Where do the non-coms in Starfleets get their training? At Starfleet Academy?
Non-commissioned officers in Starfleet
- Thread starter Josh_Lyman
- Start date
There is at least one reference to O'Brien having gotten part of his training at the Academy (DS9 "Trials and Tribble-ations"). We can speculate whether his studies really were "academic" in nature (perhaps his later training for engineer was, even though his original training for infantryman was unlikely to have been), but we can always accept that Starfleet might choose to give various types of training under the roof of the facility that is generically known as the Starfleet Academy.
There's also a reference to Crewman Simon Tarses from TNG "Drumhead" having gone through the Academy to attain his enlisted position. This again supports the idea that the Academy offers non-academic training as well, as the young Tarses would have been less likely to include academic studies in his training than the older and explicitly career-swapping O'Brien.
So I'd say the one and the same organization, commonly known as "Starfleet Academy", handles all the training. It may be divided into suborganizations that handle the various types of Starfleet employee, but we don't hear of official or unofficial names for these divisions. Also, there are probably a great number of facilities all across the Federation that participate in the SF Academy training mission (see e.g. TNG "Coming of Age"), but it is quite possible that all the commissioned officers are indeed told to come to the single facility in San Francisco for their commissioning. A yearly output of, say, half a million students would be eminently plausible, and Starfleet might make do with a lot less than that. Forcing all the noncoms through that bottleneck would probably be a bit too much, though.
Timo Saloniemi
There's also a reference to Crewman Simon Tarses from TNG "Drumhead" having gone through the Academy to attain his enlisted position. This again supports the idea that the Academy offers non-academic training as well, as the young Tarses would have been less likely to include academic studies in his training than the older and explicitly career-swapping O'Brien.
So I'd say the one and the same organization, commonly known as "Starfleet Academy", handles all the training. It may be divided into suborganizations that handle the various types of Starfleet employee, but we don't hear of official or unofficial names for these divisions. Also, there are probably a great number of facilities all across the Federation that participate in the SF Academy training mission (see e.g. TNG "Coming of Age"), but it is quite possible that all the commissioned officers are indeed told to come to the single facility in San Francisco for their commissioning. A yearly output of, say, half a million students would be eminently plausible, and Starfleet might make do with a lot less than that. Forcing all the noncoms through that bottleneck would probably be a bit too much, though.
Timo Saloniemi
Those were good explanations. Thanks.
^ A similar suggestion came up in a TrekLit thread some time back, so I'll just shamelessly repeat the comments I made then:
Oh, wow! I can see it now:
"Where are you from, scumbag!"
"Sir, Iowa, sir!"
"Only two things come from Iowa, steers and queers! You don't look much like a steer to me, so that kind of narrows it down!"
RR
I don't think steers would work (since the character isn't from Texas ala Full Metal Jacket), but corn might.
Oh, wow! I can see it now:
"Where are you from, scumbag!"
"Sir, Iowa, sir!"
"Only two things come from Iowa, steers and queers! You don't look much like a steer to me, so that kind of narrows it down!"
RR
"Only two things come from Iowa, corn and gay porn. You don't look like a corn husker, so that kinda narrows it down!"
I don't think steers would work (since the character isn't from Texas ala Full Metal Jacket), but corn might.I so want to see that on film nowMaybe theyll have it in the new movie....
Oh, wow! I can see it now:
"Where are you from, scumbag!"
"Sir, Iowa, sir!"
"Only two things come from Iowa, steers and queers! You don't look much like a steer to me, so that kind of narrows it down!"
RR
"Only two things come from Iowa, corn and gay porn. You don't look like a corn husker, so that kinda narrows it down!"
man, I'd love to see that.
I can actually see and hear R. Lee Ermey doing that bit with Chris Pine in my head.
This must appear in your next book as a flashback to Kirk's first day at the Academy!
That or Sam Jackson...
Or any character, really. But Kirk makes it ultra cool.
Now I'm kinda tempted to write a scene where he tears into all of the TOS cast...
You could always have them all reminisce about that "one drill instructor" who all cadets fear and all officers respect.
Has there ever been an examination or explanation in either on screen or Lit on how Starfleet Non-Commisioned Officers system works in terms of rank or advancement?
Is there a rank system? I think O'Brien was a Chief Petty Officer???
Do they all start with a rank of CREWMAN? Are Yeomans typically Commisioned or Non-Commissioned?
Can a Non-Com become an Officer without going to the Academy?
And do Non-Coms just sign up for a Tour of Duty (3 or 5 years)?
Is there a rank system? I think O'Brien was a Chief Petty Officer???
Do they all start with a rank of CREWMAN? Are Yeomans typically Commisioned or Non-Commissioned?
Can a Non-Com become an Officer without going to the Academy?
And do Non-Coms just sign up for a Tour of Duty (3 or 5 years)?
no.
yes.
yes.
commissioned, i believe.
yes.
yes.
yes.
yes.
commissioned, i believe.
yes.
yes.
I forget, do professionals (lawyers, doctors) get direct commissions, or what?
Also, and this is related, why are so few science officers (and engineers--and counselors!) Ph.D.s?
Also, and this is related, why are so few science officers (and engineers--and counselors!) Ph.D.s?
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
Please God, no.
Maybe what's left of the MACOS have that kind of thing, but I'd like to think that Starfleet has come a lot further than that in training it's noncoms/enlisted personnel. And such a thing wouldn't work with the other races in the UFP, either.
