Because designating them a simple military organization is a bad (and sloppy) fit. What constitutes "military" has changed just in the past 60 years, 100 years, 300 years and let alone 200, 400 and 1200 years into the future.
You're overthinking this.
"Military" = "the organization charged by the state with using large-scale violence in defense of the state."
That's clearly Starfleet. Nothing about that definition precludes Starfleet from
also being the UFP's primary exploratory and scientific research service, or from also being a secondary diplomatic service to back up the Federation Diplomatic Corps. But it is clearly also the Federation's military.
Trying to shoehorn what Starfleet is into modern terms makes no sense. It's like trying to liken the modern US Military to the Military of 1800. Yeah they share the name of the organization and the linage, but in almost no sense are they the same.
No. They're the same in the most fundamental sense: They are the organization charged with using large-scale violence to defend the state.
Technically speaking, the modern US Military is a creation of World War II and everything before then is a series of adhoc armies erected around a lean meager skeletons. It's not pedantic or inaccurate to say "the US Military did not fight World War I, the National Army did and some of that went on to form the inter-war military that the World War II military was based around". The National Army was formed around the skeleton of the far smaller US Army.
That is absolutely pedantic and legally inaccurate.
If we want to liken it to anything, I think there is one fitting organizational type: a uniformed civil service. While the United States has six armed military branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marines, Coast Guard) there are two more non-armed uniformed services - the NOAA corps, the uniformed branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, the uniformed branch of the US Public Health Service, part of the Department of Health and Human Services. If anything, Starfleet is more like them, rather than the US Military.
The problem with this idea is that the NOAA Corps and the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps don't fight the United States's wars the way Starfleet fights the Federation's wars.
The US Military's primary mission is deterrence - to prevent an attack on the United States through nuclear, biological, chemical, or conventional weapons, and to maintain the peace in key regions of Earth to prevent the development of a major military conflict the US would get drawn into.
Well, no. The U.S. military's primary mission is the defense of the United States. Deterrence is a manner of achieving that goal, but it is not the goal in and of itself.
This is not Starfleet's primary mission. This is something it can do, but it is not why it exists.
Pure nonsense. The Federation was founded in the wake of the Earth-Romulus War. The defense of the Federation is Starfleet's
co-primary mission, alongside and equal to the co-primary missions of exploration, scientific research, and diplomacy.
And if defense is secondary, then why does Starfleet have the Federation's only canonical intelligence services? Starfleet Intelligence is obviously a part of Starfleet, while Section 31 originates from the Starfleet Charter. Honestly, even if we admit Starfleet is a military, this set up seems weird, the Federation really should have its own civilian intelligence agency rather than only having military intelligence agencies.
For whatever it's worth, in the continuity of the ST novel line -- a continuity that is being ended with the
Star Trek: Coda trilogy as a result of PIC S1 canonically establishing a different history for the 2380s than the novels had established -- had established that the civilian Federation Security Agency had at least three divisions: a domestic law enforcement division; a presidential and diplomatic protection division; and a foreign intelligence division that served as the UFP's primary civilian intelligence service (making it, basically, a combination of the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA; or, in British terms, a combination of MI5, the Special Branch, and MI6). They also established the Federation Reconnaissance Office, a civilian agency focusing on signals intelligence (aka, the Federation's equivalent to the NSA).
But in this scenario where Starfleet is allegedly not a military, how do you explain explorers sending spies out among the galaxy? Are those spies only functioning in a scientific and exploratory sense and not at all a defensive one, or one related to Federation security and protection?
Y e p.
The Wormhole said:
Is there a reason people in the future would abandon a system history has shown works?
It often doesn't, too often militaries have literally overthrown, taken over the government, even without that extreme they can exercise excessive influence.
I mean, sure, but that's a function of political culture -- it's not inherent to the presence of a military per se.
I *think* we hit something interesting here.
Yes, Starfleet is the Federation's military. And, following real world historical trends, the definition of "military" continues to expand as needs and circumstances change.
However, given the opinions voiced by some personnel, I go back to my OP: Starfleet is BIG because the Federation is HUGE. It's not only the Federation's military, but also encompasses many other functions essential to a Federation that spans light years of space and tons of different member species and cultures. As I wrote previously about perspectives varying, it makes sense for Picard (for example) to think of Starfleet as primarily an exploratory organization because
that's what HIS Starfleet is. Like improv, it's "yes, and."
I think that's a pretty reasonable interpretation.
... and that's the reason why even those klingons use that ridiculous us judical systen
i expect better from them - like a lot more trial by combat (maybe rudy g could be a referee)
Except the Klingons really
don't use the U.S. judicial system. There was no jury present at Kirk's and McCoy's trial in TUC, the judge was openly biased against them, there was no right to appeal his ruling, and there were no apparent legal protections for defendants such as a right to refrain from self-incrimination or a right to confront their accusers. The trial system resembled more the kinds of trials we've seen in numerous cultures throughout history, with biased proceedings and judges whose rulings can't be appealed.
Well, I don't think Starfleet, as we know it, should be the military arm of the Federation. It should be a general purpose exploration and courier service. I think the Federation should have distinct armed forces and should include a service branch dedicated to space.
I don't think that's a very efficient allocation of resources. I would, however, agree that it would make more sense if Starfleet had dedicated defense, exploration, and diplomacy branches rather than having its ships all trying to be jacks of all trades.
Is the status quo working?
Well, there are four
Star Trek TV shows airing and a fifth in post-production, which is literally more
Star Trek shows than have ever been in production simultaneously before. So I think the status quo just might be working...
) were gold red and blue for cavalry, artillery and infantry respectively?
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