So, who's third in command on DS9?

[Watersluis]

He was chief of security under the Cardassians and despite this was still respected enough by the Bajorans that they kept him in post when the Cardassians withdrew - seems to me he's a pretty good choice.

He was certainly not respected for his leadership abilities but for being able to find the guilty man, his detective abilities.
He has never been shown to make any particular decisions beyond leading some security officers into a room and telling them to shoot the obvious intruders.

This is entirely different from, say Tuvok, who drafts tactical plans and makes nontrivial decisions.

 

[Angry Fanboy]

He has never been shown to make any particular decisions beyond leading some security officers into a room and telling them to shoot the obvious intruders.

This is entirely different from, say Tuvok, who drafts tactical plans and makes nontrivial decisions.

I don't really understand what you're arguing here TBH beyond some irrational dislike of the character - he's clearly extremely competent at what he does by whatever metric you choose.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

BTW, did we forget Odo's advisory roll in developing anti-Founder security measures? That's certainly more than playing detective.

ETA: he also directs security exercises in Way of the Warrior.
ETA: he also accompanied Kira to Cardassia, where they train and direct Damar's rebela.

 

[dupersuper]

They called him chief of security... but we didn't see him deciding which deputies to promote, or doing training, or very much assigning them duties unless there was an urgent situation somewhere.

We never saw Worf or Yar do that either.

This is entirely different from, say Tuvok, who drafts tactical plans and makes nontrivial decisions.

He had the episode in which we see him training some Maquis officers, but I'm struggling to recall a lot of Tuvok tactical plans. Also, chief of security on a Federation starship is a very different job than on a non Federation space station.

 

[Watersluis]

I don't really understand what you're arguing here TBH beyond some irrational dislike of the character - he's clearly extremely competent at what he does by whatever metric you choose.

Indeed he is, and what he does is being a detective, not a leader.

He had the episode in which we see him training some Maquis officers, but I'm struggling to recall a lot of Tuvok tactical plans. Also, chief of security on a Federation starship is a very different job than on a non Federation space station.

Tuvok is typically the person to craft a tactical plan of attack, but that is being a tactician.

More so than anything, Tuvok is constantly seen giving orders in critical situations. I don't see Odo doing what Tuvok did, when Chakotay gave an order, and an officer, clearly uncomfortable with a former Maquis giving an order was hesitant, and Tuvok said something along the lines of “You were given an order, ensign. Carry it out.”. Odo is not invested in the chain of command at all.

 

[Laughing Dragon]

Yeah, Dax before Worf.

 

[oberth]

My guess for political reasons, at least prior to Worf, would have been Odo. He does have a rank in the Bajoran militia, we just never actually were told what it was.

odo does wear a bajorian communicator but no rank insignia

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

The general assumption is that Odo's "rank" is similar to O'Brien's (junior to the insignia'd officers but senior to the [other collarless] crewman like Rom and his Bajoran Militia deputies).

 

[oberth]

The general assumption is that Odo's "rank" is similar to O'Brien's (junior to the insignia'd officers but senior to the [other collarless] crewman like Rom and his Bajoran Militia deputies).

which means he's somewhere between #238 and #417 in the chain of command