Does federation have reserve corp?

[TEH BABA]

?

 

[Timo]

Such a corps would apparently require a certain part of the population to undergo (voluntary or mandatory) military training without choosing a military career. We've never heard of such a thing happening to any character, so perhaps the answer is no.

Then again, we have heard that education in the 24th century is swift and efficient, and that people may change professions often. Perhaps the future way of training people to be part of military reserves is so efficient that the entire UFP population forms an adequately trained reserve that can be drafted at any point with minimum fuss. Military training could be a four-week period during mandatory youth education.

...Assuming there even is such a thing as mandatory youth education. We have seen in TNG that some kids study calculus at age 11 or so, while Jake Sisko at age 15 or so was still struggling with algebra, so apparently it is perfectly possible for different people to get their education at very different paces. Fitting in a bit of military training might be difficult, then.

Also bear in mind that the decisive military arm of the UFP is the Starfleet and its starships, and the jobs aboard those ships include a hefty share of "skill-intensive" ones. Would a reservist suffice for such a job if he or she only trained every few years or decades? There's a good reason why reservists aren't used much in today's navies or air forces.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[J.T.B.]

A Starfleet reserve? Apparently they do, McCoy had left active duty and was in the reserves when he was called up (against his will) in TMP. Other than that, there's not much to go on. DS9 in the wartime period would have been probably the most likely to Starfleet reserve personnel, bus AFAIK none were ever shown.

--Justin

 

[Colonel Midnight]

I would imagine that Starfleet does -- Heck, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, really, at first glance via insignia, etc.

At least in RL for my service, it's that way. YMMV, of course.

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[J.T.B.]

I would imagine that Starfleet does -- Heck, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, really, at first glance via insignia, etc.

Agreed. The Royal Navy used to have very visible differences between regular and reserve officers (the "wavy navy") but these have all been abandoned.

Also bear in mind that the decisive military arm of the UFP is the Starfleet and its starships, and the jobs aboard those ships include a hefty share of "skill-intensive" ones. Would a reservist suffice for such a job if he or she only trained every few years or decades? There's a good reason why reservists aren't used much in today's navies or air forces.

There could very well be reservists who train every year, and if an organization similar to the 19th-20th century RNR is used, merchant service personnel would already be practicing many of the needed skills in their civilian occupations. It would be pretty hard for a reservist to leave his/her civilian life for a TOS five year mission, but there are likely SF vessels that operate more locally, and "ground" assignemnts of course.

US reserve units have been an important part of national defense since WW2, and have been used on active duty extensively since 9/11/2001, including a carrier deployment of a USNR F/A-18 squadron. Air Force guard and reserve units fly regularly and are a key link in USAF airlift and tanker capabilities.

--Justin

 

[Solariabsg25]

They probably do have a reserve, but in all likelyhood would be no difference in uniforms/insignia. Both McCoy and Spock in TMP were "reserves" (Spock was described as "Inactive, Starfleet" and it was a small matter of updating the computer record to "re-activate" him).

If you look at NuBSG for example, it isn't until "Final Cut" that we find that Lee Adama is actually a reservist, so nothing to say that Starfleet would make special uniform/insignia to mark them out.

Plus of course, if you look at the amount of time it takes to train Starfleet personnel, it would seem a waste of resources to have them simply "retire" and never be able to be called upon in time of Federation Crisis. The losses and vast ship-building programme during the Dominion War has to be crewed somehow, and the Federation, even with it's vast resources, could not just pluck a starship crew from thin air.

 

[CaptainHawk1]

A Starfleet reserve? Apparently they do, McCoy had left active duty and was in the reserves when he was called up (against his will) in TMP. Other than that, there's not much to go on. DS9 in the wartime period would have been probably the most likely to Starfleet reserve personnel, bus AFAIK none were ever shown.

--Justin

JACKPOT! McCoy specifically mentions a "reserve activation clause" which was used to put him back into service.

Such a corps would apparently require a certain part of the population to undergo (voluntary or mandatory) military training without choosing a military career. We've never heard of such a thing happening to any character, so perhaps the answer is no.

Then again, we have heard that education in the 24th century is swift and efficient, and that people may change professions often. Perhaps the future way of training people to be part of military reserves is so efficient that the entire UFP population forms an adequately trained reserve that can be drafted at any point with minimum fuss. Military training could be a four-week period during mandatory youth education.

...Assuming there even is such a thing as mandatory youth education. We have seen in TNG that some kids study calculus at age 11 or so, while Jake Sisko at age 15 or so was still struggling with algebra, so apparently it is perfectly possible for different people to get their education at very different paces. Fitting in a bit of military training might be difficult, then.

Also bear in mind that the decisive military arm of the UFP is the Starfleet and its starships, and the jobs aboard those ships include a hefty share of "skill-intensive" ones. Would a reservist suffice for such a job if he or she only trained every few years or decades? There's a good reason why reservists aren't used much in today's navies or air forces.

Timo Saloniemi

You could have saved yourself a lot of non-sequitirs and the rest of us a lot of yawns by simply watching TMP.

Also, your perceptions of modern-day training and skill level of reservists is flawed.

I'm out.

-Shawn

 

[Josh_Lyman]

What are the flaws?

A Starfleet reserve? Apparently they do, McCoy had left active duty and was in the reserves when he was called up (against his will) in TMP. Other than that, there's not much to go on. DS9 in the wartime period would have been probably the most likely to Starfleet reserve personnel, bus AFAIK none were ever shown.

--Justin

JACKPOT! McCoy specifically mentions a "reserve activation clause" which was used to put him back into service.

Such a corps would apparently require a certain part of the population to undergo (voluntary or mandatory) military training without choosing a military career. We've never heard of such a thing happening to any character, so perhaps the answer is no.

Then again, we have heard that education in the 24th century is swift and efficient, and that people may change professions often. Perhaps the future way of training people to be part of military reserves is so efficient that the entire UFP population forms an adequately trained reserve that can be drafted at any point with minimum fuss. Military training could be a four-week period during mandatory youth education.

...Assuming there even is such a thing as mandatory youth education. We have seen in TNG that some kids study calculus at age 11 or so, while Jake Sisko at age 15 or so was still struggling with algebra, so apparently it is perfectly possible for different people to get their education at very different paces. Fitting in a bit of military training might be difficult, then.

Also bear in mind that the decisive military arm of the UFP is the Starfleet and its starships, and the jobs aboard those ships include a hefty share of "skill-intensive" ones. Would a reservist suffice for such a job if he or she only trained every few years or decades? There's a good reason why reservists aren't used much in today's navies or air forces.

Timo Saloniemi

You could have saved yourself a lot of non-sequitirs and the rest of us a lot of yawns by simply watching TMP.

Also, your perceptions of modern-day training and skill level of reservists is flawed.

I'm out.

-Shawn