Will O'Brien Ever Get "Mustanged"?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

O'Brien *could* be mustanged, but probably wouldn't want to. He seemed proud to be an enlisted man. You know, the "Don't call me Sir, I work for a living" attitude.

 

[Drake]

That's the part I absolutely agree with. I doubt O'Brien would want to be an officer at this point and it wouldn't surprise me if we were to someday discover that he had been offered a commission much earlier in his career and had turned them down.

 

[JustKate]

^ & ^^ Ooh, good point. I've run into a lot of guys like that. I've been told "Don't call me 'sir' - I work for a living" more than once.

 

[MikeH92467]

That's the part I absolutely agree with. I doubt O'Brien would want to be an officer at this point and it wouldn't surprise me if we were to someday discover that he had been offered a commission much earlier in his career and had turned them down.

I've always suspected that he actually had a battlefield promotion when he was serving as tactical officer, then turned down a chance to make it permanent citing burnout from the Cardassian war. After that it might make sense that such a skilled engineer with natrual leadership qualities would take a low intensity job as a non commissioned transporter chief on the Enterprise.

 

[Drake]

I've always suspected that he actually had a battlefield promotion when he was serving as tactical officer, then turned down a chance to make it permanent citing burnout from the Cardassian war. After that it might make sense that such a skilled engineer with natrual leadership qualities would take a low intensity job as a non commissioned transporter chief on the Enterprise.

This would also neatly explain a good deal of the confusion over his former ranks and posts before they settled on making him a Senior Chief.

 

[Praetor]

I tend to agree with those who suggest that O'Brien probably would be offered a commission at some point (if he hadn't already by the end of the series) but would probably decline for his own reasons. Not unlike Riker being offered ship after ship, but being happy with his station.

O'Brien doesn't need a commission to impress anyone, and probably has more pride in himself without having one.

 

[Drake]

There is a possibility that O'Brien could be offered promotion to Chief Warrant Officer, assuming that Starfleet has warrant officer ranks (in our RPG it does). The question being, would he accept it?

 

[MyCylon]

As somebody who'd never heard the expression before, I have to say that "getting mustanged" sounds kind of naughty.

I'm sorry. I have been thinking this ever since I first saw the thread title and just had to get it off my chest.

Anyway, since I now know what the term means, yes, I think O'Brien would definitely stand the chance of getting 'mustanged'. He's certainly done enough to earn it. And using the term still feels strange...

 

[Timo]

..assuming that Starfleet has warrant officer ranks..

Those are basically a way of giving officer pay to a specialist who'd otherwise be enlisted and have few military ambitions, though. And in the futuristic economy of TNG, one wonders whether "officer pay" exists or is an incentive a skilled enlisted man would go for.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Drake]

..assuming that Starfleet has warrant officer ranks..

Those are basically a way of giving officer pay to a specialist who'd otherwise be enlisted and have few military ambitions, though. And in the futuristic economy of TNG, one wonders whether "officer pay" exists or is an incentive a skilled enlisted man would go for.

Timo Saloniemi

Ah, the salary question indeed gives one pause to reflect. But, that's a topic for another thread.

 

[nx1701g]

The question is would O'Brien have taken it if offered?

 

[Praetor]

If it required dressing up, no.

 

[Drake]

Personally, I'd love to have him on my RPG ship, but I can't justify it. He's doing a wonderful job teaching at the Academy, regardless of his rank.

 

[Technobuilder]

You know, this question makes me wonder if "Star Trek: ONLINE" will be utilizing an Enlisted Rank System alongside Officers or not. I'm hoping they'd be smart enough to include it, but then again, TNG did kind of popularize the notion of "Everyone's an Officer"

Not everyone wants to be a Captain you know.

I'm also hoping they incorporate the idea of Fleet Captains and Commodores once more.

I may be biased in this regard though as I've been rereading the Honor Harrington Series as of late and they go into the backgrounds of both Officers & Enlisted Personnel in the Royal Manticorian Navy & Marine Corps.

Chief O'Brien always reminds me of Chief Horace Harkness. (A personal favorite after 'In Enemy Hands' by David Weber)

 

[Drake]

The beauty of doing one's own RPG subcreation is dealing with those issues, at least locally. And I did reintroduce commodores and fleet captains for ours (post DS9), although in a slightly different way. It'll never make its way online though or into any books or computer games.

 

[Dingo]

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.

If Starfleet is anything similar to the modern US Navy he could request to be comissioned and very likely would be accepted. If he so desired, I'm certain he'd be Mustanged (being comissioned from the ranks for the non-military folks).

But, if he's a hands on type, he'd probably want to stay a Chief. At least in the US Navy, Chiefs are a braintrust and a powerhouse all their own (I speak from experience, as my own father is cut from a similar cloth from O'Brien).

There are plenty of very talented soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen that come from the 'higher' stratum of society, both officer and enlisted so I am mildly offended by this line:

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.

Are you implying that enlisted/non-coms are dumber than those officer ranks?

 

[USS Triumphant]

Are you implying that enlisted/non-coms are dumber than those officer ranks?

Not at all. My father was a non-com as well, in sub service, and pretty much as far from dumb as you can get.

I was referring to was the fact that people from less advanced worlds would have less experience with the technology and some of the educational doctrine of the core worlds would be a disadvantage in trying to attend the Academy.

And "just never took to the educational methods used by the Federation" is another way of saying that not every kid is of a temperament that makes a model student. I know I wasn't.

 

[Dingo]

OK, fair enough. My father was a non-com in the surface fleet, where I would wind up commissioned for two years before I volunteered to deploy to Iraq with an Infantry Battalion.

And "just never took to the educational methods used by the Federation" is another way of saying that not every kid is of a temperament that makes a model student. I know I wasn't.

I feel you there. After college I wasn't as likely to have the temperment of a model student.

Nice to know we've cleared up potential issues. Sorry to have overreacted with my last post.

 

[FPAlpha]

If O'Brien ever wanted to go the officers route it would be easy for him.

Starfleet would practically jump at the opportunity and all he would have to do is pass some officer training courses.

However since he's in the engineering specialty he won't need tactical training, starship navigation etc that much and given his experience i believe there's little he could learn from it.

Basically he'd sit through a couple of courses to give the impression that he actually earns his officer rank instead of just flat out handing it to him which might anger the "emotionally evolved" officers.

But why would he? Money is not an issue in the Federation.. Starfleet provides everything its personell might need.
Power? He was chief engineer of DS9 and when he said something about the technics of the station the officers would shut up and follow his advice knowing he knows more about engineering than they do.

Now he's a Professor at the Academy and i believe he's found his spot.. no action (i think he's sick of war and the dangers of frontline service.. especially now that he's got a family), his family with him and happy, he's at home and he holds a prestigious spot within Starfleet (i don't think many non-coms get offered a teaching position at the academy).