T'pol's uniform/first vulcan in Star Fleet

As with many people, I will always be perpetually annoyed that T'Pol was always in a catsuit and was never given a Star Fleet uniform. Somewhere I remember reading that the producers never put her in a Star Fleet uniform because she was never "technically" apart of Star Fleet (even though she had a rank and a commision, what the heck), moreover they didn't want her to be apart of Star Fleet because, according to the source that I have lost track of, Spock was the first Vulcan in Star Fleet. Now I'm wondering, was it ever said on screen that Spock was the first Vulcan in Star Fleet?

 

Spock Being the first Vulcan in Starfleet is a long held bit of fanon, possibly from a non-canon reference book or novel? The existence of the USS Intrepid and it's all-Vulcan Starfleet crew in "The Immunity Syndrome" proves it extremely unlikely Spock was the first.

I'm pretty sure they kept T'pol in the catsuit because they thought it was sexy. Note that the one time she's in a Starfleet uniform ("Twilight") she's not wearing the undershirt.

 

T'pols uniform was what it was because Tits. See Seven Of Nine, also. For a progressive TV show, modern Star Trek often kept much in common with it's swinging sixties roots.

 

Spock wasn't the first Vulcan in Starfleet, he was the first to graduate Star Fleet Academy.

T'Pol joined Star Fleet after the Xindi mission. She was awarded the rank of commander. As to her uniform, there is plenty of precedent in trek of personel not wearing standard uniform.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T'Pol

 

No, actually, there's no evidence for that last part either.

 

I remember debating this topic about 10 years ago. I think it was logically deduced. The thread was at the old st.com so it's dust.

 

She is in this pic, it's just unbuttoned.

http://ent.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/3x08/twilight_282.jpg

 

I wasn’t a fan of the catsuit from the first two seasons. Just didn’t seem to be very comfortable or practical. The uniforms (if you can call it that) from S3 onwards were much better.

Since she never graduated from Starfleet Academy, I guess it’s logical she never wore their uniform.

 

From what I understand, T'Pol only officially joined Starfleet after the Xindi War. During their time in the Expanse, she was effectively a civilian.

 

I can't think of any dialog to support the idea. Unlike, Kirk we know nothing of Spock's academy days.

 

Deducing something in an absence of evidence is far from proving it. A logical conclusion is only as valid as its premises, and premises derived from little or weak evidence are not particularly interesting.

 

I understand and agree. I wish I could find that thread.

 

I'm honestly curious, do you believe that the existence of the USS Intrepid (a Starfleet vessel with an all-Vulcan crew) is enough evidence for Spock not having been the first Vulcan to attend the Academy?

 

Not trying to answer for Dennis, but the existence of the Vulcan Science Academy might lead one to believe that the crew of the Intrepid could have attended that, rather than Starfleet Academy. (And given that SFA is in San Francisco with a climate less than ideal for Vulcan students, educating them at the VSA might be more logical.)

 

I think Dennis was referring to "logically deducting" Spock was the first Vulcan to graduate from Starfleet Academy with no evidence.

 

Well, it was the "USS" Intrepid. Which implies that it is indeed a Starfleet ship.

If the Intrepid's crew had come from the Vulcan space service, surely they would have chosen Vulcan naming customs for the ship? Then it'd be the VSS Intrepid (or something similar).

Besides, by this time, the Vulcans had been members of the Federation for over a hundred years, so there'd really be no need for Vulcan officers who hadn't come through Starfleet Academy.

And I always assumed that the Vulcan Science Academy was exactly that: a scientific institution, not a military one. For at least two reasons:

- In TOS, Sarek's bone of contention was that Spock chose to enter Starfleet rather than the VSA. If that had been a military service academy, then there'd be nothing for Sarek to complain about.

- As we know from ENT, the Vulcan military agency was the Vulcan High Command.

 

Like I said, maybe the VSA has a more comfortable / less distracting climate for Vulcan students. And I never said the Intrepid crew came from the VSS. Just that they might have gone to the VSA instead of SFA (to graduate as Starfleet officers) - the two institutions might have credit equivalency, or the VSA might even be the local system institution partner for training Starfleet officers there.

 

She definitely wasn't a civilian - her rank was Sub-Commander at the beginning of the series. But she was in the VSS and not Starfleet.

 

So far as we know, the only way to graduate as a Starfleet officer is to attend Starfleet Academy. Remember, these are founding Federation members we're talking about here. Why wouldn't they send their cadets to Starfleet Academy? As of TOS, the Federation has existed for a century, plenty of time to adjust for the individual needs of its member species.

Even if you believe that they would keep their old military space services around for local needs - that's not what the Intrepid was being used for. The Intrepid was patrolling the deep space lanes, exactly like the Enterprise was.

 

Why do you keep acting like I'm talking about Intrepid crew being in the VSS, when I've specified a couple of times that I'm not?

Why do you keep acting like I haven't provided a perfectly cromulent reason for Vulcans to educate their Starfleet personnel on Vulcan (the climate)?