"Starfleet is not a military organization; its purpose is exploration" ~ Jean-Luc Picard
Starfleet is a Space Navy (military fleet)
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"Starfleet is not a military organization; its purpose is exploration" ~ Jean-Luc Picard
Picard also said that humanity had evolved beyond revenge, which is disproved several times over. He says many high-sounding things without them necessarily being true.
Starfleet unquestionably has at least military aspects, from ground troops, to secret intelligence (which goes as far as attempting genocide), to court martials...
In TUC, the military aspects of Starfleet are made clear:
SPOCK: The dismantling of our space stations and starbases along the Neutral Zone, an end to almost seventy years of unremitting hostility with the Klingons, which the Klingons can no longer afford.
MILITARY AIDE: Bill, are we talking about mothballing the Starfleet?
C in C: I'm sure that our exploration and scientific programs would be unaffected, Captain, but...
CARTWRIGHT: I must protest. To offer the Klingons a safe haven within Federation space is suicide. Klingons would become the alien trash of the galaxy. And if we dismantle the fleet, we'd be defenceless before an aggressive species with a foothold on our territory. The opportunity here is to bring them to their knees. Then we'll be in a far better position to dictate terms.
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Starfleet being a non-military organization does not mean that it abdicates from its duty to defend Federation space. What it means is that its primary purpose as an organization is something other than defense. A military's primary purpose is defense. Starfleet's primary purpose is exploration. Defense is a secondary function of Starfleet's operations, and therefore it is a non-military organization.
As people much wiser than I have already said: Real-world militaries also have many functions other than defense.
Seriously, what do you expect that they do when there's not a war on?
Seriously, what do you expect that they do when there's not a war on?
It CAN be said of Starfleet. The Federation does not exist in a world where there is no threat of war. The threat of war is a constant throughout EVERY series. More than that, there are actual wars mentioned in every series. The Federation is, and always has been surrounded by competing empires, of which it has fought wars with, and has been concerned with avoiding further wars with.
Also, I keep seeing this term "Paramilitary." Paramilitary has been used to describe anything from unsanctioned combat oriented militias to mercenary auxillary troops. I couldn't imagine referring to SF as a paramilitary organization.
al qaeda is a "paramilitary" organization. Civilian security contractors in Iraq are called paramilitary. Heck, even your local police departments brand new tactical team may be referred to as "paramilitary."
If we.are trying to argue that Starfleet is not a military, I don't think substituting paramilitary(like a military) would seem desirable.
How about we stop thinking of "military" as a dirty word. It's a necessity of society. Starfleet being a naval organization- a military organization doesn't make Starfleet or the Federation "militaristic." They aren't.
Not really no.
I hate to play the semantics game, but the etymology of "nav" is specifically "ship" and not the medium in which it functions or governs. So calling a collective force of ships that operates in space a "space navy" is 100% accurate.
As I noted on a previous version of this thread, the closest RW counterpart to Starfleet is probably US Coast Guard, who - although an armed defensive patrol force as standard and possessing many of the trappings of a military organisation, it is not primarly militaristic in nature (only one of it's statuatory missions is actually military in nature (Co-ordinates with the DoN on Defence Readiness), the others are a mix of emergency services or (civilian) scientific missions (coordinated with the NOAA).
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces, which despite having most of the resources found in Western militaries, are another example as political edict declares them to 'not be a military' because they are used 'only to promote Japan's political and defensive interests', due to lingering stigma from WWII.
Exactly. A ship that operates in space is still a ship!
Really, yes. Navy comes from the latin navigia, which also gives us the word "navigation." Both imply a vessel that moves across the sea. The English word "ship" is derived from the old English and germanic "skif" which means literally "very large boat."
All of which imply a vessel that floats upon the water.
So it's kind of interesting that the U.S. Navy refers to submarines as "boats" rather than "ships" even though many of those submarines are actually LARGER than ships...
Well, they don't refer to it as a MILITARY organization, so that kinda narrows it down.
Yep. It's a term that covers a lot of ground and includes a lot of things that LOOK like military organizations even though, legally, they are not.
See how that works?
I don't see something intrinsically desirable about it being a military organization instead. Do you?
How about you explain why "military as dirty word" disturbs you so much?
To be sure, the U.S. Coast Guard is a branch of the U.S. armed forces by legal statute and is therefore considered to be a military organization. Coast guards of other countries do not fall under the same category, again by legal definition. The police forces of some countries are technically military, while the militaries of other countries (the aforementioned JSDF) are technically law enforcement agencies.
The grey areas produced by all of these various technicalities is the reason the word "paramilitary" exists.
Well no.
Sapient.
Sentient is not correct, no matter how commonly used.
Also "being" is speciest against non-linear lifeforms that cannot "be" in the sense of associating with a moment in which they manifest.
#maximumpedant
No, Starfleet considers the Cardassian militias to be paramilitary actors (considering the Cardassian military IS a military sanctioned by their government). From the same episode:
GUL EVEK: Captain, if the Maquis are not stopped, this situation will continue to escalate to the point where the Cardassian military will have no choice but to take matters into their own hands.
The term "Cardassian Military" is one that has been used throughout TNG and DS9. It occurs not less than 18 times between both series.
The term "Federation military" has never been spoken in dialog in more than 50 years of Trek history.
If you wanted the smarties that much you just needed to ask, I have plenty to spare.
Besides you're being speciesist against creatures that are capable of subjective experience and emotional responses whilst being cognizant of their environment but display no capacity for rational judgements, such as me.
Sentient rights!
The Enterprise-D did have an entire deck devoted to sentient, but not sapient, navigational cetacean life. Put on a swimsuit and eat some raw fish and you're on the team!
I think Starfleet is just Space Navy, NASA, Robert Ballard, Jacques Piccard, Coast Guard, Lifeguards all rolled into one.
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