I have, perhaps correctly and perhaps not, taken the existence of non-commissioned ranks in Starfleet to be a way for people of lesser education to participate in the "common adventure" of the Federation. Usually, these people would come from newer and/or less advanced worlds of the Federation or its allies, but presumably some also come from "core worlds" and just never took to the educational methods used by the Federation.
O'Brien seems like he could be one of the latter - a never-do-well boy growing up who lacked focus and had a penchant for getting into fights. A boy who preferred rough-and-tumble activities to book learning. He loved starships and had a little natural talent with engineering, but never put his skills to paper. Still, he enlisted with Starfleet.
But that was in his earlier years. Since then, he's held a moderately high post on the Federation flagship, practically been chief engineer for DS9, and been instrumental in defeating the Dominion. He's settled down a bit in temperament along the way, too, and worked and learned from some of the best commissioned engineers in the 'fleet.
Will O'Brien ever get "mustanged" into a commissioned rank? Obviously, this is total speculation, but thoughts on this are very welcome.
O'Brien seems like he could be one of the latter - a never-do-well boy growing up who lacked focus and had a penchant for getting into fights. A boy who preferred rough-and-tumble activities to book learning. He loved starships and had a little natural talent with engineering, but never put his skills to paper. Still, he enlisted with Starfleet.
But that was in his earlier years. Since then, he's held a moderately high post on the Federation flagship, practically been chief engineer for DS9, and been instrumental in defeating the Dominion. He's settled down a bit in temperament along the way, too, and worked and learned from some of the best commissioned engineers in the 'fleet.
Will O'Brien ever get "mustanged" into a commissioned rank? Obviously, this is total speculation, but thoughts on this are very welcome.