posted
First off, if Starfleet is anything like the US Navy or others navies. It is a total volunatary option. To boost moral, you can choose what you want, and when you want to do it. Also there is a possbility that you can be stationed on or near a place you want to be. For instance I had options to be a Nuke (Nuclear Propulstion Specialist), Diesal Propulsion Specialist, Aviation Structural Mechanic, Ship structural Mechanic, Shipyard Mechanic etc.
It depends on what you want to do, where you want to do it, if it is open, how long you want to do , how good you are at it, and so on.
I happen to be lucky that I will be stationed on the Enterprise, beause of crew rotation and refit by the time they're done in June 2003.
You have to work your way up to where you want to be. You can't just spend x amount of time in A School and expect to be doing the job the you wanted. You will start with jobs that you don't want to to do, because of your lower rank.
-------------------- Matrix If you say so If you want so Then do so
Registered: Jul 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
A couple of arguments, both recycled and new (to this week's discussion anyway, although they probably are reruns from last summer):
1) People in the 24th century may try out flying in a stupid tin can because they have already tried out everything else. Starfleet could be one career out of the twenty-two an average long-lived and thoroughly trained no-worries citizen of the UFP is going to pursue during a normal lifetime (Bashir Sr. was just living a variant of that, aiming for 239 careers per lifetime the rate he was going). Only a minuscule portion of these people actually stick with Starfleet for more than a few years. Those who do get to go to the cool exploration cruises.
And the fact that Our Heroes enlisted at 18 or so is just a statistical illusion. Many others join at 32 or 68, explaining the multitude of low-ranking officers of age aboard the Enterprises.
2) Personnel in Starfleet are extensively rotated, so you don't get stuck with polishing the doorknobs of a depot ship. Only the more eccentric of the top officers insist on staying aboard a given assignment for any length of time.
3) People enlisting in Starfleet may just happen to have a death wish. Out of trillions, you will easily find a few million suicidees to fill your ships with - that's what personnel management databases were invented for.
4) Finding volunteers may not be a problem even without using such a search engine. If boredom is the greatest threat they have ever faced, their values will be skewed accordingly. Ending up with a menial job is not objectionable when compared with the boredom of no job at all. Nor is dying in the hands of an Alphabetan Bugomite. Those are alien experiences and thus do not appear nearly as threatening as the Devil They Know.
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Why would I personally join Starfleet? The same reason as airbody else: command of a starship. Of course, there's more to it than that. Exploration, playing with the newest & neatest toys, & it goes to my "order" complex.
I don't think there'd be a problem filling so-called "lesser" posts. As said before, some are stops on the way to advancement, & some would just be suited to people. I always thought I'd make a grand Starfleet quartermaster, & even made a RPG character to match. She eventually went on to become Strategfic Operations Officer for her starbase & then got promoted to take command of a Yeager...but that's neither here nore there.
That's another thing: is there a distincition between staff & line like there is today? Crusher & Troi seem to say "no." Take a test & instant line qualifications.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged
capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
posted
i hate admitting this, as 'captain' is pretty much what people know me as everywhere, but i'd hardly think i would be cut out for a front line command position. in real life, most of my management jobs have been sad at best, (to be fair its because i was working at places where the overall authority structure was flawed by favoritism, but the fact remains i have a bad track record dealing with certain types of people).. i more imagine myself either with a desk job in a higher up position or as a lackey, possibly non-com. id make a pretty good officer of the deck given the chance maybe...
my best positions have been as a first assistant. i see what whoever is in charge wants, then work with the crew to get it done. all of the jobs and requirements, but ultimately someone else's show.
posted
Me? Because I've got a thing for exploration and the military. When I'm not busy discovering new vacation spots for the Federation, I'll gladly ride my tried-and-tested ol' Excelsior down the throat of any enemy.
-------------------- "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world."
Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged
The Defiant
Ex-Member
posted
I'll take 1 New York. Take me anywhere and get me out alive. Yeah...
Pointe the Firste ~ Reference TNG's "Up the Long Ladder". "The ship will clean itself". Granted, I don't suppose the Galaxy standard applies to all the old Mirandas flying around, but I expect anything built since the 2350s or earlier will have such systems in place...
Pointe the Seconde ~ The Federation does not equal Earth. It has been pretty much hammered out long since (especially in rec.arts.startrek.tech) that Earth of the 23rd and 24th centuries has a non-cash-based economy. The same seems to apply to many Earth-goverened or -affiliated colonies, but it is not, by any stretch, a universal state for all humans... I expect many, most, or all of the Federation member worlds enjoy a state of affairs at least similar to Earth, with effectively limitless energy and replicator technology pretty much eliminating just about any form of physical want.
Given that, I expect Starfleet maintains an office specifically to determine the reasonable cash compensation of a given Starfleet officer for that officer to draw upon when dealing with a Federation member world, affiliate, or Protectorate that still uses cash; or for a non-Federation world that still uses cash (such as Ferenginar). For all we know, Starfleet might maintain an unlimited expense account for Starfleet personnel, just because physical money is so easy to manufacture for the Federation. But to avoid destroying the local economy, I expect they limit it to realistic levels.
All that said, why would I want to join Starfleet. To see what's out there, to create the peace, to show the flag, to spread knowledge and understanding.
Personally, I think my niche would be commanding a Starfleet Intelligence cell, operating out of one of the border posts (probably along the Cardassian or Romulan border), and commanding a Runabout on missions.
Either that or diplomat-at-large for dealing with Powers hostile or formerly hostile to the Federation (such as the Romulans, Cardssians, or the Dominion). In that case, I'd probably also be a champion for Hugh and his other ex-Borg exiles...
But whatever the case, I'd be all for pushing back the boundaries of what is known and making the galaxy a little smaller...
...and maybe to occasionally boink an Orion chick...
--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
| IP: Logged
posted
I just remembered a good example: Crewman Harren from Voyager's "Good Shepherd." He had signed aboard as an enlisted man for one year, simply because the College of Astronomy or whatever on Orion I required field experience.
The interesting point is that Voyager was originally assigned as a troubleshooter, as a patrol ship. What's so grand about chasing down Maquis fighters or stuff like that? Nothing, really. He was just there to do a job.
Also, it occurred to me that on most of the outlying member worlds and colonies, things are not nearly as "civilized" as on Earth, Vulcan, or Betazed. The colonies are often resource-poor, and require lots of work to maintain the system and get food. A small colony of a few thousand (or even more) isn't likely to have the umpteen-gigawatt power sources to allow them to replicate any little thing they need, for example.
I never actually answered the original question before...
Why would I personally join Starfleet? Though command sounds cool, I really don't think that's something that I'd want to do. I'd like to be in the science department, somewhere like Stellar Cartography. Although some division where I could get assigned to the occasional away mission would be nice too. (I'd only hope that "normal" Starfleet ships don't have a Redshirt Mortality Rate that's as high as the Enterprise... )
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged
posted
Slightly off topic but can anyone remember what the highest (canon) numbered fleet mentioned was?
-------------------- "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
| IP: Logged
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic
