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Naval officers spend 2 years as an ensign then are automatically promoted to lieutuenant JG. Another 2 year wait they're automatically promoted to lieutenant. Assuming they of course have good evals and fitreps. Ranks after lieutenant on the other hand are harder to make... or least take longer to get to. On my ship they're all required to pass certain qualifications such as officer of the deck or CIC watch officer. Which involves learning about how different areas on the ship run then taking an oral board for the test.
-------------------- I'm slightly annoyed at Hobbes' rather rude decision to be much more attractive than me though. That's just rude. - PsyLiam, Oct 27, 2005.
Registered: May 1999
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Starfleet clearly doesn't work like this; we've seen people working to qualify for, and even compete for promotions up from Ensign. Other people (besides Voyager crew) have stayed at Ensign or Lieutenant ranks for many years, and promotion does not necessarily mean a real increase in responsibility (LaForge, Worf, Bashir). In some cases, promotions can possibly be made to bring the senior staff rank to be more in sync with the importance of their assignment (i.e. DS9). Of course, our heroes are rarely ever transferred when promoted, but that's a whole other issue.
Concerning an earlier post, I think it's more correct to say that Troi was intended to tbe the conscience or soul of the crew, not its brain. I that respect she did a decent job, when she wasn't spouting off the bloody obvious.
CMOs probably don't need to be full commanders for matters of outranking people for most medical functions. For authoritarian reasons, no one a CMO would conceivably treat would be more than a Lt. Cmdr, and so they may ranked accrodingly... Department heads rarely exceed Lt. Cmdr unless they are really experienced or really old, or need to be the CMO on a flagship or something.
quote:For authoritarian reasons, no one a CMO would conceivably treat would be more than a Lt. Cmdr, and so they may ranked accrodingly...
Huh? Well, first of all, rank is irrelevent to a CMO - they're the one officer on a ship or post who can relieve any member of the crew, including the captain. Bashir was still a jg lieutenant when he threatened to relieve Kira of duty. I think the test is just for staff-officers anyway, not for line officers. Troi may have been promoted to commander, but Data is still the 2nd offficer of the ship, and LaForge and Worf are right after him in chain of command.
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Data's second officer because he's nearly unstoppable when he wants something done and he really should have become full Commander far in advance of Troi. Wesley should have too for that matter.
Lets see First Contact play out without Data's presence.....hmmmm...first the computer and then the whole ship get assimilated, then everyone dies and earth is scrubbed clean of all human presence. Now, place troi in Data's place and prepare for hilarity!
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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Maybe Command-division officers get automatic promotions up to Lt. or Lt.Cmdr. and other divisions have more competition. If you go back and watch "Lower Decks" again, the competition wasn't for the promotion, it was for the billet of Relief Operations Officer (one of many), and included a promotion to Lt. (j.g.). I need to go back and re-watch first-season TNG again. Were the first two chief engineers we saw Lt. Cmdr.s? Or was one of them a Lt.? I don't remember...
--Jonah
-------------------- "That's what I like about these high school girls, I keep getting older, they stay the same age."
--David "Woody" Wooderson, Dazed and Confused
Registered: Feb 2001
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MacDougal and Argyle were Lt. Commanders. Logan was a Lieutenant. Assistant Chief Engineer Singh was a Lt. JG and ACE Lynch was a Lt. Commander.
Registered: Mar 2000
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Regarding the test for Cmdr: most modern armed forces do have a course that officers have to pass to be promoted from Lt. Cmder to Cmdr/Major to Lt. Colonel/Squadron Leader to Wing Commander. It is possible, however to be promoted before doing the course if you have good enough assessments.
Starfleet's rank structure does appear a little less rational than most modern armed forces, mainly due to narrative requirements, I suspect. Medical officers are outside the cahain of command usually and so the rank is fairly irrelevant, mainly denoting experience/responsibility.
-------------------- "I am an almost extinct breed, an old-fashioned gentleman, which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-bitch when it suits me." --Jubal Harshaw
Registered: Feb 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Malnurtured Snay: I thought Data was the brains ... isn't that what Tam Elbrun called him in "Tin Man"? "Data, are you the brains in this outfit, eh?"
Well, that was season 3, where the characters were really, really, really far away from the original press release descriptions.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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And it was Tam Elbrun speaking: Not a good source of serene objectivity, there. When Data and Elbrun were on Gomtu, I really really wanted Lore to have somehow replaced Data. ....just one good smack...
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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