This is argument bait. I know this. I don't mind. See, I'm bored, and I like to argue....coherently argue.
Anyway, argument begin:
Trek, for a 40-odd year old series, has this funky habit with the organization of things beyond the individual ship: It's never been consistent.
It makes a lot of sense in some regards, given that the focus of the show is properly not on the high command.
But from a universe-building POV, it sucks.
Hence, I'm going to mesh canon (to the vbest of my knowledge) and other influences to try to produce what Starfleet Command might look like.
In this, RL inspirations will be clearly evident, as will cues taken from GR's description of Trek as "Hornblower in space". Plus, there'll be some just-plain-speculation.
I'll note here - feel free to use this in your endeavors - if you're a published author, I don't necessarily need credit (however, a note to me saying you're cribbing my work would be nice). If you're using it in non-commercial endeavors like a gaming thing, hey, just throw me a note.
Finally, stuff in []'s is "margin notes", stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.
And now, on we go.
----
At the top of the chain of command is, necessarily and properly, the President of the UFP. The President, like the American President or British Monarch of Earth's history, has vested in them the powers and duties of the Head of State and the commander-in-chief. All officer commissions are issued on behalf of and in the name of the President, for instance.
Below him is the Secretary of Starfleet (formally, the "Secretary of State for Starfleet"). He exercises the day to day civilian control of Starfleet, aided and abetted by a large civilian bureaucracy. His closest Earth counterpart would be the Secretary of Defense in the United States, or Defense Ministers the world over. He may be but is not necessarily a retired Starfleet officer. In the event of his being such, current statute law requires that he be on the retired list for a minimum of 10 years without interruption before becoming eligible.
Now we enter into the uniformed chain of command - serving Starfleet officers.
At the top of the pyramid is the "Chief of Staff, Starfleet", more generally known as the Chief of Staff. To prevent rank and seniority disputes, this officer is the sole active holder of the rank of Fleet Admiral, designated in the arcane Starfleet Play System as OF-11.
Below the Chief of Staff come the Bureau and Fleet Commanders. An easy way to remember the difference is that if it might be classified as a "shore" establishment, it's a Bureau; if it commands operational forces, it's a Fleet. All of these officers are ranked Admirals (OF-10). (There has been within Starfleet some agitation over the years to change the name of the Fleet Commanders to something more distinctive; that, however, has never happened yet.)
The Bureaus are those of Personnel (BUPERS), Education and Training (BUED), Construction (BUCON), Medicine (BUMED), Sciences (BUSCI), Starfleet Security (BUSEC), Intelligence (SI, SFI, or BUINT), Weapons (BUWEPS), Information (BUINFO), Engineering (BUENG), and Research (BURES).
Generally, the admirals commanding these organizations are known as the "Chief of x", for example the "Chief of Personnel". Many of the functions of these bureaus are self-explanatory, however, for reference:
Personnel - handles recruitment, promotion (for officers and senior enlisted), assignment, and similar tasks. [If Starfleet personnel are paid, they're handled through here, or perhaps a separate BUADMIN (Bureau of Administration).]
Education and Training - Oversees such organizations as Starfleet Academy, OCS, the enlisted training base, and other Starfleet training units. Also responsible for ongoing certification and refresher training for active personnel, particularly through the active "Starfleet University" system, which provides continuing academic education to Fleet personnel through distance education and offices at many starbases.
Construction - responsible for the construction of starships, starbases, and other vessels and major installations of Starfleet, either in-house or through contractors. Under this Bureau sits, awkwardly, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.
Medicine - generally self-explanatory. This is Starfleet Medical's formal name - they train doctors, nurses, counselors, and associated personnel in conjunction with BUED, and dispatch them throughout the Fleet in conjunction with BUPERS. They also set medical standards for general Fleet recruitment and retention.
Sciences - If it wears blue and doesn't fall under BUMED, it probably falls here. The general science division of Starfleet. They work in conjunction with other Starfleet organizations to do things like have a starship visit that nearby nebula. Under BUSCI comes the First Contact Division, which handles covert monitoring of pre-warp cultures and the first contact with warp-capable cultures. Or, well, it tries to be the ones who handle it, rather than ship crews winging it.
Starfleet Security - Responsible for the training of all Starfleet security personnel (in conjunction with BUED - basically, BUSEC sets the standards, BUED trains) among other duties, this division also handles force protection, Starfleet's system of prisons and penal colonies, security clearances, and other "internal security" functions. [However, depending on your view of whether or not there's a Starfleet Marine Corps, they also naturally fit here - Penta]
Intelligence - The Chief of Intelligence is more often known as the Director of Starfleet Intelligence. This bureau handles all aspects of external intelligence gathering, covert operations, and so forth. [Section 31, naturally, fits here. When it wants to.]
Weapons - BUWEPS is responsible for the development and production of Starfleet weaponry and ammunition - from the smallest hand weapon and personnel protective gear up to torpedoes and mines and shipboard phasers. Often, they work in conjunction with BURES - the reason they're separate is a matter of history and, in some cases, differing worldviews.
Information - BUINFO is best thought of as Starfleet's PR department. They handle everything from the Starfleet recruiting ads seen throughout the Federation to legislative liasion (interfacing with the Federation's legislative branch) to civilian press handling to the running of Starfleet's own internal journalistic enterprises, such as "Arrowhead", the Starfleet equivalent of Stars and Stripes.
Engineering - Starfleet takes safety seriously. BUENG handles everything to do with matter/anti-matter reactors, from development to production to ongoing maintenance to disposal. Not unlike the US Navy's Office of Naval Reactors, these folks make up something of a second chain of command for any ship's Chief Engineer. [Reactors, with a change in acronym to BUREACT, might be a better name for this unit. However, the concept remains.]
Research - BURES are the beings that oversee Starfleet's Advanced Starship Design Bureau and other project offices for each class of ship. When a ship leaves the drawing boards, it passes from BURES to BUCON responsibility. They also do the R&D on virtually everything else in the Starfleet inventory, from combadges and communicators to warp engines. [In many cases, I see them working through contractors, but that's a stylistic point.]
Starfleet's system of Bureaus has remained relatively constant from the 23rd century onward, but new organizations do tend to come and go throughout time.
Not mentioned here among the Bureaus are some semi-independent organizations - they're ranked on the same level as and serve many of same functions as the bureaus, but for assorted reasons aren't grouped with them.
Most prominently among these groups are the Judge Advocate General's Corps and the Starfleet Archives.
The Starfleet Archives is headed by the Archivist of Starfleet, and they do exactly what the name says - they're Starfleet's archives. Starfleet, like any human-dominated bureaucratic entity, has meticulous, sometimes obsessive recordkeeping at its heart, and the archives are where records of every sort end up eventually. Whether it be freely available or among the deepest secrets of Starfleet, eventually it ends up here. Not all of their records are in electronic format, either - essential records, such as personnel records and war plans and the like, are also kept (specially stored) on paper. That said, if ever there's a candidate for "Part of Starfleet most likely to birth an AI", Starfleet Archives's computer systems are it. [For what it's worth, I see Memory Alpha and similar installations as being part of a larger, "Federation Archives" system.] Starfleet Archives also maintains official historians throughout Starfleet.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps is the military justice system of Starfleet. Composed of the Fleet's lawyers and legal assistants, the JAG Corps provides judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court personnel for the purposes of military justice. They also staff Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) offices on Starfleet installations throughout the Federation, which provide legal services for commander and servicemember alike. They're headed at the OF-10 (Admiral) level by the Judge Advocate General. [I see Starfleet justice as working off of the UCMJ of the US Armed Forces IRL - meaning that yes, court-martials are decided by boards of officers (and in some cases, enlisted), with the whole thing presided over by a Starfleet judge. Appeals go to a Starfleet Court of Appeals, then to the Federation Supreme Court.]
[The non-bureaus part of the Shore Establishment is also where I'd place the Chief of Chaplains, if you blieve (as I do) that Starfleet, especially after their Bajoran experience, are likely to have Chaplains.]
[I decided here makes a good point to post what I got - Next will follow the Operational Forces.]
Anyway, argument begin:
Trek, for a 40-odd year old series, has this funky habit with the organization of things beyond the individual ship: It's never been consistent.
It makes a lot of sense in some regards, given that the focus of the show is properly not on the high command.
But from a universe-building POV, it sucks.
Hence, I'm going to mesh canon (to the vbest of my knowledge) and other influences to try to produce what Starfleet Command might look like.
In this, RL inspirations will be clearly evident, as will cues taken from GR's description of Trek as "Hornblower in space". Plus, there'll be some just-plain-speculation.
I'll note here - feel free to use this in your endeavors - if you're a published author, I don't necessarily need credit (however, a note to me saying you're cribbing my work would be nice). If you're using it in non-commercial endeavors like a gaming thing, hey, just throw me a note.
Finally, stuff in []'s is "margin notes", stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.
And now, on we go.
----
At the top of the chain of command is, necessarily and properly, the President of the UFP. The President, like the American President or British Monarch of Earth's history, has vested in them the powers and duties of the Head of State and the commander-in-chief. All officer commissions are issued on behalf of and in the name of the President, for instance.
Below him is the Secretary of Starfleet (formally, the "Secretary of State for Starfleet"). He exercises the day to day civilian control of Starfleet, aided and abetted by a large civilian bureaucracy. His closest Earth counterpart would be the Secretary of Defense in the United States, or Defense Ministers the world over. He may be but is not necessarily a retired Starfleet officer. In the event of his being such, current statute law requires that he be on the retired list for a minimum of 10 years without interruption before becoming eligible.
Now we enter into the uniformed chain of command - serving Starfleet officers.
At the top of the pyramid is the "Chief of Staff, Starfleet", more generally known as the Chief of Staff. To prevent rank and seniority disputes, this officer is the sole active holder of the rank of Fleet Admiral, designated in the arcane Starfleet Play System as OF-11.
Below the Chief of Staff come the Bureau and Fleet Commanders. An easy way to remember the difference is that if it might be classified as a "shore" establishment, it's a Bureau; if it commands operational forces, it's a Fleet. All of these officers are ranked Admirals (OF-10). (There has been within Starfleet some agitation over the years to change the name of the Fleet Commanders to something more distinctive; that, however, has never happened yet.)
The Bureaus are those of Personnel (BUPERS), Education and Training (BUED), Construction (BUCON), Medicine (BUMED), Sciences (BUSCI), Starfleet Security (BUSEC), Intelligence (SI, SFI, or BUINT), Weapons (BUWEPS), Information (BUINFO), Engineering (BUENG), and Research (BURES).
Generally, the admirals commanding these organizations are known as the "Chief of x", for example the "Chief of Personnel". Many of the functions of these bureaus are self-explanatory, however, for reference:
Personnel - handles recruitment, promotion (for officers and senior enlisted), assignment, and similar tasks. [If Starfleet personnel are paid, they're handled through here, or perhaps a separate BUADMIN (Bureau of Administration).]
Education and Training - Oversees such organizations as Starfleet Academy, OCS, the enlisted training base, and other Starfleet training units. Also responsible for ongoing certification and refresher training for active personnel, particularly through the active "Starfleet University" system, which provides continuing academic education to Fleet personnel through distance education and offices at many starbases.
Construction - responsible for the construction of starships, starbases, and other vessels and major installations of Starfleet, either in-house or through contractors. Under this Bureau sits, awkwardly, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.
Medicine - generally self-explanatory. This is Starfleet Medical's formal name - they train doctors, nurses, counselors, and associated personnel in conjunction with BUED, and dispatch them throughout the Fleet in conjunction with BUPERS. They also set medical standards for general Fleet recruitment and retention.
Sciences - If it wears blue and doesn't fall under BUMED, it probably falls here. The general science division of Starfleet. They work in conjunction with other Starfleet organizations to do things like have a starship visit that nearby nebula. Under BUSCI comes the First Contact Division, which handles covert monitoring of pre-warp cultures and the first contact with warp-capable cultures. Or, well, it tries to be the ones who handle it, rather than ship crews winging it.
Starfleet Security - Responsible for the training of all Starfleet security personnel (in conjunction with BUED - basically, BUSEC sets the standards, BUED trains) among other duties, this division also handles force protection, Starfleet's system of prisons and penal colonies, security clearances, and other "internal security" functions. [However, depending on your view of whether or not there's a Starfleet Marine Corps, they also naturally fit here - Penta]
Intelligence - The Chief of Intelligence is more often known as the Director of Starfleet Intelligence. This bureau handles all aspects of external intelligence gathering, covert operations, and so forth. [Section 31, naturally, fits here. When it wants to.]
Weapons - BUWEPS is responsible for the development and production of Starfleet weaponry and ammunition - from the smallest hand weapon and personnel protective gear up to torpedoes and mines and shipboard phasers. Often, they work in conjunction with BURES - the reason they're separate is a matter of history and, in some cases, differing worldviews.
Information - BUINFO is best thought of as Starfleet's PR department. They handle everything from the Starfleet recruiting ads seen throughout the Federation to legislative liasion (interfacing with the Federation's legislative branch) to civilian press handling to the running of Starfleet's own internal journalistic enterprises, such as "Arrowhead", the Starfleet equivalent of Stars and Stripes.
Engineering - Starfleet takes safety seriously. BUENG handles everything to do with matter/anti-matter reactors, from development to production to ongoing maintenance to disposal. Not unlike the US Navy's Office of Naval Reactors, these folks make up something of a second chain of command for any ship's Chief Engineer. [Reactors, with a change in acronym to BUREACT, might be a better name for this unit. However, the concept remains.]
Research - BURES are the beings that oversee Starfleet's Advanced Starship Design Bureau and other project offices for each class of ship. When a ship leaves the drawing boards, it passes from BURES to BUCON responsibility. They also do the R&D on virtually everything else in the Starfleet inventory, from combadges and communicators to warp engines. [In many cases, I see them working through contractors, but that's a stylistic point.]
Starfleet's system of Bureaus has remained relatively constant from the 23rd century onward, but new organizations do tend to come and go throughout time.
Not mentioned here among the Bureaus are some semi-independent organizations - they're ranked on the same level as and serve many of same functions as the bureaus, but for assorted reasons aren't grouped with them.
Most prominently among these groups are the Judge Advocate General's Corps and the Starfleet Archives.
The Starfleet Archives is headed by the Archivist of Starfleet, and they do exactly what the name says - they're Starfleet's archives. Starfleet, like any human-dominated bureaucratic entity, has meticulous, sometimes obsessive recordkeeping at its heart, and the archives are where records of every sort end up eventually. Whether it be freely available or among the deepest secrets of Starfleet, eventually it ends up here. Not all of their records are in electronic format, either - essential records, such as personnel records and war plans and the like, are also kept (specially stored) on paper. That said, if ever there's a candidate for "Part of Starfleet most likely to birth an AI", Starfleet Archives's computer systems are it. [For what it's worth, I see Memory Alpha and similar installations as being part of a larger, "Federation Archives" system.] Starfleet Archives also maintains official historians throughout Starfleet.
The Judge Advocate General's Corps is the military justice system of Starfleet. Composed of the Fleet's lawyers and legal assistants, the JAG Corps provides judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court personnel for the purposes of military justice. They also staff Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) offices on Starfleet installations throughout the Federation, which provide legal services for commander and servicemember alike. They're headed at the OF-10 (Admiral) level by the Judge Advocate General. [I see Starfleet justice as working off of the UCMJ of the US Armed Forces IRL - meaning that yes, court-martials are decided by boards of officers (and in some cases, enlisted), with the whole thing presided over by a Starfleet judge. Appeals go to a Starfleet Court of Appeals, then to the Federation Supreme Court.]
[The non-bureaus part of the Shore Establishment is also where I'd place the Chief of Chaplains, if you blieve (as I do) that Starfleet, especially after their Bajoran experience, are likely to have Chaplains.]
[I decided here makes a good point to post what I got - Next will follow the Operational Forces.]
