Tell me if I have this straight…

[Amaris]

In current Naval Officer Training programs, one can go from civilian to full officer status in just 12 weeks. I suppose after several years of officer training, in the command track, one might easily graduate from Starfleet as a full captain. (Which is essentially what Pike tells Kirk in the bar: "You could make Captain in 4 years")

I believe that Kirk had most likely already met the requirements to become a Captain, and would have graduated with that rank within weeks. (A full year early, exactly as he'd promised Pike.) Kirk may have still been a cadet, but may also have been within days of graduating as a Captain anyway. That said, I've no objection to him "suddenly" going from cadet to captain, because there was no "suddenly" about it, but three long years of training wherein he earned the rank.

Exactly. It wasn't really that sudden, and it wasn't a couple of days. I think what fuels this is that we don't get to see what they did in the interim. Hell, Kirk could have served as a Cadet with Lt. Commander field commission on a starship during that time, as part of his training. We're also looking at an organization 200 years in the future, and with a different hierarchy than our own military.

J.

 

[Gepard]

They could have ended it with the Federation telling him "You are on the Enterprise, but we do not grant you the rank of captain." Then Kirk could have cried outrage and sat down in a huff. That would have opened up like a whole trilogy of new and exciting possibilities.

I hate you.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I think they made him a captain because when they said the phrase "Captain Kirk" they liked the way it felt in their trousers. And because he Brought the Awesome.

 

[Holodoc]

For those who throw out the 'teens of the future are better', keep in mind that means that adults, who'd be living longer, more productive lives, would also be better. It doesn't make sense to give ships to cadets, because what do you do with all the equally brilliant, and much more experienced, officers who're over thirty and still fifty or sixty years away from retirement? Ranks are relative to the amount of qualified personnel available, not based on an absolute level of specific competence.

 

[Infern0]

Kids in the 50s-60s were getting married at 18 years old all the time, now most don't seem to move out till their early 20's, if the trend continues, 25 year old kirk should still be at secondary school

 

[Blue_Trek]

In heavy combat with heavy loses in the officer core, there is often rapid progress up the command scale, the federation just lost 7 captain's and 7 first officers, as well all there crew. Pike knew this, and he also must have thought he would not survive this as well, as he promoted Spock. And so the Enterprise needed a new first officer, do any of you have a better choice from what Pike had to pick from? Remember too Kirk remaining as first officer depended on completing the assignment of taking out the drill over Vulcan.
That was a very high risk assignment Pike sent him on.

Kirk got a field commission, based on a senior officer's gut feeling on the situation.

 

[pookha]

Kirk is born in 2233 and lives his alternate life and joined Starfleet Academy in 2253. The same day he joins up McCoy joins up as well and they take off on the same recruit shuttle… Uhura is there also but is already in Starfleet Academy, perhaps the first or second year.

Flash forward 3 years to 2256. He is still a cadet in command training commanding the Kobayashi Maru test. Then the Vulcan attack happens and everyone comes together on the Enterprise. McCoy seems to automatically be a Lt. Commander… weird…

Then over the span of the next day or two we have our movie and at the end Kirk is given command of the Enterprise and given the rank of Captain… WTF!? Command school gives one the ability to skip ALL the ranks and get the flagship of the Federation?!?!?!

How the hell does this work?! It’s one of the parts that didn’t click for me. Did I get any of this wrong. It seems all waaaaaay too convenient .

Loved the movie, that part got me though…

i suspect he was already a leiutenat at least...

i do wish they had given us some more hint of his background during the academy years like that part he was already an instructor so his rank may have been higher.

but yeah i think we are supposed to go along that it was a combination they had just a lost a lot of people and he did after all save earth and possibly the rest of the federation.

 

[Holodoc]

Yes, Starfleet lost 7 captains and 7 first officers, but you know what else it lost? 7 ships! There isn't some big, gaping hole in the fleet for new cadets to fill, tons of empty ships just sitting around waiting to be crewed. If you blow up a ship and kill its captain, you don't really need a replacement captain in a hurry, because they don't have a ship to captain.