Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Mission ?

[Timo]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

...Alternately, Kirk isn't all that special among the TOS era skippers, but gets promotion to Commodore anyway, like Decker and Wesley before him; is at the right place at the right time to get the Chief of SF Ops billet (and the accompanying RAdm promotion); then has the TMP adventure and is sent back to the desks of Starfleet Command for the next decade. One weekend, while off with his latest flame Antonia, he briefly ponders whether to return from the brief vacation to his job as usual - or perhaps take a leave of absence. He decides against it, goes to teach yet another class, and...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[blueziggy]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

my own opinion.

after getting the promotion to admiral following the first successful 5 year mission, kirk begins to get tired of the desk duty. the vger crisis comes and he uses this to get back command of the enterprise for the incident and the following year or twos worth of shakedown.

during the shakedown cruise, starfleet promotes spock to captain and recinds mccoys reserve activation clause. spock is reassigned and mccoy goes to starfleet medical in order to stay in starfleet. with spock and mccoy gone, and the enterprise not exploring strange new worlds just being the testbed for the refit; kirk leaves starfleet for a time.

after a second (minor) refit of the enterprise to correct the flaws found during the shakedown cruise is complete, starfleet comes to a now retired kirk and offeres him the chance to command the enterprise on another 5 year mission. kirk agonizes over this decision (generations) but decides to come back.

after the 5 year mission is over, kirk moves to starfleet academy to join mccoy and in a year or so recommends spock to become an appointed instructor.

during this period, sulu completes command training to prepare to become a captain. checkov is promoted a few times and becomes first officer on the reliant. scotty and uhura do some things.

cue star trek 2 music.

 

[Maestro]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

In the US military, certain positions come with specific ranks by law. I believe the Navy JAG carries with it a promotion to two-star Flag Officer, and I know that the Surgeon General is made a Vice Admiral.

Perhaps the position of Chief of Starfleet Operations carries with it a promotion to some type of Admiral. Therefore, Kirk would have been promoted to which ever rank Starfleet regs require.

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

That would be if he was to be promoted to a certain position and given that rank, versus promoting him for previous mentioned reasons, and having a job for him suitable for his new rank.

 

[Nebusj]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Ronald Held said:
I also thought his promotion was politics based and may also done to get him off of starship command due to his "unique" interpretation of some Starfleet orders.

What unique interpretations would those be, exactly?

 

[MarianLH]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Just off the top of my head, there was "don't enter the Romulan Neutral Zone under any circumstances whatsoever" in "Balance of Terror".

Granted, Starfleet later changed its mind about that, but only after Kirk had already done it.


Marian

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Kirk did stretch or flexible interpret orders on some occasions. Even when it worked out well, I am certain some in Starfleet Command still disapproved of his methods.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

And we all know what Temporal Investigations thought of him...

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Unfortunately we do!

 

[DumbDumb2007]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

I always thought that the first film took place about 3 1/2 years afer the end of the Original 5 year mission.
The Stardates used in the film begin with 74..... indicating an inside wink to 1974. Setting it exactly 3 Centuries ahead.
Kirk mentioned he was in charge of Starfleet Ops for 2 1/2 Years, the refit of the Enterprise took 18 months etc.
Time would have required the Enterprise being placed in storage while the "new systems" were being designed and modified for the Constitution Class Ships. The Enterprise was used as the Prototype because it was almost obsolete after it got home. Also thE studio needed new sets and new spaceship models for the high budget film.
Kirk and Scotty bent rules to keep the Starship near them. Kirk and Starfleet would never let a Legendary ship get into danger without an experienced Captain aboard. The Enterprise would have been placed on standby in safe harbor until ready for the Refit. With the inside reference of Stardate 74...... it would be about 3 1/2 years since that ship got home from the 5 Year Mission.
Immediatly after the 5 year Mission with most of the crew reassigned Kirk may have held on to the ship as a Courier vessel only until it had to be placed in storage until the refit.

 

[Timo]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

The Stardates used in the film begin with 74..... indicating an inside wink to 1974. Setting it exactly 3 Centuries ahead.

Would be nice... Except that the year of release was 1979, and indeed the dialogue refers to Voyager VI having been launched "more than 300 years ago", while Voyagers I and II were recent news in 1977. So having the movie take place in 2279 would be ideal... If not for the fact that some later episodes show a ST2:TWoK-style Starfleet in action in 2278 already.

Kirk and Starfleet would never let a Legendary ship get into danger without an experienced Captain aboard.

It did seem that young Decker was to command the ship until Kirk strong-armed the Admiralty, though. And if the 1701 was so legendary, why mutilate it to unrecognizability in an experimental refit?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[aridas sofia]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Timo said:

It did seem that young Decker was to command the ship until Kirk strong-armed the Admiralty, though. And if the 1701 was so legendary, why mutilate it to unrecognizability in an experimental refit?

Timo Saloniemi

This has always bothered me. If the ship is so symbolically important to warrant adopting its insignia for the entire fleet, then does it make sense the old hull would be bent beyond recognizability into a new shape?

That's why I've come to think it needn't have been. The spaceframe -- or "keel" and "ribs" -- could have been reused. The rest could have been removed for analysis to determine the stresses placed on a ship over the course of such a trying voyage.

In later years I see curators getting hold of "everything but the bones" and rebuilding the ship around a new spaceframe at the Fleet Museum.

 

[Timo]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

For my part, I prefer to think the ship wasn't particularly legendary before the TMP incident. Its insignia was not adopted for the entire Starfleet; instead, the insignia of the 1st Fleet (to which NCC-1701 incidentally belonged, along with other ships and bases and units) was adopted in place of separate insignia for separate Fleets.

In fact, NCC-1701 was probably considered the most expendable Constitution at the time, having been fatigued by a five-year deep space mission. While Kirk himself might have been legendary already, and not only among his own crew, it was only his triumphant return to the Enterprise that finally made the ship a celebrity on her own right.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ronald Held]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

So the crew may have been legendary, but not the ship?

 

[Timo]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

Probably not the crew, either. I for one remain unconvinced that there was anything legendary about Montgomery Scott even at the day he disappeared, let alone earlier on during his career. And there would be no "Famous Hikaru Sulu" - but merely "Lieutenant Whazzisname who served with the Famous James Kirk".

Yes, I do think Spock and Kirk would really have been famous, the former through his intriguing familial relations, the latter through a skyrocketing career (in which the ascent through rank and file would be more exceptional than the ho-hum galaxy-savings that every starship captain performs sooner or later). And perhaps, just perhaps, the name of McCoy might be attached to them - like it was attached to the opening credits eventually. But more probably not.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Wesson]

Re: Kirk was promoted to Admiral right after the 5 yr Missi

The TMP novelization can be considered canon since it was written by the Great Bird himself. Near the end there's a great moment which highlights Kirk's desperation to shed his Admiral's stripes. Kirk is thinking if he pulls of a victory during the V'Ger incident, Starfleet would have to give him anything he wanted. And what he wanted was permenant command of Enterprise. If he failed, they would most likely die, but, there was no where else he would rather be at the end then in the Center Seat of that ship.