It is also possible that USS Stargazer was sent out on some very long deep space exploration missions. USS Olympia was sent out on an eight year deep space mission to the Beta Quadrant in the 2360s. USS Stargazer, with its redundant systems, would probably be ideal for such long missions. So Picard may have been sent out of several seven year missions, or whatever. If they were true deep space missions, his ship would be far out from Federation space for the better part of a decade at a time. We do know that at some point his ship was set to the Cardassian border as a peace envoy and was outclassed. He managed to get invited to the wedding of Sarek's son at some point. He did a bunch of archeology during those years. He was in Paris in the early 2340s at one point.
Picard turned down a promotion to be head of Starfleet Academy during his first year in command of the USS Enterprise. Just prior to the loss of USS Enteprise-D, Captain James T. Kirk suggested to Picard to not let Starfleet promote him, as long as he was a starship captain, he could make a difference. And Captain Kirk, having been an Admiral and hated it, would know. The lose of USS Enterprise does not seem to have grounded him at all, since he takes command of the next USS Enterprise roughly a year later. He also of course had to deal with the court marshal over the loss of USS Stargazer. That could have grounded him for a while, though with the later fate of USS Enterprise taken into account, it is unclear if this is the case. It was roughly eight years between the loss of the Stargazer and gaining command of Enterprise. He may have taken a station job where he encountered some of his future crew, like Yar and LaForge. He also could have gotten himself another ship. He seems fairly attached to his ships (until they get wrecked), so either he didn't get attached to his new command, or the idea of commanding the Enterprise was just that much of a eye opener for him that he jumped at that chance...even though there were children on the ship.
Picard turned down a promotion to be head of Starfleet Academy during his first year in command of the USS Enterprise. Just prior to the loss of USS Enteprise-D, Captain James T. Kirk suggested to Picard to not let Starfleet promote him, as long as he was a starship captain, he could make a difference. And Captain Kirk, having been an Admiral and hated it, would know. The lose of USS Enterprise does not seem to have grounded him at all, since he takes command of the next USS Enterprise roughly a year later. He also of course had to deal with the court marshal over the loss of USS Stargazer. That could have grounded him for a while, though with the later fate of USS Enterprise taken into account, it is unclear if this is the case. It was roughly eight years between the loss of the Stargazer and gaining command of Enterprise. He may have taken a station job where he encountered some of his future crew, like Yar and LaForge. He also could have gotten himself another ship. He seems fairly attached to his ships (until they get wrecked), so either he didn't get attached to his new command, or the idea of commanding the Enterprise was just that much of a eye opener for him that he jumped at that chance...even though there were children on the ship.
