Scott, Tryla. (Ursaline Bryant). Starfleet officer who earned the command of a starship at a younger age than any previous captain. Scott was something of a legend in her own time, but she was taken over in 2364 by the extragalactic intelligence that attempted to infiltrate Starfleet Command that year. ("Conspiracy" [TNG]).
Unfortunately, I don't know if this accurately reflects the episode. I thought they only mentioned her captaincy (as in rank), not her command of a ship. If we take the enecyclopedia at face value, she could have been given command while she was any rank. But, I think the episode suggested that she was the youngest person to get the rank of captain. But, then, maybe it wasn't specified either way...
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I've got this one on tape, so I'll check. Going by memory, though, I'm pretty sure the episode only stated that she was the "youngest captain", without any explicit reference to a) her sex being a factor or b) whether this was the rank or the position of captain.
It would appear that whenever somebody becomes a captain of a starship, Starfleet feels obliged to promote him or her to Captain rank either immediately or at least very soon afterwards. For some reason, non-Captain captains are a very rare sight, early DS9 notwithstanding. Perhaps there is an obligatory captaincy course required for long-term ship command, a course that near-automatically also results in promotion to Captain rank?
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I think there is a definite difference between the rank "Captain" and the post "Captain" ...
i.e., if Cmdr. Jones is given command of the USS SMITH, his crew will refer to him as "Captain Jones", not "Commander Jones," even though his rank is indeed Commander.
Does anyone have "Conspiracy" on tape? I'd imagine you'd be able to see Scott's rank pips. I also interpreted the episode to mean that she was the youngest (woman?) to reach the RANK (not the post) of Captain. But, I can't remember if there is a reference or not to her being the youngest woman ... anyone got this episode on tape????
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Okay, so the reference goes like this: in the abandoned mines of Dytallix B, Walker Keel (four pips) interrogates Picard for a while, then introduces Captain Rixx (four pips) and asks if Picard knows the third person. Picard does know captain Scott (again four pips) and says "[they] say[-id] you made captain faster than anybody in Starfleet, present company included". Picard then asks if Scott is as good as her reputation. She says she is.
This is the full extent of dialogue on the subject of captain Scott, I'm afraid. The later meeting at SF HQ reveals nothing new. While Scott very clearly is a Captain both by rank and by position at the time she meets with Picard, nothing definite is revealed about her age at that time, or at the time of her rise to captain position or Captain rank. We do not even know if the position came before or after the rank.
It is also unclear whether captain Scott survives the episode. She goes down in the fight, and the parasite leaves her body - but the body is seemingly intact, and Admiral Quinn did survive the eviction of the parasite with proper medical care. By the looks of the actress, Scott could have been in her mid-twenties or early forties or anything between, and probably was in good physical health to survive the ordeal.
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fyi: Kirk was 31 when he became Captain of the Enterprise. Scotty is 11 years older than Kirk. Kirk retired at 60. Riker was offered a Captaincy at 29, but turned it down to become First Officer of USS Enterprise. Sulu was 53 when he became Captain of USS Excelsior. Picard was 28 when he assumed command of USS Stargazer, though his rank at this time is unclear. Picard was 59 when he assumed command of USS Enterprise. Ben Sisko is 99 years younger than Kirk. Harry Kim was in Wesley Crusher's Academy class. Julain Bashir was a student at Starfleet Medical when Beverly Crusher taught there. Ben Sisko took command of DS9 at age 36. Miles O'Brien is at least 2 years older than Ben Sisko.
I have more if you care, like that Geordi, Riker, and Chakotay all graduated together.
------------------ You're a Starfleet Officer. "Weird" is part of the job.
Harry and Wesley would have graduated together if Wesley had not dropped out. so..... since Harry was first in his class, and wesley was a prodigy, if Wesley had stayed he would have been first, probably. so, if only he hadn't dropped out of the academy, Wesley Crusher would have been aboard Voyager!
Apparently, Janeway is younger than Cakotay by a year or two. Sadly, the only concrete evidence of Janeway's age is a mention of not having played tennis in high school and a statement of how many years ago that was. (15?) Based on this, we can determine an exact year when Janeway was "in highschool", but cannot be sure whether this marked her freshman year, her senior year, or some year in between. If she was a freshman, then she entered the academy the year after Chakotay graduated. I find this intolerable, because this would put her first command at just 2 years past graduation.
I've been told that Jeri Taylor's novels shed some light on this, by fixing admiral Janeway's death in refernece to his Daughter's time at the Academy. I've never read the books, but at the extremes she either entered or graduated from the Academy the year he died.
------------------ You're a Starfleet Officer. "Weird" is part of the job.
posted
Not to throw gas on the fire, or anything, but Starfleet Academy's age admittance is "sixteen" according to Coming of Age. So, given a four-year Academy, once could presumeably become an ensign by twenty.
Going by Riker's "captain at thirty-five", that seems to indicate it's very possible to become a Captain after fifteen years in service.
------------------ Star Trek Gamma Quadrant Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted) *** "Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!" -Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
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However, Harry Kim graduated from the Academy when he was twenty-two. So he either entered when he was eighteen, or he entered at sixteen and stayed for six years instead of the usual four. Maybe engineering school is a six years curriculum?
------------------ Lisa: "Don't you remember the story of Oedipus?" Homer: "Maybe five dollars will refresh my memory." Lisa (angrily): "Oedipus was the story of a man who kills his father and marries his mother!" Homer: "Uggh! Who pays for that wedding?"
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FWIW: Janeway's age has been incredibly inconsistent... I believe there's an entire webpage dedicated to figuring it out...
Academy entrance age has been shown to be pretty flexible, with entry at 17 or 18 pretty normal for humans.
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