Acting Ensigns

[Shamrock Holmes]

Was Wesley's rank of "Acting Ensign" something Picard making up an excuse to allow him 'develop his potential' or is it something that is found on other starships/bases with high civilian (youth) contingents like the Galaxy-class or the Frontier-class starbase?

If the latter, is it the same as the "Provisional Officer Ensign" Rank (which mostly appeared to be equal in authority to equivalent "Commissioned Officer Ensign" rank) or is it a lower rank, mainly held by "an officer who has elected to join as a non-graduate direct entrant officer" (from the entries for [Acting] Pilot Officer, RAF on Wikipedia)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_entry_officer mostly, from what I can tell, for technical or scientific assignments, rather than supervisory/command positions.

- Shamrock Holmes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_entry_officer

 

[The Wormhole]

I always assumed it was something Picard made up, but sure, if there were some other kid on a ship or base the CO took a shine to, I guess they might get "Acting Ensign" status. Might even get to wear a similar outfit. Similar to the gray jumpsuit from seasons 2 and 3, that is. Not that weird shirt with the rainbow shoulders from season 1.

 

[Ithekro]

Because it isn't PC to have Wesley be the Cabin Boy.

 

[Timo]

Well, acting this-or-that is standard Starfleet parlance ever since "The Cage" and Spock identifying himself as the "Acting Captain" there...

I doubt Picard made the designation out of whole cloth. But making it applicable to a former civilian, rather than to a "field-mustanged" former NCO, might stretch the regulations a bit.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Autistoid]

Lol make up rank obviously. Or at the view least a rank that essentially mean top ranking boyscout.


I'm pretty sure any adult serving on the ship could order him around and tell him what to do.


The idea that Chief O'Brian would in any way shape or form take orders from him is a farce.

 

[wulfio]

I just took it as a battlefield commission and ignored the "acting" part.

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm pretty sure any adult serving on the ship could order him around and tell him what to do.


The idea that Chief O'Brian would in any way shape or form take orders from him is a farce.

We did see Wesley placed in command of a team comprised of actual officers in Pen Pals.

 

[Timo]

Including officers who formally outranked him even if his powers were equal to those of a "real" Ensign. Which no doubt is within the powers of the CO to do - he could probably appoint his fish to command an away team if he wanted - but not necessarily conductive of good working morale in a hierarchical organization.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

I'm pretty sure any adult serving on the ship could order him around and tell him what to do.


The idea that Chief O'Brian would in any way shape or form take orders from him is a farce.

We did see Wesley placed in command of a team comprised of actual officers in Pen Pals.

Not much more than the idea that Chiefs 'have to' take orders for Commissioned Ensigns with far less experience than they do in RL.

Including officers who formally outranked him even if his powers were equal to those of a "real" Ensign. Which no doubt is within the powers of the CO to do - he could probably appoint his fish to command an away team if he wanted - but not necessarily conductive of good working morale in a hierarchical organization.

Timo Saloniemi

It is worth noting that said officers were members of the Science Department (ie staff officers) to Wesley's Command Department (ie line officers). It doesn't take much to imagine that they have authority only over their own Chain-of-Command unless appointed overwise by the CO (ie Jadzia Dax generally, and Wesley in that episode) or emergency situations (ie Troi in Disaster).

Shamrock Holmes

 

[Mojochi]

I just took it as a battlefield commission and ignored the "acting" part.

Yeah, me too, like I do with all the Maqui Voyager crew

 

[C.E. Evans]

Given that I never viewed Starfleet as simply being a futuristic continuation of today's navies, I never had a problem with the concept of acting ensigns or any honorary, arbitrary, or provisional commissions. It's a different kind of navy, and there are bound to be things here and there that are different from the way things are today.

 

[Melakon]

Barclay didn't seem to think too much of Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher either.

I should have told him to mind his own damned business. I knew about the flux capacitor. I didn't need to hear about it from some seventeen year old kid.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kirk received the rank of Ensign while he was still an Academy cadet. Probably something similar here. Wesley was obviously going to enter the Academy anyway, and had demonstrated some measure of abilities, so why not let him prove his worth?

 

[Ithekro]

The thing is he went from Acting Ensign, to Ensign, then to the Academy. His promotion to Ensign (and regular uniform) was after missing his boat to the Acedemy in order to save two officers and the Ambassador from Betazed.

 

[Timo]

Kirk received the rank of Ensign while he was still an Academy cadet.

Only in certain backstage books. Onscreen, the only designation attributed to Kirk in his Academy undergraduate years was "Cadet". He was also "Lieutenant" when in control of thinking vs. sinking in "his class" - thus probably an instructor. OTOH, postgraduate studies are firmly established to exist in the TNG era, so why not in the TOS era as well?

The far less likely concept is that Kirk received promotions before graduation, but I guess it's allowable as well.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[137th Gebirg]

While "acting" is more general and less military-sounding (despite the obvious use of the military grade "ensign" with it in this context), I believe the term "brevet" more adequately applies:

In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( i/brəˈvɛt/ or i/ˈbrɛvɪt/) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct, but without receiving the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I don't think the term "brevet" was actually used in everyday conversations or as a normal means of personal address. I think it mainly limited to formal documentations until the entire practice of brevetting became obsolete in the U.S. armed services over a century ago.

These days, they do direct appointments, with a commission being understood as being temporary unless the appointee attends Officer Candidate School, IIRC.

 

[J.T.B.]

While "acting" is more general and less military-sounding (despite the obvious use of the military grade "ensign" with it in this context), I believe the term "brevet" more adequately applies:

In many of the world's military establishments, a brevet ( i/brəˈvɛt/ or i/ˈbrɛvɪt/) was a warrant giving a commissioned officer a higher rank title as a reward for gallantry or meritorious conduct, but without receiving the authority, precedence, or pay of real rank.

As C.E. Evans says, brevet promotions were pretty much a 19th Century thing. An officer who was given a brevet promotion basically got an honorary title to use socially, but in his actual unit his position and authority were based on his "permanent" lower rank. That was before there were systems of decorations and awards to recognize and reward heroism and achievement.

 

[137th Gebirg]

True, but TOS used the grades of "Commodore" and "Fleet Captain" during its run, as either official grades or honorary, both of which have been out of vogue in today's military; the former for several decades, the latter since the 19th century (just like brevet). The precedent has been set that Starfleet would rekindle old military terms, if even for a little while (don't recall either in TNG), so why not "Brevet"?

And I don't recall if we ever really know to what extent Wesley's authority existed on the ship under the grade of "Acting Ensign". Aside from possibly Chief O'Brian, he technically wouldn't have outranked anyone anyway. This would have been especially true if the "Acting" part implied "Cadet", insofar that even a "Cadet Colonel" in ROTC would always have to salute to the lowliest active duty E-1 Private. At least, such was the case when I was in ROTC from 1988-90. Things have probably changed since then.

At the end of the day, I doubt if the grade really mattered much to anyone but Wesley, just to get him into the ship's system as a full-blown crew member which henceforth allowed him to "legitimately" concoct new scientific experiments that were designed to accidentally blow up the ship...

 

[Ithekro]

Brevet was out of style almost a century before TNG came out. There were still commodores (title not rank) in the Navy when TOS was on the air.