Where have all the yeomen gone?

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

maybe their absence is explained by the fact that they never got the respect they deserved and their story purpose has been dished out to other characters?

Almost exclusively portrayed as female, seen as little more than beautiful decorations on the bridge? Yeah, I suppose so. Maybe if they'd called them "secretaries" and had shown them working in the captain's office and interacting with him, not just silently going, "here, sign this".

At least Miss Piper was Kirk and co's welcoming committee.

 

[Pauln6]

This much is true.
Those duties fall to the Culinary Specialists, the current name for the rate that grew out of the segregated Cook/Steward ratings of WWII via the Mess Management Specialist rating . They would be the ones assigned to a commanding officer not only to be in charge of the Captain's Mess but also be responsible for the CO's mundanes*, like cleaning his/her cabin, maintaining the wardrobe etc.

A Navy Culinary Specialist responsibilities vary and can include ( source ):

• Menu management.
• Food preparation.
• Mess, kitchen, and dining facilities operations.
• Operation and management of shipboard living quarters.
• Operation of shore-based hotel-type quarters.
• Serve as personal food service specialists in Commanding Officer’s and Admiral’s messes.
• Financial record management.
• Maintain subsistence inventories using storeroom management procedures.
• Provide hospitality and catering services during official command receptions and ceremonies.
• Serve as a flight attendant aircrewman on designated aircraft.

*(Some may object to the servile nature of that but a CO should be focused on his command not on whether he has time to make the dry cleaners before the Admiral's visit. )

With spray and wear clothing, in the 23rd century we no longer fear dry cleaning.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

How come NX-01 didn't have them?

Because for most its run, ENT was treated as a prequel to TNG instead of TOS.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Answering my own question - I suppose it could be for the same reason the 1990s shuttle missions didn't have them - you staff the ship with the minimal people for the mission. By TOS era, things were figured out, space was made more comfortable to travel and live in long term. So you have staff that aren't all scientists, or necessary support staff such as cooks, techs. When your crew complement is limited, you focus on those you definitely need, not the "nice to have, but could do without" positions.

 

[The Wormhole]

Starfleet starships really aren't analogous to modern day space shuttles at all. Starfleet ships basically are boats in space, with crews typically as small as fifty-ish or as large as over a thousand. A space shuttle is basically a fancy airplane with a crew of only a dozen or so.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

All right, but I guess the principle applies. When you first get started, essential-to-the-mission personnel only, supplemented by stops at places where other services can be accessed. The more you develop and learn, the more you can begin to augment your crew complement with additional types of personnel.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

For reference: https://screenrant.com/star-trek-yeoman-rank-disappear-why-explained/

 

[Jedi Marso]

They're basically clerical staff.

Think Radar on MASH.
An Adjutant is an officer level position that oversees all of the admin and clerical staff for a unit. wiki coverer Marines (No Navy entery)

Not something we normally see on Trek. But we've seen some XO perform these tasks.
wiki XO USN

There's no naval entry for 'adjutant' because major naval commands have an Admin department that performs all the tasks the adjutant does in a Marine unit. In fact, it's not a stretch to say that a Marine adjutant and a navy Admin department head have the same job. Yeomen work in the Admin department. Large departments like operations and maintenance in some commands have their own admin divisions, separate from the command's main Admin dept. These smaller divisions are referred to as "Ops-Admin" or "Maintenance Admin" and are usually headed up by junior officers or warrant officers who report to their department head.

In Trek, especially by the 23rd Century, there is probably little need for a separate Admin department because all of those functions can be handled in-department with computer and AI assist, and there are no paper records to keep.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

In Trek, especially by the 23rd Century, there is probably little need for a separate Admin department because all of those functions can be handled in-department with computer and AI assist, and there are no paper records to keep.

It would be less efficient to have separate admin depts than to have one dept with sub-depts for specialties (simple data entry vs that requiring specialized technical knowledge of a particular field)

 

[Pauln6]

For reference: https://screenrant.com/star-trek-yeoman-rank-disappear-why-explained/

Well, speaking as someone who works in an office with computers, they do NOT reduce the amount of admin I have to do.

 

[fireproof78]

It would be less efficient to have separate admin depts than to have one dept with sub-depts for specialties (simple data entry vs that requiring specialized technical knowledge of a particular field)

It is probably folded under Operations.

 

[Mudd]

They've mentioned yeomen on SNW, in addition to the appearance of Zach, Pike's former yeoman.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Spoiler: SNW Season 2

Yeah, apparently he had delusions of kingship.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Maybe the yeomen are enlisted working under the records officer (Ben Finney before he faked his death). So that would make Rand a junior records technician.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Inspired by something @Pauln6 said here: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/legacy-characters-in-season-3.314738/page-6#post-14593679

It might be interesting to learn that Rand's posting on the Enterprise was actually for another purpose; that she was a Starfleet Intel asset whose cover was that of yeoman.

 

[SalyutBuran]

Jeannie Malone is often manning the engineering station, so she has the honour of being the first onscreen female engineer. Maybe she is Scotty's yeoman?


Yeomen in TOS were space secretaries. A sexist way to include female characters, even though yeomen should not be exclusively female.

Given that the sisters are now doing it for themselves, unless they are looking to revamp one of the existing yeomen like Colt, Rand, etc, I would expect any new yeomen we see to be male.

You realize secretaries are still a thing and are predominantly women?

 

[Pauln6]

Inspired by something @Pauln6 said here: https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/legacy-characters-in-season-3.314738/page-6#post-14593679

It might be interesting to learn that Rand's posting on the Enterprise was actually for another purpose; that she was a Starfleet Intel asset whose cover was that of yeoman.

So, asking dumb questions was just deep cover? I certainly think she could have had some black ops equipment hidden in that hair.

Personally, I rather liked Rand as the 23rd century equivalent as a working class girl done good. I like her to have street smarts or rather space smarts, with some of those dumb questions leading to smart solutions but I'm not sure I want her to be an actual genius. Still, given the way they've subverted expectations with Spock, Chapel, and T'Pring, who knows?

You realize secretaries are still a thing and are predominantly women?

Except, technically she's an astronaut whose assignment in TOS is secretarial, until it isn't. She lasts only 6 months in that role before moving on to a different job, probably in engineering, since that's where she ends up in TMP. I do think that the role of the Yeoman was rather under-used and far too limited in scope. Part of me would like to see them do the role justice.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

If somebody is waiting for a posting to their specialty, the role of yeoman on a ship that's frequently within range of a place where one can transfer between postings, such as a station or colony world, might appeal to someone for whom a position in their specialty hasn't opened up. It can be temporary work that nearly anyone could do in a pinch. An aide-type role also lends itself well to intel jobs; nobody notices someone who's always there, with easy access to files as part of their job.

However, that would also explain the role's obsolescence in some places; with yeoman type duties the equivalent of knowing how to use Microsoft Office, the Internet, etc (and much more efficiently, due to better programs, at that), everyone who was taught how to do it now essentially does it for themselves, with the help of better computer programs.

 

[Orphalesion]

Well, speaking as someone who works in an office with computers, they do NOT reduce the amount of admin I have to do.

And does your office with computers have 21st century or 24th century computers? Presumably hundreds of years in the future, with ST's magical tech, the AI and things are more advanced than they are now.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Many advances promise less work but fail to deliver. The better your tech, the easier it may be to do your basic tasks, but it also means you can now do things that you couldn't before, necessitating more time and thought.