How come dr. Bashir can order Major Kira off-duty ?

[Shamrock Holmes]

One thing I did notice... Kira is the ONLY Bajoran officer who ever worked on the Defiant. Now, she can be explained because she is high in the command structure of the station. I wonder if, since the Defiant is basically a classified design, Bajoran Militia were not allowed to serve on her...

IIRC, two Baron Militia crew (wearing command red rather than security brown rather than operations/infantry grey?) were also seen on the Defiant during the opening scenes of Trials and Tribble-ations escorting the Orb of Time. Odo was also on the Defiant on several occassions, though perhaps not as often as Nerys. This suggests that Militia could be assigned if necessary but as the Defiant was somewhat seperate to the DS9 command they weren't typically assigned.

Oddly, the most likely time for Dax to have qualified as a Bridge Officer (rather than just a pilot) was between The Jem'hadar and The Search (when she was promoted to LCDR) suggesting that Dax should have been the XO/1st Lt of the Defiant from Day 1 rather than Nerys. However, passing the XO role over to Worf would still make sense as he had about the same 'time in rank' and probably more bridge and command experience.

 

[Farscape One]

Well, those Bajoran security officers were there for the express purpose of guarding the Orb.

As for Odo, since he is also a member of the senior staff, Security Chief, a case can be made for his presence there, as well.

I was referring to more regular crewmen, like engineers, security, background crew.

And by the way... Jadzia didn't become a Lt. Cmdr. until "THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR". Bashir got promoted from Lt. junior grade to full Lt. at the same time. (I thought it was a nice touch... after Sisko gets promoted, looks like he made sure all his people moved up with him.)

 

[Timo]

The one making a "case" for Odo is generally Odo. And that case tends to be that Odo is riding along as a civilian passenger, a specialist in Founder affairs, without any official status in the Defiant hierarchy. I don't think he even ever gets called the Chief of Defiant Security...

Whether Kira is the XO of the Defiant is actually unclear. The opposite is stated in "Apocalypse Rising", with Worf in command of the ship at Sisko's absence and Kira having no say. Sure, Sisko lends the ship to Kira for political purposes in "Sons of Mogh", but that's the only time she really gets to command; in "Starship Down", say, she just remains on the defunct bridge to comfort the injured CO while Worf travels to another location to take factual command.

So Kira's position aboard the ship really could be that of a civilian observer, too (except unlike Odo, she's actually a military officer by training and readily steps in when one is needed, hierarchy be damned). OTOH, whenever she issues commands to the ship's all-Starfleet crew, those could be in the role of DS9 XO rather than Defiant XO, as the former role necessarily gives her some formal authority over Starfleet personnel. But she actually doesn't give such orders, like, ever.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

And by the way... Jadzia didn't become a Lt. Cmdr. until "THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR". Bashir got promoted from Lt. junior grade to full Lt. at the same time. (I thought it was a nice touch... after Sisko gets promoted, looks like he made sure all his people moved up with him.)

Oops. Should have checked Memory Alpha rather than Memory Beta (which only gives the year of her promotion not an episode).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

IIRC, Kira is the only Bajoran we have ever seen actually serve on the Defiant, although I can only assume other Bajorans would be allowed to do so as well - if Kira can, why couldn't they?

 

[The Wormhole]

The reason we never see Bajoran Militia personnel aboard the Defiant is because it's a Starfleet ship. Even when Kira was aboard, she had to follow the Starfleet chain of command, Worf often commands the ship even when she is present, Tears of the Prophets being the one exception. True, she is often left in command of the Defiant anyway, but a lot of the time it was either before Worf joined the show, or he just wasn't aboard the Defiant and the rules of main characters getting their screen time comes into play.