Tuvok's rank

[Terok Nor]

Tuvok spent the first 10 episodes or so wearing the rank pips of a lieutenant commander but actually held the rank of liuetenant and was referred to as such until he was promoted in Season 4. Is there a real world reason why the costume department didn't notice this error until late in Voyager's first season? I can't believe after so many seasons of Next Generation and Deep Space Nine no one noticed Tuvok was wearing the wrong rank insignia.

 

[MacLeod]

Well wearing the wrong rank pips isn't unheard of how many episodes of TNG did O'Brien wear the rank pips of a Lt. ?

 

[Terok Nor]

Well wearing the wrong rank pips isn't unheard of how many episodes of TNG did O'Brien wear the rank pips of a Lt. ?

True, but O'Brien was a recurring character at that time and was referred to as "Chief". Tuvok was a main character and was credited in the opening titles as Lieutenant. It seems a bit too glaring a mistake to be unintentional. I wonder if it was originally intended for him to be Lt. Commander but later decided to make him lower ranked for some reason.

 

[hux]

I can't believe no one noticed that Janeway had the rank of captain. All those years where she was allowed to make decisions. If only someone had corrected the mistake sooner and put a stop to it.

 

[stardream]

I'm still a bit confused by Lieutenant and Lieutenant Junior Grade.

 

[Terok Nor]

I can't believe no one noticed that Janeway had the rank of captain. All those years where she was allowed to make decisions. If only someone had corrected the mistake sooner and put a stop to it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Perhaps Tuvok was demoted for his actions in "Prime Factors"?

IIRC, B'Elanna also wore the 'provisional' equivalent of a full LT but was later seen as a LTJG. Maybe she got demoted as well for that same reason.

 

[at Quark's]

Perhaps Tuvok was demoted for his actions in "Prime Factors"?

IIRC, B'Elanna also wore the 'provisional' equivalent of a full LT but was later seen as a LTJG. Maybe she got demoted as well for that same reason.

I'd say that getting demoted for disciplinary reasons should be quite exceptional, not so common every starfleet vessel has a handful of such officers aboard. IRL, I'd think that if this happens to you (in the army), it would probably be the end of your active military career? Or is it more common than I think?

But, for the position of Chief Engineer, LTJG would seem too low as a rank. AFAIK, it's only one step above ensign within the starfleet ranking system. Even if the intrepeid class is not nearly as large as a galaxy , I'd still think the chief engineer should be a full lieutenant (at least).

Also, what would the actual repercussions be, if you get demoted on voyager, but keep the same -rather high- position (2nd officer / chief engineer), especially if it isn't expected you will even have the option to pursue a starfleet career outside your vessel for the first 70 years or so?

 

[T'Girl]

I'm still a bit confused by Lieutenant and Lieutenant Junior Grade.

In the US Navy the rank of Lieutenant is superior to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Lieutenant Junior Grade is one step up from Ensign. Both Lieutenant Junior Grade and Lieutenant are casually referred to as Lieutenant

The "full" Lieutenant typically has more duties and responsibilities (and currently get about $180 more a month).

I can't think of any reason why a Lieutenant Commander would be called Lieutenant on a day to day basis.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But, for the position of Chief Engineer, LTJG would seem too low as a rank.

I always thought that B'Elanna was made the chief engineer mainly so the Maquis wouldn't complain. Chakotay may have even pressured Janeway into doing it. Meaning, "either make B'Elanna the chief or the Maquis will revolt the first chance they get".

 

[LeadHead]

Yeah, I wish they had just left Tuvok with the Lieutenant Commander from the start. When they clarified his pips as Lieutenant. They bumped Paris down to Lieutenant Junior Grade. I know Voyager was a small ship, but the ranks were not really done well.

Also, a great opportunity to move people up was missed. There was no cliffhanger between seasons 4 and 5, perfect time to move a characters up like they did in DS9 with Dax and Bashir between seasons 3 and 4. Failing this, the only main character ever promoted on the show is Tuvok, Janeway's longtime friend. Methinks that wouldn't have gone over too well in some instances.

 

[Triskelion]

Harry should have gotten out from under Janeway's wing first chance he got. For an "exemplary" Starfleet officer, he sure went nowhere in terms of command. Kinda like being in a "family", all right - once the pecking order is set, that's it for getting any new role or respect.

Is it a coincidence that the female captain adds a "family" aspect to a ship's culture? Would any other Starfleet captain have, given similar circumstances? What if it was your job and you didn't want to be in the "family"?

Janeway was fully ready to give the position of Chief Engineer to Joe Carey. She would have ditched the Maquis crew before letting them call any shots. Chak got the job because he was Starfleet-qualified, which helped facilitate relations - but the first officer position was clearly Tuvok's right to expect.

Also, this was Tuvok's second distinguished Starfleet career. Maybe his rank had extenuating circumstances? BTW, if the similarity to the US Navy holds true, rank wouldn't mean you get an equivalent billet (job). There are more officers than jobs, so you transfer if you want to climb the ranks - an option denied Voyager's crew.

The writers wanted to shift focus from "crew vs crew" to being "one tiny ship lost against the universe" as quickly as possible. Personally I think this is more realistic than the gritty shaky-cam "Everybody hates everybody especially during a crisis" "realism" of Battlestar Galactica (and Stargate BSG Universe).


I don't know who it would have killed to bump Harry to LTJG....

 

[stardream]

What was the 'order of succession' when it came to the Bridge Crew? Janeway, Chakotay, Tuvok, Paris and then was it Torres? Wasn't the Chief Engineer considered the equivalent of a Bridge Officer...then Kim? Or would it have gone straight from Paris to Kim?

And why were these officers always going on away missions together?

 

[LeadHead]

That's the basic order of succession, yes. However, Trek has shown us repeatedly, who's in command next is whoever the Captain says will be in command next.

Kim being in command during Future's End, even with Torres on the Bridge comes to mind. Also Geordi vs. Logan in The Arsenal of Freedom. Worf seemed to be below Geordi in the First Season, yet he we in command over him on the Bridge in Lonely Among Us. Paris had more experience than Kim and despite them being the same rank, when the Graviton Ellipse appeared in One Small Step, Kim was still in the Captain's chair while Paris was at the Helm.

The long and short of it, anybody can be in command in Trek, just depends on the circumstance.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I vaguely remember reading something from around the time that Voyager started that Tuvok had the extra pip because he was "first lieutenant" or "ship's lieutenant" or somesuch terminology that we haven't heard regarding Starfleet ranks before or since. However, Google is failing me in trying to find such a reference online.

If true, however, perhaps they eventually realized there was no such rank in Starfleet, and gave him the regular Lieutenant pips accordingly?

 

[Guy Gardener]

You're all being mean!

He doesn't smell that bad.

 

[at Quark's]

If the ship was so small that the third man on board (Tuvok) was 'only' a regular Lt., should Janeway even have been a captain by rank? Why not make her a commander (that of course still is adressed as captain by function)?

Also, VOY's original first officer Cavit was 'only' a Lt. commander -- why should Chakotay have been bumped up to full commander? Did he already have that rank when he left Starfleet?

Then again, VOY's original helmsman (Stadi), seems to have been a full Lt , which is a grade higher than the grades of Paris en Torres, and equal to Tuvok's grade, so it seems all a bit of a mess. Though reasons could be found (Paris and Torres neither being SF officers in good standing at the time VOY starts).

 

[Guy Gardener]

140 crew in the beginning.

Transitional floaters vs. fixed live-ins.

Lets say that %30 of the crew are going to be there on purpose for longer than 3 years, and %60 are going to be gone in 3 months, as long as they don't get stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

It's a small escort designated ship designed for short range tactical missions, so logically after every time Janeway would have finished/completed a mission, nearly 1/2 her crew would receive a commendation or promotion that would make them too high profile to stay on a rickety barge like Voyager.

 

[Jedman67]

Easy way to explain: Tuvok was originally going to be a provisional or brevet Lt. Commander and acting XO before Chak nailed Janeway for the top job. Once the pecking order was firmly established, Tuvok's brevet rank and billet was withdrawn, returning him to a plain old fashioned Lieutenant.
Or perhaps his temporary rank was withdrawn as a result of his actions in stealing the hyperdrive from that planet in the first season.

Or the production crew screwed up, its not the first time a characters rank on television was portrayed incorrectly.

 

[Timo]

It's not just that this is a small ship - this is a small ship that has suffered casualties and then taken aboard the remnants of another ship's crew and its chain of command. It would only be expected that the ranks be out of synch with the positions and responsibilities.

That is, unless Janeway engaged in promoting people into rank corresponding to the position. But the only promotion we ever see, that of Tuvok's from Lieutenant to LCDR (or LT CMDR as Starfleet abbreviates it), seems to be of the usual "he did the song and dance for sufficiently many years" sort - not done for organizational reasons or as a reward for heroics.

And if Tuvok really was LCDR in the first season, then there were zero promotions during the show, just demotions and then eventually a pardon for those. Perhaps Janeway thought she had no mandate to promote anybody when there wasn't an official Starfleet letter of approval available?

Tuvok's first year can be treated as either a costuming error or a dialogue error. In dialogue, he's Lieutenant, not merely in the informal "I am Janeway's trusted right-hand Vulcan" sense, but in the "I am Lieutenant Tuvok, Service Number 47LOL227" sense. In costuming, he remains Lieutenant Commander until "Cathexis" where he suddenly begins to wobble... Neither can be considered an "in-universe mistake", as this very solemn character would have censored himself soon enough even if his fellow crew did and said nothing. But if we choose to ignore one of the two mistakes, we could just as well ignore the dialogue and establish Janeway as a CO who never promotes anybody. At least that'd make Harry Kim feel a bit better.

As for the rickety barge thing, the casualty list from "Imperfection" populates the Voyager with at least one Commander and several Lieutenant Commanders, so Lt Tuvok might have been a long way down the chain of command originally. Perhaps the brand new supership was prestigious beyond her real operational or technological value? Or perhaps there were plenty of "observers" aboard during the first mission, and even Janeway would soon have handed the ship over to a more fitting, that is, more junior commanding officer?

Timo Saloniemi