Why were no Starfleet Bajorans on DS9?

[Bacl]

It just dawned on me the other day, but in the entire run of DS9 we never saw any of the MANY Bajorans who serve in Starfleet on Deep Space Nine.

I think this would have been excellent potential for both storyline and the much coveted "conflict". Imagine what Bajoran Militia officers might have thought of Bajoran Starfleet officers. I imagine that the Bajorans in Starfleet somehow escaped Cardassia, and then made something of themselves: all the while living in luxury with both comfort and food and also serving in an organization that refused to intercede to help Bajor.

I'd love to have heard the conversations between such characters, and also what Starfleet Bajorans thought of Sisko as the Emissary, etc.

Strange they never went down this direction even once or twice, don't you think?

 

[RyuRoots]

Huh. I'd never really given it any thought, but that could have made for a pretty good episode or two, now that you mention it.

 

[neozeks]

Yeah, I thought about that a few times and I agree, there's a lot of potential there.

As much as I know, they actually originally intended Ro Laren to be on the station (instead of Kira), though I'm not sure if she was supposed to stay with Starfleet or join the Militia. However, the actress was not willing to commit to a permanent place in the main cast. It would have been cool to have seen her, even for a few episodes now and then, though.

As for an 'in-universe' reason, well, Stafleet was probably aware of the possibility of conflict and for exactly that reason chose to keep it's Bajorans away from DS9.

 

[Sykonee]

I don't think there were many Bajorans in Starfleet to begin with. The first one we ever met was something of a cultural rebel anyway. Plus, let's face it: it's not like they're going to have a chance to enlist while under Cardassian occupation for fifty years.

 

[Mysterion]

Go tthe impression from the Ensign Ro episode of TNG that bajorans were something of a rarity in Starfleet. Though, i suppose once Bajor is a member of the UFP, this might change.

 

[Bacl]

Actually, if I recall correctly from "Ensign Ro", Riker says to Picard, "There's plenty of Bajorans in Starfleet. Why HER?"

At the time the premise was more strongly that the Bajorans had been displaced more than occupied, and Starfleet was probably a really good bet for a lot of these Bajoran refugees.

I think we saw plenty of Starfleet Bajorans on TNG and even on various flashback scenes to Earth on Voyager. Also, Voyager had several Bajorans on it, but it was hard to tell which were maquee and which Starfleet. Given that the maquee was largely Federation citizens, and Bajor was not in any way a member or even associated with them, I'd say 90% of the Bajorans we saw in the background of Voyager, or who had one line, were likely Starfleet.

 

[neozeks]

Given that the maquee was largely Federation citizens, and Bajor was not in any way a member or even associated with them, I'd say 90% of the Bajorans we saw in the background of Voyager, or who had one line, were likely Starfleet.

I'd tend to disagree with that. For former resistance fighters, people that had fought the Cardassians their whole lives and didn't learn to let go of that, joining the Maquis seems like a very logical solution. The DMZ is quite close to Bajor, after all.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Given that the maquee was largely Federation citizens, and Bajor was not in any way a member or even associated with them, I'd say 90% of the Bajorans we saw in the background of Voyager, or who had one line, were likely Starfleet.

I'd tend to disagree with that. For former resistance fighters, people that had fought the Cardassians their whole lives and didn't learn to let go of that, joining the Maquis seems like a very logical solution. The DMZ is quite close to Bajor, after all.

in fact was close enough for Sisko and Dukat to take a quick runabout trip to the area.

 

[Darth Duck]

I'd say it's quite likely that any Bajoran refugees ended up on Federation colonies near Bajor, which would be the ones that ended up in the DMZ. So I'd guess many of the Bajorans on Voyager were Maquis. Of course, some of them could've been Starfleet like Chakotay or Ro and jumped ship when things started heating up.

 

[Neutral Zone]

I always thought that Bajorans never really trusted or wanted Star Fleet around especially that close to their planet. I would have thought it would have been to their advantage to have some of their people on DS9. But this may have caused conflict within themselves, just look at Worf and the many problems he had when it came to Kilngon conflicts.

Coyuld have made some decent stories out those inner-conflicts, especially if our old friend Kai Winn poked her nose in!

 

[Nick086]

Ensign Sita Jaxa was the second Bajorian Starfleet Officer we see on screen. I thought her death in Lowerdecks was pointless. They could of used her in some plot on Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

 

[Vonstadt]

Actually when you mention this it truly was one of DS9's truly missed oppurtunities for a decent story subplot. It would've made a nice contrast and some decent stories might've grown out of it.

And to add my two cents, I think the killing off of Sito was a mistake as well. Though that was more of TNG thing. Would've been nice if they had found her at in one of the Cardie prisons and rescued her.

She wouldve made a decent guest star for an eppy or two.

Vons

 

[Admiral Shran]

I'd say it's quite likely that any Bajoran refugees ended up on Federation colonies near Bajor, which would be the ones that ended up in the DMZ. So I'd guess many of the Bajorans on Voyager were Maquis. Of course, some of them could've been Starfleet like Chakotay or Ro and jumped ship when things started heating up.

Starfleet does have a lot of Bajorans in the service. "Ensign Ro" clearly establishes that there are numerous Bajorans in the fleet. And the one time a Bajoran member of the Voyager crew is featured, Tal Celes in the episode "Good Shepard," she is firmly established as a Starfleet, not Maquis, crewmember.

In fact, Celes says that Starfleet took in as many Bajorans as they could during the Occupation. Whether this was all an effort to help Bajoran refugees or an attempt to score interstellar political points is unclear, but I assume both goals were in play.

As for why Starfleet Bajorans weren't on the station, I agree with neozeks. Starfleet probably kept Bajorans from serving on DS9 in order to avoid any potential backlash or conflict with Bajorans who had remained on the planet throughout the Occupation.

And to add my two cents, I think the killing off of Sito was a mistake as well. Though that was more of TNG thing. Would've been nice if they had found her at in one of the Cardie prisons and rescued her.

She wouldve made a decent guest star for an eppy or two.

Vons

Agreed. I'm certainly no fan of "Lower Decks." In fact it's one of my least favorite from TNG because, aside from Sito, I'm simply unable to connect with or "care about" the lower decks characters. I'll admit that killing her off at the end was a bold move, something TNG often didn't try, and it was pretty moving, because I had come to care about the character. But I think it would have been better to have her around for a few more episodes.

As for rescuing her from a Cardassian prison.... DS9's writers toyed with the idea of having an episode where she was rescued. However, they felt that doing so would "rob Lower Decks of an amazing ending," so they reworked their ideas about her suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder into the O'Brien centered episode "Hard Time."

 

[USS KG5]

Ensign Sita Jaxa was the second Bajorian Starfleet Officer we see on screen. I thought her death in Lowerdecks was pointless. They could of used her in some plot on Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

Good lord - you thought her death in Lower Decks was POINTLESS? It was the emotional core of the whole damn episode! The show made you care for her, worry about her career, forgive her for her actions in "First Duty" and then kills her in a dangerous mission.

Being in Starfleet like being in the modern military can be very dangerous. I really do dislike the tendency among SF fans to always bleat about any character dying. It is supposed ot upset you, if it did then the episode did its job.

I can understand when it is done badly like Kirk or Trip, but Sito's death was really crucial to the story and done very well.

 

[Photon]

Kira received a commision

 

[Timo]

Yup. But at that point, Bajor was more or less beyond caring who controlled DS9 or served there.

It might indeed have been awkward for Starfleet to bring its "domesticated" Bajorans to serve close to their homeworld. They might be trusted even less than Kira, who already was something of an outcast and rabble-rouser, apparently sent to the station so that she wouldn't bother people planetside... Starfleet probably made a good decision in not sending in any of Ro's colleague-compatriots.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[snakespeare]

Non-Federation world citizens can join Starfleet if they pass certain tests and get citizenship. Bajorans who left Bajor, instead of fighting to free it, probably had no intention of going back, ever.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

I don't think I agree 100% with either of the last 2 points...

First up, Bajor did care who controlled DS9. They allowed the Dominion onto the station because the Emissary specifically told them that they had to do it for their own safety. Plus Kai Winn, who I believe was the recipient of his advice, is hardly the most moral and upstanding member of her race. I also don't agree that Starfleet didn't/shouldn't trust Bajoran members of Starfleet - Ro was the exception to the rule, and part of the point of DS9 was to show us that not all Bajorans were loose cannons. They had to be "domesticated" in the eyes of Starfleet, but I'd actually argue that Odo gave Sisko more stick post season 2 than Kira did.

I also disagree about the Starfleet Bajorans probably never wanting to go back to their homeworld ever. There's no way you could make that call. Ro didn't seem bothered about going back, but then she openly rebelled against Bajoran custom. Maybe they knew that they couldn't go back to save their homeworld? Bajor was in Cardassian space during the occupation being as they were controlling it, and reference is made when they pull out of Bajor that they are reigning in their borders. Would a Galor-class warship really let a ship through its borders that's bringing Bajorans with Starfleet tactical training?

As for the original question, I think the idea of Starfleet deliberately not stationing Bajoran crewmembers there is a likely suggestion, and I also strongly agree that this could have been an interesting subplot!

 

[Withers]

I don't have a solid hypothesis for why there weren't Starfleet Bajoran's on DS9. I have questioned why there weren't more militia members of "senior status" rank on the show. They gave security to Odo (who, obviously, wasn't Bajoran) and the XO position to Kira... and that's it? There weren't any other militia members interested in serving in the equivalent of a Lt or Lt Commander's position on the station?

You'd think, especially initially, that Kira would have wanted a few more "senior" positions filled by Militia members. Of course we see other Militia members in the show but none of them seem to play any pivotal or important role.

-Withers-​

 

[Navaros]

Eh, interesting observation in the OP.

However, I think Kira and random-Bajoran-guest-of-the-week constantly whining about the woes of Bajorans is already plenty overmuch. Any more of that would have made DS9 near-unwatchable.