In "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad", Michael is several times refered to as Specialist or Science Specialist. Does this mean she is (roughly) equivalent to a hybrid of USN/CG Operations Specialist and the USCG Marine Science Technician or similar (ie a Petty Officer?).
Science Specialist Michael Burnham
- Thread starter Shamrock Holmes
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If they're not going to call her a science officer, then science specialist will do.
My interpretation is she is a civilian Science expert, with no officier or noncom rank.
The writers wanted to give her a title, Specialist seemed the best fit given she has no rank.
The could be a precedent with with the engineering expert and more-or-less con man Kosinski from TNG's "Where No Man Has Gone Before," who also wore a Starfleet uniform, but with no rank or insignia. A little weird in hindsight, since eventually the 24th century let anyone wear a Starfleet badge if they needed a communicator even if they weren't part of the organization, but whatever.
Still, we don't really know what Kosinski's deal was, either, so it doesn't shed much light on whether Michael is a "specialist" or a "Specialist."
Still, we don't really know what Kosinski's deal was, either, so it doesn't shed much light on whether Michael is a "specialist" or a "Specialist."
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Isn't it Lorca who gives her the title of "Science Specialist"?
This is the correct answer.
That's another way of looking at it, but yes, I could accept that as an alternative equivilant.
(From Wikipedia):
Between 1941 and 1948, the United States Navy maintained an enlisted rate of Specialist in the petty officer pay grade structure.[10] This was to absorb directly appointed civilian experts needed in the rapidly expanding Navy. A seaman would typically be known as a specialist followed by a letter indicating what field the specialty was held. For instance, a Specialist (C) served as a "classification interviewer," while a Specialist (T) was a "navy teacher," among several other specialist designations.
I agree that Burnham is not an officer, she specifically states this. However, given that she is acknowledged as a Subject Matter Expert, and (Speciality) Specialist is one of the three main default formats for constructing naval ratings I don't think that we can necessarily assume that "Science Specialist" doesn't designate this, particularly as the examples of Garak, Kes, Neelix and s3!T'Pol suggest that persons working for Starfleet that remain civilian (which is also the case with Burnham in direct address IIRC, but that's not unusual for Starfleet officers either) are refered to either by name only, or by the most appropriate civilian title, which somewhat oddly IMO is also the case for all doctors, civilian or not.
Of course, the practical in-universe reason all sorts of vagrants get the badge is that it's a communicator...
It isn't a communicator in DSC yet. And Kosinski didn't need a communicator as long as he was aboard the ship (which had internal comms), that is, as long as he was aboard the ship (which was his assignment). Consistent for visiting specialists, really.
Timo Saloniemi
It might be an enlisted rank such as the Army has now. So the main difference is if you are an E-4 in a technical job your rank is specialist as opposed to corporal. It really doesn't make sense to me since I was Navy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialist_(rank)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specialist_(rank)
If she's not even enlisted, why does she get to wear the uniform? Unless specialist is something equivalent to Coast Guard Auxilliarist. Has to be some kind of enlistment. She couldn't be allowed on the bridge without being subject to whatever Starfleet has equivalent to the ucmj.
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