What's With All The Commanders?

[Bry_Sinclair]

In an episode there is a casualty list which includes fifteen either lieutenant commanders or commanders (all named after members of the production staff), which doesn't include the two regulars (Chakotay and Tuvok) or even the original XO, Lt. Commander Cavit.

We saw one other in "Caretaker" (the ship's CMO) and we know the Chief Engineer was killed in transit, but just what other roles could they all have filled?

Also, for a ship that launched with 141 souls onboard, isn't it a little excessive (especially the full commanders, seeing as how Cavit wasn't one)?

Anyone got any thoughts?

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's actually the main characters from The West Wing.

Chakotay and Cavit were only Lieutenant Commanders according to their Jewellery.

People say I'm stirring shit, but "Lieutenant Commander" is often abbreviated to just "Commander" so it's more than possible to have been the truth.

They could have all been promoted post mortem.

 

[F. King Daniel]

What's With All The Commanders?

To make Harry seem more "special". One captain, 148 commanders and one ensign.

 

[jaz'a]

Which episode is it?

 

[Ithekro]

Reminds me of a Buck Rogers episode were they ran into a group that was mostly generals and one private.

 

[Melakon]

It's all sort of akin to the old saying, "Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians."

 

[Ithekro]

Janeway's senior staff was very senior. Even the nurses were Lt. Commanders it would seem. That or the dock crew and several VIP Commanders went out with them on their first mission.

It just happens that the trip kills basically all her senior officers leaving her with a few lieutenants, and several ensigns, and a ship full of Marquis to fill out her senior staff. And no medical personnel at all.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Which episode is it?

Not sure, some point after I lost interest in VOY. I was at Memory Alpha doing some research when it struck me.

And no medical personnel at all.

By the looks of this the ship only had one doctor and one nurse, which seems hugely impractical if you ask me (even with a holo-doc on standby). A single doctor I could buy (someone on-call throughout the day when needed), but each shift would need at least a nurse and a corpsman/medtech or two to handle routine check-ups, care provision for those hospitalised, maintenance/housekeeping and records/administration.

 

[Melakon]

On current naval vessels with 150 crew, how many are assigned to Sickbay full time?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

It would help to have concrete data in which to frame the discussion, doncha think?

Which list of casualties is the OP talking about?

Link to TrekCore's Voyager screencap database, to help in the legwork.

 

[Guy Gardener]

You know they might have died sequentially instead of simultaneously.

Promotion... Death. Promotion... Death. Promotion... Death, and so on.

I mean serious "Captain Kim" was in charge of the Night shift?

She must of got sick of promoting people who only died the next week.

To avoid a terminal jinx, is why Harry was not promoted.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I discovered this when looking at Memory Alpha's list of Voyager Personnel so it seems to have been compiled from several different episodes including "Imperfection" and "Killing Game".

 

[Guy Gardener]

Fuck.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rick_Berman_(Commander)

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Brannon_Braga_(Commander)

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Jeri_Taylor_(Commander)

I count 21 Lieutenant/commanders using the find function in my browser.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I discovered this when looking at Memory Alpha's list of Voyager Personnel so it seems to have been compiled from several different episodes including "Imperfection" and "Killing Game".

Nah, you said you were talking about a casualty list in a single episode, but you never named the episode. I know, because I read the whole thread before posting. You also didn't say where you were at Memory Alpha, until then.

In an episode there is a casualty list which includes fifteen either lieutenant commanders or commanders (all named after members of the production staff), which doesn't include the two regulars (Chakotay and Tuvok) or even the original XO, Lt. Commander Cavit.

Which episode is it?

Not sure, some point after I lost interest in VOY. I was at Memory Alpha doing some research when it struck me.

The word "commander" occurs in Voyager Personnel 19 times*, and of those only four are KIAs.

So, again, ..... which is the episode in which there is a casualty list with 15 commander or lieutenant commander casualties?


* - @Guy Gardener: Two of the 21 times are in captions.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Well, whaddya you know?

**Blub, blub**

CorporalCaptain isn't even a real rank!

 

[CorporalCaptain]

CorporalCaptain isn't even a real rank!

Shhhhh! Are you trying to get me kicked out of the officer's club?!?

 

[Melakon]

He wants you drinking only Grape Nehi's.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I was reading it on MA and thought the casualty list was from a single episode, when you asked which one I went back and had a look, which is when I discovered it was from at least two. Since they were all seen on screen (though admittedly some on a small LCARS display) it is canon, when she launched Voyager had at least 16 commanders and lieutenant commanders onboard, all of whom were lost either during transit to the DQ or on the journey home.

My point remains that it seems ridiculously high for such a small ship on a patrol and recovery mission of the Badlands, without any explanation of what positions they held or duties they carried out.

 

[Ithekro]

Could they have been passengers and left at DS9?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I was reading it on MA and thought the casualty list was from a single episode, when you asked which one I went back and had a look, which is when I discovered it was from at least two. Since they were all seen on screen (though admittedly some on a small LCARS display) it is canon, when she launched Voyager had at least 16 commanders and lieutenant commanders onboard, all of whom were lost either during transit to the DQ or on the journey home.

Where in Memory Alpha does it say that they were all lost? There are only 4 KIA lieutenant commanders or commanders in the list you yourself provided. What you linked to was the entire crew manifest, as understood by Memory Alpha. Captain Janeway herself is on that list; it's not a list of everyone who was lost! Just because they mostly hid in the bowels of the ship and many were only named in one or more crew manifests (not casualty lists) that you can only read if you screencap them, that doesn't mean that they were all lost.

My point remains that it seems ridiculously high for such a small ship on a patrol and recovery mission of the Badlands, without any explanation of what positions they held or duties they carried out.

Since you've yet to produce the actual screencaps of your casualty list, your point does not remain. So far, all that's happened is that your point has been contradicted by the link that you yourself provided.

ETA: Here is another link that might be helpful.