work: Consider your boss, over-seers, managers, team-leads, department heads etc.

Now also consider your government: Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, public employees etc.

Don't you ever wonder how they have kept their jobs/positions? A lot seem kind of incompetent and oafish don't they?

SAME with Starfleet admirals. Dim-witted boobs get into positions of power and micro-manage their underlings.

In Trek's case, it makes good drama. ;)

The military is different, people dont last that long if they are incompetent, especialy during war.

Unless its WW2 italian military.

Its TV show about the military. Every TV show about the military has its share of boobs, idiots and incompetents who are in charge. Like Tan Ru said, it makes for good drama ( and Comedy). How the real military does it isn't a factor.
 
McCoy from "Encounter at Farpoint": an utter asshole and a senile geezer

:guffaw:
Great description of him as seen from a "only information given from the episode" point of view.

Also funny since, of that list, he's who we all know most about and, most probably, have a fondness for the scene.
 
It was just the same in TOS. virtually every Admiral, Commodore or superior that Kirk had to deal with a pain in the neck, corrupt or just plain useless!

Admiral Komack was not. In amok time, I think he would have allowed Kirk to take Spock to Vulcan if Spock would allowed Kirk to tell the Admiral Spock's situation.
 
FWIW, here's a more or less comprehensive list of TNG Admirals.

Aaron from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Blackwell from "Pegasus": possibly in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Brackett from "Unification": no obvious faults
Brand from "First Duty": exposed a conspiracy involving Wesley
Brooks
from "Suspicions" and "Descent":no obvious faults
Drazman from "Starship Mine": boring
Gromek from "The Emissary": no obvious faults
Haden
from "The Defector" and "The Wounded": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Haftel from "The Offspring": tried to take custody of Data's "child", but was sympathetic and helped out Data with said child's "illness"
Hahn from "Menage a Troi": regretted that Wes didn't get into the Academy
Hanson from "Best of Both Worlds": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard
Hayes from "Realm of Fear": no obvious faults
Henry from "Drumhead": put an end to an attempt to harass Picard
Holt from "Interface": no obvious faults
Jameson from "Too Short a Season": tried too hard to make up for a past blunder
Kennelly from "Ensign Ro": conspired with Cardassians, was played for sucker
McCoy from "Encounter at Farpoint": an utter asshole and a senile geezer
Mitchell from "Starship Mine": no obvious faults
Nakamura from "Measure of a Man": allowed Data to be treated as property, then to fight for his rights
Nechayev from "Chain of Command", "Descent", "Journey's End": no-nonsense badass with an apparent relationship of mutual respect with Picard; the female "Admiral Ross" of TNG
Pressman from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Raner from "Pegasus": in on a Federation-serving conspiracy
Rossa from "Suddenly Human": no obvious faults
Satie from "Drumhead" and "All Good Things..": harassed Picard
Savar from "Conspiracy": potentially a nice guy, only co-opted by parasites
Shanti from "Unification" and "Pegasus": no obvious faults
Quinn from "Coming of Age" and "Conspiracy": tried to uncover the parasite conspiracy, then fell victim to it

That's 27 people of whom half a dozen were mere neutral name-drops, three suffered from parasitic infection when shouting "Off with Picard's head!", three or possibly four conspired for perceived greater good of the UFP and thus were at odds with Picard, and three considered Picard their prize stallion for the most difficult missions. Plus one was boring.

"Petty, immature, rash, quick tempered, and even corrupt"? Statistically speaking, not really...

Timo Saloniemi

Very good list. I'm watching the Best of Both World part I & II. Too bad about Admiral Hanson.
 
Well, think about it..........

Where you work: Consider your boss, over-seers, managers, team-leads, department heads etc.

Now also consider your government: Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, public employees etc.

Don't you ever wonder how they have kept their jobs/positions? A lot seem kind of incompetent and oafish don't they?

SAME with Starfleet admirals. Dim-witted boobs get into positions of power and micro-manage their underlings.

In Trek's case, it makes good drama. ;)

The military is different, people dont last that long if they are incompetent, especialy during war.

Obviously not a student of history eh?
 
Even though this is the wrong forum, here's a comparable list of TOS (and TAS) flag officers:

April from "Counter-Clock Incident": took the ball that Kirk's infant fingers dropped
Barstow from "Alternative Factor": no obvious faults
Decker from "Doomsday Machine": went crazy and endangered Kirk's ship
Enwright from "Ultimate Computer": wanted Kirk to test a machine that would make him unemployed
Fitzpatrick from "Trouble with Tribbles": no obvious faults
Komack from "This Side of Paradise" and "Amok Time": didn't allow Kirk to go to Vulcan without an explanation
Mendez from "Menagerie": helped Kirk help Spock help Pike
Stocker from "Deadly Years": was very polite in taking command from incapacitated Kirk, then completely blew it
Stone from "Court Martial": tried to offer Kirk a quiet out from his perceived fatal blunder, then gave him a fair trial
Travers from "Arena": got killed by the Gorn
Wesley from "Ultimate Computer": was smart enough not to kill Kirk
Westervliet from "For the World is Hollow": didn't allow Kirk to try and stop an asteroid from destroying Daran V

That's twelve flag officers, of whom two tried to take Kirk's ship from him and then destroy it through their insanity or incompetence; one rather understandably accused him of a crime he didn't commit; one didn't let him use the Enterprise for joyrides; and one made an apparently completely harebrained command decision.

Really, I only see two assholes there, Decker and Westervliet. And Decker had the excuse of being insane, while we never quite learned the reasoning behind Westervliet's odd decision, but Spock seemed to agree with it.

Somewhat unfairly, the bad rep of Starfleet flag officers seems to come almost solely from the TOS movies, where Morrow did a Westervliet but in addition explained himself ("I just don't want anybody to do anything until this Genesis mess calms down, and besides, I'm a racist when it comes to Vulcan culture"), and Cartwright in his second appearance betrayed the Federation. The other folks basically just assisted Kirk in his work!

(Really, it's non-hero starship captains that fit the criteria of arrogant and adversarial incompetents... And Decker could be counted as one of those.)

Timo Saloniemi
 
Well, think about it..........

Where you work: Consider your boss, over-seers, managers, team-leads, department heads etc.

Now also consider your government: Senators, Congressmen, Representatives, public employees etc.

Don't you ever wonder how they have kept their jobs/positions? A lot seem kind of incompetent and oafish don't they?

SAME with Starfleet admirals. Dim-witted boobs get into positions of power and micro-manage their underlings.

In Trek's case, it makes good drama. ;)

The military is different, people dont last that long if they are incompetent, especialy during war.

Obviously not a student of history eh?

Who do you think gets deposed more fast?

A bad politician or a bad general.
 
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