I never thought that Piersall was the permanent commanding officer of the Prometheus, just that he happened to be the officer of the watch at the time that those bridge scenes took place.
LCDR Hobson
- Thread starter Trekboy1993
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I never thought that Piersall was the permanent commanding officer of the Prometheus, just that he happened to be the officer of the watch at the time that those bridge scenes took place.
Just seems odd that EVERY Starship CO has been a Captain with the exception of Worf and Dax on The Defiant. I mean look at the Nova Class why do you need a Captain on a ship that small? It drives me crazy.
If we're going to be realistic, then Riker, even though the XO, should have been a captain in rank.
Maybe having command of a Starship, that operates independently through space, requires at least the rank of captain. It could be Starfleet Protocol, or for legal reasons.
We do see Starship COs that are higher in rank than captain, like the numerous Commodores and Admirals that command a single Starship.
Maybe having command of a Starship, that operates independently through space, requires at least the rank of captain. It could be Starfleet Protocol, or for legal reasons.
We do see Starship COs that are higher in rank than captain, like the numerous Commodores and Admirals that command a single Starship.
The only Commodore we saw commanding a single ship was Decker. As for Admirals, the only time that sticks out to me is Riker in AGT. Maybe Admiral Ross commanding the Sao Paulo, but that was clearly just for the trip of taking the ship to DS9, in other words, temporary. Otherwise all Commodores or Admirals we've seen in command on ships were commanding task forces or fleets.
Hobson's behavior demonstrates that he should not be a command track officer. Guy was a douche.
If Picard seeing the error of his ways and rightfully giving Data the command is favoritism then I think we have different definitions of that word. Watching that episode, it's pretty clear that Picard didn't want to give an android command of a ship, until Data makes him realize his error and he relents. That's not favoritism. Data's experience entitled him to have that command, android or not. Favoritism would have been Picard giving Data command right off the bat and one of the best ships.
Yup. As Kirk once said, "leave any bigotry in your quarters. There's no room for it on the bridge."
For the ease of TV audiences; the CO is "Captain" plain and simple. And if you have two captains, which is The Captain and which is NOT The Captain? Hence the XO must be something else; such as Commander.
Even JAG which had to use real ranks made an effort to visibly demonstrate the differences between the "Skipper", "CAG" and occasionally, "Admiral".
Even JAG which had to use real ranks made an effort to visibly demonstrate the differences between the "Skipper", "CAG" and occasionally, "Admiral".
Few posts here talk about how command structure works today, in the 24th century things might be a little or a lot different.
Perhaps he was, but understandable. Hobson had never served with an android before. Data's crewmates on the Enterprise were used to him, but Hobson couldn't be expected to know him like they do.
Hobson apparently operated on the assumption that androids were emotionless robots who didn't care about anything. How was he supposed to know they weren't (at least Data wasn't), until he served with one? It took some time, but Hobson came around eventually.
Me, I'm wondering why Hobson was so easily swayed by Data's "emotional outburst". Surely he would have realized that outburst was fake?
You know, Data was the only Starfleet main cast of TNG who never got promoted... besides Picard, but that is understandable. Even Beverly got to be a captain, albeit in the anti-time future of the finale.
Geordi and Worf, promoted twice.
Geordi and Worf, promoted twice.
I wonder if Data should have been promoted to CMDR for parity with Riker (Head of CMD) and Crusher (Head of MED/SCI), especially as at least one of his reporting Senior Officers (The ChEng) was typically a LCDR as well.
Obviously you've never visited The Golden Girls forum.
If Troi could be promoted to Commander, and Data was already a bridge officer AND Second Officer of Starfleet's flagship that had over 1,000 people, he SHOULD be a Commander.
And I believe it was an unfilmed scene for NEMESIS where Picard said to Riker he can take anyone to his new command except Data, who he felt earned being XO.
(And I know he said it in "Peak Performance", which I think was a lift from it, anyway.)
And I believe it was an unfilmed scene for NEMESIS where Picard said to Riker he can take anyone to his new command except Data, who he felt earned being XO.
(And I know he said it in "Peak Performance", which I think was a lift from it, anyway.)
If "starts with a K" means Kirk, than he never actually commanded a ship as an Admiral. Indeed, in TMP he had to take a demotion to Captain to command the Enterprise. True, he took command of the Enterprise in TWOK, but that was a temporary arrangement done at the request of Spock, the ship's actual Captain. Then Spock died and Kirk stayed in command to take the ship back to Earth.
Commodore Wesley commanded a task force.
Haven't you in the past argued that Ro needed to be "put in her place" just because she wanted to wear her earring? So someone who wants to wear jewelry of cultural significance in an organization which allows someone else to wear a twenty pound sash because if its cultural significance needs to be put in their place, but someone else who openly expresses bigoted opinions of his CO on the bridge is understandable?
IMO, when it comes to Ro and Hobson, Hobson's the one who needs to be put in his place.
Yes but only three-fifths or so are under the carrier CO, the others are part of a separate command, the air wing, which has its own captain-grade CO. An additional hundred or so are in yet another command, the flag staff, that works for the admiral.
Well, who knows what's realistic. Different arrangements can work equally well, it depends more on what the organization's needs are and how that effects where officers are needed in their careers. For hundreds of years it was standard to have a one-rank gap between a captain and first lieutenant, no commanders aboard. Then in the 1800s it became common in the British navy to have a commander as second-in-command on a big ship. In the US Navy that didn't become the rule till the early 1900s, battleships and cruisers usually having a captain CO and a lieutenant commander XO. In the 20th century it became standard that XOs were the next rank below the CO, that position being a major test to see if the officer would be promoted to the next grade. But in the super-carrier USN, the captain has to be an aviator or naval flight officer, and invariably has to command an air squadron as the major stepping stone, which is a job for a fairly senior commander. So by the time they have done that, then gone to nuclear power school and been assigned to a CVN as exec, they are reaching the point for promotion to captain. But still several years junior to the carrier's CO.
So what? Hobson's superiors thought that Data had the experience and qualifications needed for the command. If that wasn't good enough, Hobson should be in another line of work.
Not unheard of for the CO and XO on amphibs and cruisers to both be CAPTs as well, although I've only checked a small sample so I'm sure how common that is.
Actually, wasn't Data assigned to the Sutherland simply on Picard's orders? The rest of the Suthy's crew might not have even known who they were going to get.
I don't know either. Twenty-five years ago it was pretty much the rule that a CG or LHD XO was a commander, LPH, LHA and LHD were usually brand new captains. I don't know what the issues are around that, but I'm sure it is mainly related to the timing of the jobs they are expected to have held as commanders.
One thing people don't always think about is that even if two people have the same grade, one always outranks the other. A captain promoted yesterday wears the same insignia as one promoted four years ago, but there is a great depth of experience reflected in that seniority which both are very well aware of.
Right, Picard had been appointed task force commander by Admiral Shanthi and charged with assembling his force from available ships.
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