duty schedules and opportunities

[varek]

In another post here, I mentioned duty schedules in Starfleet. Here, I would like to discuss time off.

Most Starfleet starships and facilities, I think, probably follow an Earthly schedule of 1 or 2 days off from work, every 7 days. If you have enough personnel for each shift, you could allow this and perhaps rotate or overlap schedules, to allow this without requiring additional personnel.

Planned events, such as birthdays or anniversaries, could be scheduled in advance, and a change in one's schedule might warrant a day off, for the adjustment. Medical situations might require an unplanned day or two off from duty.

As a Vulcan, I can work longer than most humans without sleep--perhaps 10-14 days--so, free time aboard a starship would not be as important to me.

Chakotai, I think, said in one of the Voyager: Full Circle series of books that we are explorers; that is not only what we do (our jobs), but is also who we are--exploring space is our lifestyle.

I agree. And, how many people get to work on a starship that explores space, expanding knowledge in the pursuit of wisdom and truth? So, who would want to take time away from such productive and profound activity for extra leisure time that one often simply fritters away? It would be sad to look back over one's life and see so many lost opportunities.

What are your thoughts on these subjects, my friends? I would be most interested to hear them.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm not familiar how it works in modern militaries, but probably the same way.

 

[Sam_I_Am]

As a Vulcan, I can work longer than most humans without sleep--perhaps 10-14 days--so, free time aboard a starship would not be as important to me.

 

[Captain Rob]

There was a show on PBS a few years ago called "Carrier". Which followed the USS Nimitz on its' 8-9 month duty cycle. While at sea I think they worked 12 hours on and 12 hours off with no days off. They only got time off when in port for liberty. The scary part was that most of the crew were fresh out of high school.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm definitely under the impression that the crew doesn't get days off other than requested shore leave. Though Chain of Command was pretty clear about three shifts and in the entire series the crew seems to have a great deal of free time.

 

[DavidGutierrez]

I'm nearly certain that weekends are not built into the duty shift rotation in Starfleet. We've heard characters refer to "my day off," but always in the context of a prearranged leave taken. Rather, Starfleet follows the pattern of the US Navy pretty closely in that leave and liberty are circumstantial and not built into the normal working rotation.

When not on duty, officers and crewmen seem perfectly free to do as they please. As mentioned above, many of them take the time to further the explorer lifestyle and work on side projects or hobbies related to their field.

 

[varek]

Perhaps the military has less planned free time than civilian agencies and organizations. Thank all of you for pointing that out to me, because I was not aware of that.

However, when I was an enlisted man in the military and working for a state agency as a civilian, we usually worked 5 days a week, with 2 days off--most of the time. You may find that hard to believe, but it is true.

And, some people might prefer a rotating schedule or something like four 10-hour days, with 3 consecutive days off.

But, I am a firm believer in providing workers, in any capacity, time to relax, take care of personal business, pursue hobbies and so forth. A relaxed worker tends to be a healthier, more positive, more energetic worker, I think.

(And, Sam I Am, I got my information from the "Vulcan" article at Memory Alpha.)

 

[Sam_I_Am]

I know, but do you actually think you're a Vulcan? It is a TV show you know.

 

[varek]

Yes, in reality I am only a human. The longest I have been awake and active was about 2 days (48 hours), when I was in my early 20s. By the end of that time, my friends say I was seeming to hallucinate and talking funny, from exhaustion. Fortunately, we were all able to get some rest after that. (That was during an Army exercise, during which we had to remain highly mobile, keeping me from getting much sleep.)

 

[Nerys Myk]

My father was in the USAF for 20 years, from what I recall he mostly worked 9-5, 40 hours a week, mostly Monday through Friday. He was a senior NCO, so he might have gotten the "better" schedules. After he left the service and went to work in the Aerospace industry his schedule varied more, sometimes working swing shifts and the occasional weekend.

 

[BK613]

Back in my US Navy days, in port Stateside was a M-F, 7-4 work week with weekends off, unless your duty section was on for that day/weekend. OTOH, at sea/overseas port life had a lot of variables including the number of duty sections, the readiness condition we were in, the friendliness of the port we were at, and , for the Engineering department, whether we were on ship or shore power.