Even so, Ensign to Vice Admiral in 22 years has to be some kind of record...
I think what the quick promotions of people like Janeway and Riker and the slow promotions of most other people show is that Starfleet's promotion system is far more whimsical than modern military systems. For instance, I believe that the modern military requires a certain number of years in each post, and its possible for most people to get reasonably high without an awful lot of effort if they stay long enough, but Starfleet seems to promote on some other grounds than experience (like how many Admirals you know), and high-flyers can get promoted unbelievably fast, while not-so-high-flyers (like alt-Picard when he is still a Lt) can stay at low ranks for much longer.
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I think the US military also has a policy whereby, if you're passed over for a promotion so many times, you are honorably discharged. Starfleet presumably would allow anyone who is qualified to continue serving to do so as long as they like whether they are promotable or not.
Alt. Picard's perpetual rank of Lt. JG seems perfectly fitting for such a system. He's duties would never require him to have a higher rank.
I don't think that Starfleet's promotion policies are so much whimsical as they are more ambition based. Officer hotshots like Riker naturally get noticed and promoted because they want to... and because they're working for a command position. People who are more laid back and don't seek additional opportunities or responsibilities don't get them, like Alt. Picard. And that's fine... they just continue doing grunt work until they die of old age or have the misfotune of accompanying senior staff on an away mission.
posted
Speaking of fast promotions didnt Picard make commander in like 6 years from ensign? I suppose that is the same as Riker, and I can see where Riker was ambitious and offered many commands, but despite how brash Picard may have been prior to the Enterprise-D, he sure was a weenie once he got command of the flagship. Look at how ambitious Worf is, and granted his incidents with the Klingon empire may have set him back slightly (in the eyes of Picard/Starfleet) it still took him 10 years just to get to Lt. Cmdr. Even Geordi beat him to that rank by like 5 years and I dont think we really ever saw Geordi as being an overly brash or ambitious officer. As for Janeways Admiral in 22 years, I think Captain Kirk made it in less than 20 years.
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We actually don't know that Picard was ever a commander in rank.... We know he was a first officer, since Riker said, "Having been a first officer yourself, you know that..." something in reference to protecting the captain. And we know that he was given command of the Stargazer. But I think we also know that he was only a Lt. when he took command of the Stargazer after her captain was killed. So it's very possible he was given command of the Stargazer as a Lt. Commander.
We also know that Picard commanded a ship between his command of the stargazer and his command of the Enterprise D, per his conversation with Ishara Yar, though we've never gotten any other info about this command. I'm assuming that this was his first command at the rank of captain.
Feel free to start tearing my assumptions apart at your leisure
posted
Actually, that line about Picard having been a an XO makes no sense given what else we know: As best as I have ever been able to make out, he was a Lt. on the Stargazer when everyone else senior to him was killed, and he took command, for which he was given the captaincy (in position if not in rank). Now, this seems to have been somewhat unusual, given his rank and age; yet if he had been the actual XO then it wouldn't have been anywhere near so unusual and therefore not worth commenting on.
Unless you really want to bring up Lt. Piersall of the Prometheus. 8)
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Didnt Q say that Picard was a Lieutenant Commander when the Stargazer's captain died?
By the way, who is to say that immediately before serving on the Stargazer, Lieutenant Picard wasn't first officer to Lieutenant Commander Somethingorother of the U.S.S. Whatever, a ship with a crew of 40 normally captained by a LCDR with a LT for his XO. OK?
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quote:Originally posted by Phoenix: Sorry, must have missed that.
Even so, Ensign to Vice Admiral in 22 years has to be some kind of record...
Sure is; usually takes that long to reach Commander or equivilent. Although it may take slightly less in the Army, due to physical requirements.
Of course, that's for people who aren't in the main cast...
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quote:Originally posted by Wraith: Sure is; usually takes that long to reach Commander or equivilent. Although it may take slightly less in the Army, due to physical requirements.
Of course, that's for people who aren't in the main cast...
Unless you happen to be on the senior staff of the Enterprise D/E, in which case you sacrifice your entire career in order to stay on that ship for as long as possible (or until they stop making TNG films anyway)
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holds true for most enterprises...
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At least the Enterprise (A) crew got promoted - Spock, Sulu and Scott were captains at the end, and Kirk would have been an admiral if he hadn't gotten himself demoted. As of Nemesis, Data has been a Lt Cmdr for 15 years, and Geordi for almost the same amount of time. Not to mention Worf, who seems to appear magically whenever the cameras start rolling...
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Worf's promotions at least made a bit of sense. JG until Yar died. Promoted to full Lt. when he was made security chief. Stayed Lt. all through TNG. Then promoted to Lt. Commander after a reasonable stint and top notch service as Lt.
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Word wasn't promoted to full lieutenant when he was made security chief. He was made acting Security chief in "Skin of Evil", but remained in red, and at lt j.g. He got a gold uniform in season 2, but stayed at the junior grade level. He only got promoted to full lieutenant just before the start of season 3.
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