Will Picard ever make Admiral ?

[Squiggy]

middyseafort said:
It would have been interesting if TPTB had based the Enterprise-D command structure like a modern US aircraft carrier or an old school Royal Navy first-rate ship, where Picard was an Admiral and not a Captain. Then, Riker could've been ranked as a Captain and responsible for the day-to-day operations of the ship. Thus, Picard would have been carrying his flag aboard-- then the E-D could really be a "flagship."

Aside from Riker and Picard each having an extra pip, nothing would have changed. Not very interesting if you ask me.

Anwar said:
What I found strange about Riker in the Anti-Time future was that he was a full Admiral, 8 Pips and all but he was only in command of a single Starbase. You'd think someone that high ranking would be a sector commander or something.

Technically just two sets of 4 "boxed" pips, or the equivalent to a 4-star Admiral in today's US Navy.

 

[Red Ranger]

Peeps,

Well, if you wanted to make ST like Rodenberry's "selling point" to the suits as "Wagon Train to the Stars," Picard could be an admiral in charge of a special exploratory expedition composed of several ships. Now that Riker is captain of Titan, it might be part of that "convoy" -- or not.

Red Ranger

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Red Ranger said:
Peeps,

Well, if you wanted to make ST like Rodenberry's "selling point" to the suits as "Wagon Train to the Stars," Picard could be an admiral in charge of a special exploratory expedition composed of several ships. Now that Riker is captain of Titan, it might be part of that "convoy" -- or not.

Red Ranger

I've always thought that was what they could've done with TNG, budget-permitting, was that the Enterprise-D was the lead ship in a flotilla of exploration ships, kinda like an aircraft carrier deployment, on the outer frontier. Picard would be in command of the fleet, his flag on the Big E, and Riker in command of the actual ship. The other ships would be smaller, like the Defiant, would scout ahead and if they found something interesting call in the Enterprise-D. The families of the crew of those smaller scout ships, cutters and the like, would reside on the Enterprise.

 

[Red Ranger]

middyseafort said:

Red Ranger said:
Peeps,

Well, if you wanted to make ST like Rodenberry's "selling point" to the suits as "Wagon Train to the Stars," Picard could be an admiral in charge of a special exploratory expedition composed of several ships. Now that Riker is captain of Titan, it might be part of that "convoy" -- or not.

Red Ranger

I've always thought that was what they could've done with TNG, budget-permitting, was that the Enterprise-D was the lead ship in a flotilla of exploration ships, kinda like an aircraft carrier deployment, on the outer frontier. Picard would be in command of the fleet, his flag on the Big E, and Riker in command of the actual ship. The other ships would be smaller, like the Defiant, would scout ahead and if they found something interesting call in the Enterprise-D. The families of the crew of those smaller scout ships, cutters and the like, would reside on the Enterprise.

Agreed. Maybe the next ST show, or this could be an approach in the TNG relaunch novels in the future! -- RR

 

[Delta1]

The consensus seems to be that Picard refuses promotion to admiral because he wants to be an explorer. Isn't that a bit selfish? With his experience, he would be an excellent admiral, and he'd surely be far more valuable to the Federation. But Jean-Luc blithely ignores the needs of the Federation and his responsibilities to Starfleet so he can galavant across the galaxy. Not exactly a model officer. I'd be surprised if he was even offered a promotion again, given his pattern of placing his own satisfaction above the needs of the Federation.

He's where Riker was in BoBW--comfortable, unwilling to accept more responsibility lest it make him uncomfortable. Say what you will about Kirk and Janeway, but when asked to give more, they rose to the occasion.

 

[John Picard]

Picard is more suited for the Diplomatic Corps, and if you remember from All Good Things, Geordi referred to him as, "Ambassador".

 

[Kubwulf]

The consensus seems to be that Picard refuses promotion to admiral because he wants to be an explorer. Isn't that a bit selfish? With his experience, he would be an excellent admiral, and he'd surely be far more valuable to the Federation. But Jean-Luc blithely ignores the needs of the Federation and his responsibilities to Starfleet so he can galavant across the galaxy. Not exactly a model officer. I'd be surprised if he was even offered a promotion again, given his pattern of placing his own satisfaction above the needs of the Federation.

He's where Riker was in BoBW--comfortable, unwilling to accept more responsibility lest it make him uncomfortable. Say what you will about Kirk and Janeway, but when asked to give more, they rose to the occasion.

The problem with accepting a promotion isn't how well Picard would do as an admiral. He'd be great at it. However, the restrictions that come with the position; ie: political manuevering, regulations, meetings, presiding over this or that affair, etc. would mean, in the end, that Picard is less useful. I think Starfleet recognizes that after all this time, if Picard were to become an admiral, that the institution of Starfleet would be wasting a resource. I think that Picard would accept an admiralcy if he could continue in his current role. There is no reason why, with the various modes of communication and transport that they have available that he still couldn't do the paperwork portion of his job. He could be a secotr admiral, assign an adjuct, and keep exploring. Keeping tabs on the "homefront" wouldn't be all that difficult. However, from what I've seen, when SF offered the position, it was a static Terran post.

 

[misskim86]

I'm sure the federation wants motivated Admirals

 

[Son_of_Soong]

Maybe they reach a point where they try to force him to accept promotion, so he retires nad returns to his vinyard.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Personally, I think Picard has taken Kirk's advice in Generations to never accept an admiral's billet or anything that will take him away from the bridge of his ship. He'll be offered a place in the Admiralty again, but he won't accept it. I've always kind of imagined that Picard would simply retire from the service and finally marry Beverely rather than be stuck behind a desk dealing with both Starfleet and Federation burreaucracy.

But, to play devil's advocate, I could see Picard becoming an admiral as commandant of Starfleet Academy to shape the next generation of future starship captains...

 

[Nebusj]

C.E. Evans said:
Personally, I think Picard has taken Kirk's advice in Generations to never accept an admiral's billet or anything that will take him away from the bridge of his ship. He'll be offered a place in the Admiralty again, but he won't accept it. I've always kind of imagined that Picard would simply retire from the service and finally marry Beverely rather than be stuck behind a desk dealing with both Starfleet and Federation burreaucracy.

... because anyone who, deep down, knows the urgency of Making A Difference will naturally be drawn to the production of rotted grape juice rather than suffer through the useless and irrelevant tasks of balancing the Federation's strategic needs against the resources it has available.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Nebusj said:

C.E. Evans said:
Personally, I think Picard has taken Kirk's advice in Generations to never accept an admiral's billet or anything that will take him away from the bridge of his ship. He'll be offered a place in the Admiralty again, but he won't accept it. I've always kind of imagined that Picard would simply retire from the service and finally marry Beverely rather than be stuck behind a desk dealing with both Starfleet and Federation burreaucracy.

... because anyone who, deep down, knows the urgency of Making A Difference will naturally be drawn to the production of rotted grape juice rather than suffer through the useless and irrelevant tasks of balancing the Federation's strategic needs against the resources it has available.

I think it's more a case of not having to deal with other people's bullshit and not Making A Difference.

 

[steveman]

Gosh. Hearing all this really makes me want to see how the rest of 'ol Jean-Luc's life turns out.

 

[DarKush]

Picard should've been an admiral a long time ago IMO. If nothing else, promote him and put him at DS9 or another far flung space station so he can still get the sense of exploring the unknown.

 

[FordSVT]

I reckon he might eventually take the promotion, but only in his last days with Starfleet before his retirement. Kind of a symbolic gesture?

 

[Braxton]

Just because he would be an Admiral doesn't mean he has to be stationed at a starbase or on some planet. Starfleet should have Admirals that are in charge of expeditionary forces, not just place all Admirals in a desk job role. That's just stupid. Yes, they do a lot of paperwork diplomatic roles but that's not all they should do. Picard would be an excellent Admiral to send out commanding an expeditionary force. Say a dozen or two dozen ships under his command doing what Starfleet does: explore. He would excel at this and he knows how to fight and command fleets.

Starfleet seems pretty stupid when dealing with Admirals.

 

[trikerimzadi]

i hope so. i want my promotion dammit!!!

 

[FordSVT]

Much talk about "expeditionary fleets", but can someone give me an example of one in all of Trek? As far as I can recall, the reason the Federation sends lone ships like Enterprise out into the final frontier is to appear non-threatening. A dozen or more ships might be viewed by a new culture as some kind of an invasion force, and even after assurances to the contrary most societies wouldn't be comfortable with a "friendly" enemy fleet with enough firepower to level a solar system just hanging around makin' nice.

 

[EnsignRicky]

Only in re-runs

 

[C.E. Evans]

FordSVT said:
Much talk about "expeditionary fleets", but can someone give me an example of one in all of Trek? As far as I can recall, the reason the Federation sends lone ships like Enterprise out into the final frontier is to appear non-threatening. A dozen or more ships might be viewed by a new culture as some kind of an invasion force, and even after assurances to the contrary most societies wouldn't be comfortable with a "friendly" enemy fleet with enough firepower to level a solar system just hanging around makin' nice.

Perhaps the term "expeditionary fleet" can be used to describe several exploration ships answerable to a single admiral. These ships could all be on separate missions in different regions of space within a quadrant or sector...