Why Didn't Harry Get Promoted?

[Oddish]

If Voyager and Equinox found themselves as a two-ship fleet (and all of the latter's officers dead or brigged for mass murder), you'd need your most technically proficient people aboard Equinox. And your best engineer on full-time engineer duties. Probably...

USS Voyager
Captain: Kathryn Janeway
First Officer: Tuvok (promote Ayala to head of security)
Chief Engineer: Joe Carey

USS Equinox
Captain: Chakotay
First Officer: Harry Kim (promoted to LTJG)
Chief Engineer: B'Elanna Torres

 

[Farscape One]

Being XO and Chief Engineer at the same time seems like a bad idea, especially if your ship finds itself in the middle of a crisis.

Very true. Likely why the only times we see an XO function concurrently with another position it was always a bridge station. (Spock, T'Pol, Number One.)

 

[FredH]

Well, there was that time Harry made a passionate speech about how deep and all-encompassing his love was for… someone he would shortly leave in the Delta Quadrant, where he apparently had no plans of remaining. That doesn’t speak well of his forward thinking.

 

[Oddish]

Well, there was that time Harry made a passionate speech about how deep and all-encompassing his love was for… someone he would shortly leave in the Delta Quadrant, where he apparently had no plans of remaining. That doesn’t speak well of his forward thinking.

He was in an altered state, mentally. That's why I consider Janeway's reprimand against him to be unjustified.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

USS Equinox
Captain: Chakotay
First Officer: Harry Kim (promoted to LTJG)
Chief Engineer: B'Elanna Torres

Particularly if you're moving B'Elanna over, then it would make more sense to promote Tom to First Officer rather than Harry, given that except for a small window of time (which I'm pretty sure doesn't include Equinox) he's already the defacto "third officer" anyway.

Harry could still be promoted to LTJG though after moving up to Tom's place in Voyager's chain-of-command.

 

[Oddish]

Particularly if you're moving B'Elanna over, then it would make more sense to promote Tom to First Officer rather than Harry, given that except for a small window of time (which I'm pretty sure doesn't include Equinox) he's already the defacto "third officer" anyway

True. I kept Tom on Voyager because of his piloting proficiency. If there's fighting, they need him flying the tactically superior ship. And they need Harry on Equinox because of his superior technical skills.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

True. I kept Tom on Voyager because of his piloting proficiency. If there's fighting, they need him flying the tactically superior ship.

I'd almost argue the opposite actually, as that would give Equinox an "edge" to compensate for their other deficiences.

 

[Anwar]

The multiple ships, or at least "the crew in multiple places" thing might have worked better.

TOS only needed 3 main characters (and that was on a good day, plenty of times it was just Kirk and Spock) to work.

Hercules the Legendary Journeys and Xena Warrior Princess only needed TWO leads to work.

Game of Thrones had a big cast, but they weren't all in one place, they were all spread out in multiples locations with there usually being 2-3 characters per group.

VOY ultimately being the Janeway/Doctor/7 show would work...if they were limited to the Voyager ship.

Meanwhile Chakotay, Torres and Kim could be the mains in another location. And so on.

 

[Dee1891]

I dropped a torpedo on that one long ago. Harry was urging Tuvok to violate Janeway's orders and contact the Vidiians, yes. But Tuvok was the one who actually did it, and he was promoted barely a year later. Why would Janeway squash an officer who advocated an action but leave the officer who carried out that action unpunished?

I don't think it was about violating Janeway's orders. I think it was about Harry's willingness to start a mutiny against Tuvok, because he wanted his old captain back.

 

[Oddish]

Harry wasn't committing mutiny. At no time did he try to seize command of the ship.

The first time, on the bridge, he was guilty of severe insubordination. That could have earned him a stretch in the brig, but instead Tuvok simply chose to relieve him of duty.

The second time, in Tuvok's quarters, he was borderline insubordinate. When Tuvok made it clear that a second act of insubordination would result in dismissal, he made the smart call and backed down.

Given that Tuvok actually defied Janeway's explicit orders in agreeing to contact the Vidiians, and risked 150 lives doing it... he was more insubordinate than Harry was.

 

[Timofnine]

Why didn't Harry get promoted during VOY's run?

Because it is likely that North Korea was still an isolated pariah state in the 24th century, having failed to develop warp drive independently and to form a coalition government which would eventually lead to either a unified or two state solution with the South of Korea. Korea probably failed to unify with the rest of Earth after the Eugenics wars/WWIII etc. and therefore missed out on Federation membership when this union was formed by default as they were still an independent state separate from Earth?

Starfleet likely did not want someone from this still isolated country having a high security clearance on board a sophisticated Federation Starship such as Voyager, a privilege which any rank above Ensign would have been given. It is also possible that North Korea, unified or otherwise after World War 3, was aligned with the Romulans rather than fellow humans and Vulcans? Perhaps there is a new parallel ‘First Contact’ story to be told here? The future does not have to begin and end in Montana? We live in a multinational world, after all ?

In 25th century Star Trek, who knows how the politics of earth changed? Perhaps Harry Kim even became president of Earth if he found a two state (or other) solution which helped to bring Korea into the Federation?

Let us not forget the Temporal Time War and its implications, though…

 

[Akiraprise]

Because it is likely that North Korea was still an isolated pariah state in the 24th century, having failed to develop warp drive independently and to form a coalition government which would eventually lead to either a unified or two state solution with the South of Korea. Korea probably failed to unify with the rest of Earth after the Eugenics wars/WWIII etc. and therefore missed out on Federation membership when this union was formed by default as they were still an independent state separate from Earth?

Starfleet likely did not want someone from this still isolated country having a high security clearance on board a sophisticated Federation Starship such as Voyager

Well, I don't think I've ever read that reason for not getting a promotion posited before.

 

[Oddish]

Well, I don't think I've ever read that reason for not getting a promotion posited before.

There are no rational reasons. So people have to come up with weird ones.