Re: Star Trek XI FAQ 1.0
AlexR said:
Plum said:
I understand the "top gun" reference, but I think it's off, the "Horatio Hornblower" air of trek always had kids on board (think Master and Commander). Even kirks ship had 16 year olds (Charlie X) serving.
Umm... Nope. Charlie Evans was a rescued castaway, on board as a passenger.
I gotta think that, as portrayed, starfleet academy was more a navel academy with young kids serving on ships from time to time as well as their regular studies.
All the aired evidence seems still to point to the idea that StarFleet Academy is still the equivalent of, say, Annapolis or West Point, rather than high school. In fact, IIRC, The Making of Star Trek spec'd that the minimum age to enter in the 2250s or so was 17, and by the 2360s, an episode of TNG ("Coming of Age", IIRC) suggests that the age had been lowered to 16.
Yeah...Charlie wasn't a crew memeber but the 16 year old yeoman that Rand tried to hook him up with was a crew member!
And as for the academy, it's tough to say anything definitive. At times, it seems super difficult to get into (first season when Wesley is rejected) yet they also take Nog in DS9 - and he didn't seem nearly as qualified as the candidates in TNG. So, although it seems to be a Naval Academy type thing, maybe there are different programs or different levels one can be accepted into?