Starfleet

Heirarchy and History

• The standing military and research arm of the Federation
  • Under jurisdiction of Federation Department of Defense
  • Federation President acts as civilian commander-in-chief (Novel: Articles of the Federation)
• Considered a scientific and diplomatic body first, a military body second, but level of militarism has changed as interstellar situation has shifted (Various)
• Mission statement:

To explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before

• Originally descended from the combined forces of UESPA, the Andorian Guard, the Tellar Space Administration, the Vulcan Defense Force, and the Alpha Centauri Space Research Council (ENT Novel: A Choice of Futures)
  • When new members are inducted into the Federation, all members of any interplanetary military organizations are given the option of membership in Starfleet at equivalent rank and role or continued membership in their existing organization (DS9 Novel: Unity)
  • Existing military organizations continue to exist, are provided materiel from Federation sources within reason (DS9 Novel: Unity)
    • Presumably intended to handle issues local to their space to relieve Starfleet pressure (DS9 Novel: Unity)
  • Internal planetside issues outside the jurisdiction of Starfleet, though the governmental bodies of member nations can seek out Starfleet aid upon request (SCE Short Story: "Balance of Nature")
• From 22nd to 23rd century, five branches from original five fleets (ENT Novel: A Choice of Futures annotations)
  • UESPA
    • Logo: Earth Starfleet Delta
    • Duty: Exploration
  • Andorian Guard
    • Logo: Andorian "cursive" initial
    • Duty: Defense
  • Tellar Space Administration
    • Logo: Hoof design
    • Duty: Operational support and supply
  • Alpha Centauri Space Research Council
    • Logo: Rectangular bar with five circles
    • Duty: Scientific research, terraforming and colonization, logistics and administration
  • Vulcan Space Council
    • Logo: IDIC insignia
    • Duty: R&D and administration
  • Additional fleets of major nations initially maintained distinct status within Starfleet upon Federation membership, though this policy was later modified to fully integrate new fleets within Starfleet. (ENT Novel: Patterns of Interference)
    • Rigelian Defense Force (ENT Novel: Patterns of Interference)
• Fleets combined by 2280s, Starfleet delta maintained as overarcing insignia to cement exploration as core duty of Starfleet
  • On principle of exploration and discovery, the first duty of all Starfleet officers is considered to be to the truth, in whatever form that may take (TOS Novel: Ex Machina; TNG: "The First Duty"; TNG Novel: Available Light)

Crew

• Officers
  • Training provided at Starfleet Academy
  • Officer rank structure, highest to lowest:
    • Fleet admiral
    • Admiral
    • Vice admiral
    • Rear admiral
    • Commodore (largely dropped by 24th century)
    • Captain
    • Commander
    • Lieutenant commander
    • Lieutenant
    • Lieutenant, junior grade (briefly dropped mid-2270s)
    • Ensign
  • Officers are usually expected to serve until retirement or death, but resignations are allowed
    • Those faced with extremely traumatic events are offered honorable discharge (TOS Novel: Errand of Vengeance: Killing Blow)
• Enlisted
  • Training provided at various facilities depending on path to service
    • For basic training in engineering or command fields, Starfleet Technical Services Academy on Mars (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder")
      • As with Starfleet Academy, annex campuses are likely
    • Occasional advanced classes are provided to NCOs at the Academy (DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations")
  • Enlisted rank structure, highest to lowest:
    • Master chief petty officer
    • Senior chief petty officer
    • Chief petty officer
    • Petty officer [first class]
    • Petty officer second class (VAN Novel: Harbinger; TOS Novel: Ex Machina)
    • Crewman [first class]
    • Crewman second class (ENT Novel: Uncertain Logic; TOS Novel: Ex Machina)
  • Enlisted crew sign on by tour, have no requirement to continue service after each tour (SCE eBook: "War Stories, Book 1"; Novel: Articles of the Federation)
    • Those faced with extremely traumatic events are offered honorable discharge (TOS Novel: Errand of Vengeance: Killing Blow)
  • Due to people in enlisted positions almost always having training outside the Starfleet infrastructure prior to enlistment, granting them experience not necessarily reflected in their rank, enlisted crew are given a grade alongside their position to reflect level of certification achieved
    • Higher grade represents greater level of certification
      • Presumptive given references to crewmen in technical positions having their positions mentioned with an associated grade in "That Which Survives", "Good Shepherd"
• Serial number format
  • 22nd-23rd century: AA####-####BBB
    • AA: Two-letter code reflecting division
      • SA: Retired (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")
      • SC: Command (DIS: "Into the Forest I Go"; TOS: "Court Martial")
      • SE: Engineering (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold")
      • SF: Unknown
        • Apparently Sylvia Tilly's serial number
      • SS: Science (TOS: "Court Martial")
      • First S or entire segment sometimes elided
        • To account for Spock's in "Court Martial", Pavel Chekov's in Voyage Home
    • ####-####: Randomly-assigned four-digit segment
      • First character A for Academy students, 0 for graduates
        • Per Tilly's serial number as compared to others
      • Leading 0's sometimes elided
        • To account for shortened segments
    • BBB: One- to three-letter code of uncertain meaning, possibly arbitrary

Organization and Operations

• Divisions
  • Divisions indicated by color, location varying by uniform
  • Command
    • Command
    • Helm and navigation
    • Weapons officers and specialists (2260s)
  • Operations
    • Communications
    • Engineering
      • Diagnostic engineering
      • Environmental engineering (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
    • History
    • Operations
    • Security
    • Support
    • Tactical
  • Sciences
    • Medical
    • Science
• Starfleet Command
• Major positions
  • Commander-in-Chief
    • Highest-ranking position in Starfleet, answers only to the Federation President
    • Appointed by President, confirmed by the Council
  • Chief of Staff
    • Ranks immediately below C-in-C
    • Directs fleet operations for each of the separate fleets: UESPA, Andorian Guard, etc.
    • Less significant after combining of fleets, but still operates as commanding officer of Starfleet Command, go-between between C-in-C and other departments
  • Chief of <department>
    • Director of individual department below Starfleet Command; e.g., Chief of Starfleet Operations
    • May be used interchangeably with "Head"
  • Aide de camp
    • Personal assistant and advisor to flag officer
    • Organizes schedule, relays orders, arranges travel and access, and generally manages professional duties of the flag officer
    • Main point of contact to officer (ENT Novel: Patterns of Interference)
    • Generally required to be a senior officer
      • Usually higher rank for higher-ranked flag officers
      • Higher-ranked flag officers also receive more aides to manage duties
  • Sector commander
    • Flag officer serving to direct fleet operations within a sector as ordered by Starfleet Command (ENT Novel: Patterns of Interference)
      • Generally limited to sectors of major activity, where devoted command of operations is necessary for full sector
    • Usually holds office in major starbase within sector
      • Occasionally serves on sector flagship instead
  • Strategic operations officer (DS9)
    • Immediately below sector commander
    • Coordinates activities of Starfleet vessels and personnel within a given sector (DS9 Novel: The 34th Rule)
    • Known as fleet captain in 23rd century (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
  • Commanding officer (CO)
    • Lead officer of a vessel or starbase
    • For starbase commander, often serves in similar role to sector commander for near-starbase operations (ENT Novel: Patterns of Interference)
    • Receives instruction from Starfleet Operations, implements orders by own determination of best course of action
    • Empowered to serve as a representative of the Federation in diplomatic negotiations with alien civilizations (TNG Novel: The Buried Age)
    • For vessel commanders, review board required after the conclusion of a commander's first mission (VOY Novel: Mosaic)
      • Common for missions after on a case-by-case basis (VOY Novel: Mosaic)
    • Oath of service upon achieving the position of commanding officer
      • I, [name], having been appointed an officer in the United Federation of Planets as indicated in the grade of captain, do solemnly swear to uphold the regulations of the United Federation Starfleet as well as the laws of the United Federation of Planets: to represent the highest ideals for which they stand, to become an ambassador of peace and goodwill, to protect the security of the Federation and its member worlds, and to offer aid to any and all beings that request it. (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
  • Executive officer (XO)
    • First officer in chain of command below CO
    • Liaison between CO and department heads (TNG Novel: Q & A)
      • Duties include daily reports on shipboard operations, summarizing reports from department heads (TNG Novel: Q & A)
    • Handles crew operations, disseminating orders from CO to individual ship departments
    • Receives department reports
    • Reviews crew performance, reports issues with crew to captain (TNG: "Lower Decks")
      • Performance oversight includes considerations of crew morale and well-being alongside medical department (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
    • Generates duty assignments and shift schedules on discussion with department heads (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I"; SCE Short Story: "Cold Fusion")
    • Usually considered duty officer for alpha shift
  • Department head
    • Directs operations of their department aboard their vessel/base in response to orders from XO
    • If ship large enough to warrant second or third officer in chain of command, usually drawn from department heads
    • Considered senior staff
    • Almost always serves on duty during alpha shift to directly lead operations in their department
    • Large departments may also hold assistant/deputy (interchangeable, prefered term varies by department) department heads; if so, then such positions will often serve during beta/gamma/delta shift as department heads do during alpha shift
    • On rare occasion, a single officer will take on the role of multiple department heads, or even serve dually as XO and department head, should they be capable of such
      • If an officer serves dually as XO and department head, they may wear either the color of command or of their department as they wish
    • Common shipboard/starbase departments (varying by size):
      • Communications (Chief of communications)
      • Contact (Diplomatic officer/Protocol officer)
      • Engineering (Chief engineer)
      • Medical (Chief medical officer [CMO])
      • Helm/Navigation (department head considered to be alpha shift helmsman/navigator)
      • Operations (Operations manager)
        • Energy and bandwidth allocation, direction of shipboard resources (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
        • Supervisory position over scientific resource allocations alongside chief science officer (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
      • Security (Chief of security)
      • Support
        • Includes quartermaster, yeoman, aide,
      • Science (Chief science officer)
      • Tactical/weapons (Chief tactical officer)
        • Security and tactical often combined into single department, in which case the duties of the chief of security and chief tactical officer will be filled by the single department head, who will usually simply be referred to as "chief of security"
  • Other
    • Command
      • Bridge watch officer
        • Generalist bridge officer position on larger vessels (TNG Novel: The Buried Age)
        • Supervision of all devoted bridge stations (TNG Novel: The Buried Age)
        • Relief conn/ops officer as needed (TNG Novel: The Buried Age)
        • Often serves as duty officer when command officers are off shift (TNG Novel: The Buried Age)
    • Communications
      • Trained in code breaking, signals intelligence, information processing (DIS Novel: Desperate Hours)
    • Engineering
      • Enlisted referred to as "engineer's mate" rather than "engineer" (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; NF Novel: Into the Void)
      • Large departments often divided by field
        • Computer operations (TNG Novel: A Time to Harvest)
        • Systems diagnostics (TNG: "Realm of Fear")
      • Enlisted referred to as "engineering specialist" rather than "engineer"
      • Transporter operation often handled by enlisted, referred to as "transporter chief"; if an officer, referred to as "transporter officer"
    • Helm/Navigation
      • Prior to the early-to-mid 24th century, duties of flight control were split between a navigator and a helmsman
        • Navigator uses stellar and subspace charts in concert with local scans of conditions to chart the optimum flight path to a given location
          • Necessary both for ballistic/orbital plotting and for FTL flight; in the case of the latter, subspace conditions mean that the speed of a given warp factor is not constant, and thus the fastest route to a given destination may not be a direct route
        • Helmsman controls motion of the vessel
      • By the early-to-mid 24th century, these roles are combined into a single role known alternatively as flight controller or conn officer
    • Medical
      • Usually no distinction between physicians and surgeons except in large starbases; doctors in shipboard or smaller starbase departments expected to perform in both specialties as needed
      • Provisional assignment of medical personnel determined by Starfleet Medical, with final approval by commanding officer (NF Novel: Into the Void)
      • Medics/EMTs referred to as "medical technicians" or "medtechs"
      • Starfleet Medical Mental Health began work towards official counselor program 2359 (TNG Novel: A Time to Hate)
    • Operations
      • Manages resource distribution across vessel, including:
        • Computer capacity
        • Power management
        • Sensor priority allocation
        • Personnel allocation and organization (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
      • Responsible for crew performance and efficiency oversight (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
        • Includes providing feedback, opportunities for education (TNG Novel: Greater Than the Sum)
      • Division includes sensor officers (TNG Novel: Q & A)
    • Science
      • Large departments often divided by field
      • If field is itself large enough to warrant further subdivision, highest ranking has position of "senior science officer" with all others in position of "junior science officer"; otherwise, all simply given position of "science officer"
      • Enlisted referred to as "science specialist" rather than "science officer" (SCE)
    • Security
      • Enlisted referred to as "security guard" rather than "security officer" (SCE)
        • Those serving in more technical areas of security may alternatively be referred to as "security technician" (TOS Novel: Ex Machina)
      • Shipboard forces divided into sections, led by section chiefs (TOS Novel: Errand of Vengeance: The Edge of the Sword)
      • Ship- and station board security measures consist of at least four classes of severity and breadth (TLE Novel: The Sundered)
    • Support
      • Yeoman role common through early 24th century (Various)
        • Generally performed by enlisted
        • Limited to larger vessels (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
        • Handles day-to-day organizational and logistic matters for commanding officer (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
          • Filing and organizing logs (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
          • Reviewing department reports (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
        • Also serves as personal assistant (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
        • As a result, larger 23rd century vessels commonly didn't have a ready room (TOS Novel: The Captain's Oath)
        • Largely phased out by later 24th century
          • Improved VI technology allowed for logistical duties to be simplified and/or obsoleted even on larger vessels
    • Tactical
      • Day-to-day duties
        • Twice daily confirmations of photon torpedo containment field stability (TLE Novel: The Sundered)
      • Phaser technician
        • Largely phased out by mid-24th century as transition from duotronic to isolinear systems allowed for greater miniaturization
        • Maintains operations of phaser control circuitry (TLE Novel: The Sundered)
        • Takes direct control of target acquisition and phaser activation upon damage or disability of phaser control circuits (TOS: "Balance of Terror"; TLE Novel: The Sundered)

Miscellaneous Notes

• Available replicator options programmed by devoted team of dieticians at Starfleet Medical (TTN Novel: Taking Wing)
  • Taste and nutritional balance of equal concern, especially in providing for necessary nutrition across numerous disparate species (TTN Novel: Taking Wing)
  • Duties include documenting all possible undesired reactions of each provided pattern with any of the various species that may serve aboard or be transported by a Starfleet vessel
• For much of history, civilian families aboard vessels were discouraged
  • Policy shifted c.mid 24th century with development of Explorer-type vessels intended for years if not decades of independent operation, encouraged by relatively peaceful period in core Federation territories (TNG)
    • Policy shift continued to some degree on other vessels as well
  • Following Dominion War, policy not officially rescinded, but ship operations failed to include civilian support to the degree of Explorer-type vessels (TNG Novel: Q & A)

Related records

• Starfleet Code of Military Justice
• Starfleet members
• Starfleet starbases
• Starfleet vessels