The Federation

The Federation

Previously was presented a history of the galaxy, necessarily from a Federation-centered point of view, but nonetheless covering a great deal of non-Federation history. Any Federation-based series requires at least a cursory knowledge of the nature of the UFP. In the first half of this section, we cover the structure and function of the Federation. Following that, we examine Starfleet itself.

The Federation

Two hundred years after its founding, the Federation stands at 150 member worlds, with dozens of planets under consideration for membership at any time. Ideally, the UFP would like all species in the galaxy to benefit from working together.

Benefits of Membership

There is strength in unity. With the thousands of inhabited worlds and dozens of alien species present in the galaxy, a forum where differing opinions can be peacefully resolved is valuable. Membership in the Federation offers mutual aid, protection, and political benefits. Governments can share their resources, sending medicine to a planet in need or relieving the burdens of famine. They can offer a united front against potentially hostile members. The Federation offers a forum where members can discuss their differences and find common ground on matters of galactic import. Moreover, members, by working together, can advance the cause of knowledge through shared research and exploration (best embodied by Starfleet).

INSTANT RECOGNITION: Once the Federation Council accepts a petitioning world into the UFP, that world instantly gains recognition as a full member, along with all associated rights. The planet earns a seat on the Federation Council and an equal vote just as Earth, Vulcan, and the other founding worlds do. This means the evaluation period is necessarily long—at least a few months, often a year or more—to ensure the prospective world is mature enough to shoulder this responsibility. Instant recognition and the voting equality of all members represent two of the strongest lures to membership for prospective worlds.

ECONOMIC SUPPORT: Worlds with economic difficulties need more than influxes of capital to solve their problems. Fortunately, the Federation has both vast experience in these matters and powerful technological solutions to most issues. The world of Bajor, though not a member world, represents an excellent example. After decades of exploitation at the hands of the Cardassian Union, the Federation—as a sign of goodwill—provided industrial replicators capable of producing large agricultural equipment and the technology necessary to turn one of Bajor's moons into a limitless energy source.

MILITARY SUPPORT: The need for defense on the part of member worlds is of paramount significance, especially for those worlds near the border of a hostile or potentially unfriendly neighbor like the Romulans. Many potential members cite protection from more powerful aggressor species as a major reason for requesting admittance to the UFP. Once a world joins the Federation, Starfleet dispatches special tactical advisors along with the normal contingent of Federation ambassadors and diplomats to evaluate the extent of Starfleet's future presence in the system. In those cases where the new member world is under imminent threat, the Council postpones this requirement, tasking Starfleet Command with the responsibility of securing the planet's safety immediately.

Responsibilities of Membership

Membership in the Federation has its responsibilities; it is not a free ride at the expense of other members. The Council expects each world to contribute material or financial resources to maintain Starfleet, fund research by the Science Council, and provide emergency services for any Federation members in the area. Local officials must regulate local trade and protect the freedom of interstellar commerce, and provide facilities, either on the planet or in orbit around the planet, for Federation administrators. Finally, members agree to uphold Federation laws ensuring individual freedoms as well as those safeguarding due process.

So far, each Federation world admirably meets these expectations, and requirements are intentionally kept low enough for every world to fulfill its responsibility.

Joining

New worlds join the UFP in one of two manners. Either they and the UFP have a history of past relations and the world opts to petition for membership, or the world is unknown to the UFP and joins after first contact has been made. In both cases, the requirements for joining are the same.

FIRST CONTACT: Prior to considering a world for membership, the Federation Council must first make contact with the prospective civilization. Often, this first contact results from Starfleet's normal course of business—exploring the galaxy. Any time Starfleet discovers an intelligent species, it dispatches a first-contact team. The team reports directly to the First Contact Division, based on Vulcan, under the Director of Exosocial Relations. If the newly encountered species does not possess warp technology the team covertly observes the culture, evaluating its social and technological status. The contact team files its report along with a recommendation for further study, without the culture's knowledge. If the species possesses warp drive technology, the rules are somewhat looser. First contact can be made directly via subspace radio or direct intervention. Optimally, this occurs after a period of observation, but warp-capable cultures can usually detect such covert activities and often dislike the notion of being observed. As a result, any starship exploring the galaxy has the potential to make first contact with other beings. Almost every ship has at least one first-contact specialist aboard, often—in the case of Galaxy-class ships—a whole division.

Both situations are delicate. First contact teams make mistakes, sometimes revealing themselves to the prewarp culture. Seemingly primitive cultures sometimes show surprising aptitude in detecting and ferreting out hidden observers. The team must rely heavily on technology as well as its own scientific training to remain hidden. Some officers operate within the culture itself. Known as heavy integration operatives, these agents spend months studying a society so they can insert themselves into it as seamlessly as possible.

Similarly, warp-capable cultures often represent their own coalition of worlds or single, very aggressive worlds. First contact with these cultures can not only damage the culture if not handled properly, but also damage the Federation if misunderstanding causes war. In all cases, a well-rounded first contact team relies on psychology, sociology, diplomacy, and technology to get the job done.

REQUIREMENTS FOR MEMBERSHIP: The requirements for acceptance into the Federation are kept intentionally simple. The Council considers complex requirements difficult to explain, difficult to meet, difficult to evaluate, and difficult to navigate. In every case, the Council appoints a cultural attaché, described below, to examine the issue.

Before being accepted, potential worlds must:

• POSSESS TRUE FASTER-THAN-LIGHT TRAVEL. This does not necessarily mean warp travel, although so far this has exclusively been the case. If the world developed FTL travel through means other than research and development—stealing it, trading for it, discovering it archaeologically, or through some other manner—the review process becomes more complex. The cultural attaché must spend more time evaluating FTL travel's impact on the developing cultures of the world. Societies acquiring warp travel through outside means—as with the Klingon Empire—often experience developmental problems as sudden access to other planets puts unnatural pressures on the indigenous society.

The Federation experienced first-hand the way in which exposure to an advanced race can corrupt the development of a younger race. The UFP believes each species has a right to develop on its own, even if this means risking the self-destruction of the society. The Council selected the milestone of warp travel, building it into the Prime Directive to protect developing cultures from this kind of shock.

• BENEFIT FROM ONE GOVERNMENT. The Council considers factionalism a sign of immaturity. The world must speak with a single voice. Furthermore, this global government must have a proven track record of internal stability and adherence to the principles of Federation.

• EXIST PEACEFULLY WITH ITS NEIGHBORS. In most cases, if a petitioning species meets the faster-than-light requirement, it dominates its local area technologically. How it uses or exploits this superiority is an excellent test of the planet's worth as a potential member race. If a potential member is at war with its neighbor, the Federation often extends the opportunity for peaceful negotiation to both warring members. Responses to these overtures go a long way toward providing the Council some notion of the participants' demeanor. The Federation, in all cases, prefers any warring cultures to resolve their grievances peacefully. It is possible, however, for a potential world to impress the Council with its sincerity while at the same time the opposing race impresses the Council with its belligerence. In these cases a treaty with the potential member world is signed, aid is given, and the war usually comes to a peaceful end. Then the petitioning race is reevaluated.

• ACCEPT THE PRINCIPLES OF FEDERATION. This, the most obvious requirement, demands the most rigorous evaluation. The principles of Federation allow many fine interpretations, some of which result in behavior subtly contrary to the Federation's goals. The cultural attaché spends most of his time studying the potential world, trying to understand as precisely as possible the mores and folkways of the planet's cultures to make sure they understand and agree with the principles found in the Federation Constitution.

THE REVIEW BOARD: The Review Board, a permanent subcommittee of the Council, has all first contact and diplomatic data at its fingertips, and often sends board members on fact-finding missions as well. Once the request is made the Board assigns a cultural attaché, with a team to aid him, to the culture in question.

The cultural attaché must be a skilled and highly experienced diplomat. The job requires nothing short of an extensive tour of the planet (or planets, in cases involving world- or system-spanning cultures) and an exhaustive review of the culture's society, economy, science, religion, government, and resources. The importance of attention to detail in these matters cannot be overstated. A cultural attaché might have no notion that, for instance, a society considers its children slaves belonging to the parents, usable for debt payment or as collateral on a loan. Such an attitude, contrary to Federation principles, could pass unnoticed until a review of the world's educational system took place. This makes the attaché's team necessarily large and the review period long.

When the review period ends, the attaché files the report with the Review Board, which returns a verdict usually within a few weeks. The verdict is rarely a surprise to the potential member, since one of the attaché's duties is to explain the Federation Constitution to the culture and ensure the prospective species understands these principles.

REJECTION: Those applicants who pass the review gain UFP membership and all associated benefits. For those worlds rejected, the reasons are usually obvious and fall into one of three categories: the culture is too belligerent, does not respect the personal liberty of its citizens, or does not respect the right of each citizen to achieve his full potential. While these last two may seem like the same thing, many cultures believe in personal liberty—the right of the individual to live free from fear or exploitation—while at the same time confining the individual's development to a given "caste" or other socio-economic subclass. Caste systems, for instance, often protect the rights of the individual and grant all members of every caste representation in the government, but do not permit members of one caste to rise beyond the limits of the caste into which they were born. These cultures often have a difficult time understanding why the Federation would reject them. These notions are covered in great detail in the Federation Constitution.

Rule of the Council

The Council is the Federation's legislative branch and as a result has the greatest impact on the daily lives of Federation citizens. Each member world sends a contingent of up to five representatives, formally known as "Councilors", to sit on the Council. Each world receives a single vote, regardless of how many representatives it sends, and the leader of each delegation— the individual who actually casts the vote—is that world's ambassador. Some worlds intentionally send three or five representatives to the Council, so each representative can weigh the issues, then vote on how to vote. The final vote represents a poll of the representatives, with the majority opinion holding sway. Other governments send only one ambassador with no fellow councilors and no staff. Still others maintain large offices in the buildings surrounding Federation Hall, from which hourly communications between delegation and homeworld dictate how the ambassador votes.

Voice of the Council

Every three years, the Council votes on a new speaker (though there is no restriction on the number of consecutive terms an individual may hold). The Speaker of the Federation Council has no legislative power, instead wielding considerable organizational power. First among equals, the speaker schedules debates, decides when a representative has spoken for his allotted time, and delays debates for given allotments of time. In most cases, the speaker's decisions can be overridden by a two-thirds majority vote by the Council. This prevents the Speaker from abusing his power. It is possible for a Speaker to be removed from office after a vote of no confidence is called.

Powers of the Federation Council

The Council is the primary governing body of the Federation, with broad and sweeping powers. These powers can be expanded only by amending the Constitution, an arduous and lengthy process that prevents the Council from suddenly overstepping its bounds. The Council's responsibilities can be divided into several broad categories:

• PASS LEGISLATION: Any citizen may propose a law. This usually occurs at the planetary level, where the local legislative body debates the merit of the bill. If the planetary government considers the bill worthy, the planet's ambassador makes a formal proposition in Council. The President usually creates a subcommittee to evaluate the pros and cons of the law. The subcommittee researches the subject and presents its report to the Council, and the Council formally votes. As with most acts of the Council, a two-thirds majority is required for a bill to become a law. Legislation passed by the Council affects the entire Federation. Laws addressing a single planet's needs must be passed in that society's own legislative body.

• ELECT THE PRESIDENT: Every six years the Council elects a new President, by secret ballot, from among its ranks. Each President may serve only one term. Only members of the Council may vote, and only for another Council member. Any voting member can be nominated for the position, with no limit on the number of nominees possible. Voting takes place in a series of rounds, with each round eliminating roughly half of the nominees, until finally only two remain in the final round.

• RESOURCE ALLOCATION: Each year the Council receives an annual report from the Economics Council, detailing exactly what resources the Federation has available. The Federation Council then spends roughly one month working on the next yearly budget. Because the Federation's operation is neatly divided—between the various permanent subcommittees of the Council, Starfleet, and the Secretariat—into about 100 different departments, the process of determining which department gets how many resources is far less complex than might be expected.

• OVERSIGHT AND FACT-FINDING: Of the many other functions of the Council, only two more bear mentioning here. The Presidential Oversight Subcommittee monitors the professional activities of the President, ensuring he does not abuse his power. Activity on this committee is low, as most Federation Presidents have been entirely trustworthy men and women with the support of the Council behind them. No Federation President has ever been impeached. Many important agencies—such as Starfleet Intelligence and the Economics Council—have permanent oversight subcommittees on the Council as well, reviewing their performance to prevent abuse of power.

Lastly, the Council forms and dispatches hundreds of fact-finding committees throughout the year to worlds, colonies, outposts, stations, ships, and anywhere else something significant to a Council vote takes place. Each fact-finding committee reports directly to the Council.

Life in the Federation

For the majority of Federation citizens, the local planetary government has a greater impact on people's daily lives than the Council. While the Federation Council oversees the legislative agenda for the entire Federation, governance of individual worlds remains with local officials. For instance, on Andoria the Council of Clans regulates planetary trade, establishes food and drug safety regulations, enacts local laws and ordinances, and allocates resources to various committees, bureaucracies, and groups. If a visitor inadvertently insulted an Andorian and he demands retribution (in the traditional Andorian fashion—a duel), the visitor would appeal to the Council of Clans for immunity. Appeal to the Federation Council is possible, but in almost all instances it would defer to the local planetary authority. Of course, you could accept the duel! Unless local laws violate the Federation Constitution, the Council is reluctant to interfere.

Traveling in the Federation

One of the great benefits of Federation membership is free and unrestricted travel throughout all the UFP's member worlds.

If a Vulcan scientist wanted to journey from Vulcan to Andoria, he would have several options. He could usually charter passage on a Vulcan Science Academy vessel, if he worked for the Vulcan Science Academy, for instance. Alternatively, he could use one of the many Federation vessels that frequently travel from one world to another. The Federation Bureau of Tourism and Trade would sponsor his journey in this case. This vessel could be any one of a wide variety of ships—traders, science vessels, dedicated tourism ships. Very rarely, a Starfleet vessel might be made available, although in these cases there must be special circumstances.

While unlimited travel is a legal right of every Federation citizen, the Federation monitors visa applications and immigration. Some planets, such as Risa and some worlds in the Rigel system, carefully monitor the influx of tourists over the course of the year to prevent overloading their civilian infrastructure. A world can accommodate only so many visitors before strains on the public and private sector become too great.

Local planetary authorities supervise permanent immigration to their worlds, and some restrictions may apply (usually based on population density, environmental impact, and infrastructure capacity). Earth, to use a popular example, simply couldn't accommodate the sheer volume of citizens who would move there if they could. Some planets, such as those along the frontier, are less attractive as tourist destinations due to the unique problems these planets face.

The Federation Economy

The economy of the future is vastly different from that of previous centuries. The Federation meets the basic needs of the majority of its citizens, and few want for anything. Homelessness and starvation are horrors of the past. Greed is only a memory.

In earlier ages people worked for monetary gain, using the money they earned to buy goods and services. Disparate incomes led to a wide gap between what were called the "haves" and the "have-nots," with money (and greed) skewing the allocation of even the most basic resources. Each citizen of the Federation receives goods each according to his needs and is encouraged to provide for the Federation each according to his abilities. Traders ply the trade routes, selling wares from across the galaxy. Colonies produce the raw materials and agricultural goods the Federation needs. Merchants throughout the Federation—from Vulcan shopkeepers to Terran restaurateurs—provide their unique services to the general public. People are productive for productivity's sake, not because they are paid.

To handle interstellar trade, the Federation Constitution established the credit as the unit of exchange within the UFP, to determine the relative value of planetary economies and as a means of trading with other, non-Federation cultures. Most often, inside the Federation the credit simplifies the equation of the value of, for example, grain produced on Alpha Centauri and dilithium it imports. In this way, the credit serves as a stable unit of measure, allowing resources to move between worlds efficiently. Credits normally have a value tied to the local currency, set by the Federation Council. For example, on Vulcan the credit is worth 100 Vulcan rials.

Though intended for interstellar trade, there are times when Federation citizens require currency, and the credit fills that void. Although society provides for many basic needs, such as housing, food, and clothing, sometimes individuals want to acquire a memento of their visit to Risa, buy a tribble, or sample some of the local cuisine. Often, local proprietors expect payment for their work, particularly on non-Federation worlds. Although many worlds still use some form of local or regional currency—either out of tradition or because they have recently joined the UFP—some have abandoned coinage entirely in favor of the credit.

Federation computers keep track of credits electronically, making fraud and counterfeiting extremely difficult on anything but the most limited basis. Most starfaring races inside the Federation recognize the credit as the most stable and viable form of exchange in the quadrant. In this vein, the credit sees its widest use along the frontier and on worlds outside the Federation sphere of influence and tends to be more popular among reputable traders.

The Constitution of the United Federation of Planets

When the leaders of the live founding worlds met on Epsilon Eridani in 2161, they set about drafting a series of articles to define the structure of their new Federation. These articles, once ratified, became the Constitution of the UFP.

The Constitution both establishes the power and function of the government and guarantees the rights of the individual, as well as those of each member world. The entire governmental structure of the Federation is diagrammed in this document. There are twenty-seven original Articles:

• ARTICLES ONE AND TWO: Set forth the basic goals o! the Federation: to establish a coalition of worlds each relying upon the other to further the peace, prosperity, and continued expansion of knowledge of the whole.

• ARTICLE THREE: Establishes the rights of the individual. As the Constitution explains, these rights do not come from the Constitution, they come from the simple fact of individual existence. These rights cannot be given or taken away, but they can be oppressed or violated. The third article exists to ensure the Federation does not have the right to take its citizen's rights away. Article Three is similar in many ways to the United States of America's Bill of Rights.

• ARTICLE FOUR: Ensures the right of each world to govern itself. The greatest fear of many non-Federation cultures is that joining the Federation means giving up the culture's current sovereignty over itself, submitting, in essence, to the government of a foreign power. While a certain degree of this is, by nature, necessary, the Federation goes to great lengths to minimize this at all times. If a world meets the eligibility requirements and agrees with the principles of the Constitution, it is free to employ any form of government it wants. Arguably, some forms of government are better suited to the principles of the Federation than others; so far no member worlds employ autocratic dictatorships, and most worlds use some form of democratic representation. Some planets, after analyzing the Federation Constitution, adopt it as their own governmental form.

• ARTICLE FIVE: Permits all member worlds to petition the Federation Council for arbitration in matters of dispute. These must occur between member worlds; internal legal matters must be resolved by the governing world's own judiciary system. The Federation Council only makes recommendations; it has no judiciary power over the member worlds. If either party in a dispute rejects the recommendations of the Council, it may appeal to the Federation Judiciary Board. Appeals to the Board may ultimately result in review by the Federation Supreme Court, the ultimate judiciary authority in the Federation.

• ARTICLES SIX THROUGH FIFTEEN: Describe the function and power of the Federation Council and its legislative powers. These ten articles form the meat of the Constitution, setting forth voting powers of council members and establishing the different permanent cabinets. Article Thirteen, for example, establishes Earth as the seat of Federation government.

• ARTICLES SIXTEEN THROOGH NINETEEN: Establish the office of President of the Federation, as well as his bureaucratic under cabinet, the Secretariat. The President serves as chief diplomat, establishes foreign policy, and functions as commander-in-chief of Starfleet. This necessarily requires thousands of man-hours of work every day. The offices of the Secretariat perform this work, reporting directly to the President.

• ARTICLE TWENTY: Establishes Starfleet as the Federation's defense force and exploration fleet. This article names San Francisco as Starfleet Headquarters and establishes a subcabinet of fleet admirals to serve as Starfleet Command, reporting directly to the President.

• ARTICLES TWENTY-ONE THROUGH TWENTY THREE: Set forth the powers of the judiciary branch. Article Twenty-two, for instance, establishes the Federation Supreme Court as ultimate legal authority.

• ARTICLES TWENTY FOUR AND TWENTY FIVE: Set forth the rules for membership in the Federation, as detailed above.

• ARTICLE TWENTY SIX: Delineates the process by which a member world or some subgroup of its population can establish a colony. The Colonial Rights article, as it is known, explains in great detail the limited authority the Federation has over its colonies and the aid to which colonies have a right. It also states that colonies must undergo the same rigorous review period and criteria established in the previous two articles if they wish to become full members.

• ARTICLE TWENTY-SEVEN: Explains the processes necessary to amend the Constitution. It explicitly forbids any alteration of Articles Three and Four.

The Frontier

The frontier lies at the extreme boundary of the Federation's influence. Supplies and aid take longer to get to the frontier than anywhere else in the Federation. The frontier also lies closest to the Federation's enemies. Those governments, such as the Romulan Star Empire and Cardassian Union, typically view established colonies as staging points for potential invasion and new colonies as attempts to redraw interstellar boundaries. Yet the frontier also contains a large number of unexplored, unpopulated, and possibly inhabitable worlds. Because of these basic facts, the frontier is a harsher, more dangerous place. Federation colonies are both more numerous and more vulnerable.

Colonies

Colonies result from a number of factors. At any point in a planet's history, including the review period for Federation membership, some subset of the planet's population may desire to break off from the planet's governmental authority and form their own society. For some, it is a chance to start anew, far from perceived restrictions—a new beginning on worlds such as Cestus III, Caldos, or Deneva. For others, it is the chance to participate in some kind of social experiment, such as living the less technological lifestyle of Dr. Sandoval's colony on Omicron Ceti III. For still others, opportunity attracts them to even the harshest colony worlds—dilithium miners to Rigel XII, farmers to Coltar IV, or scientists to Omicron Theta.

The Federation and other powers willingly sponsor colonies. At any time, there are hundreds of extant Federation colonies, with roughly 10% of applications for Federation membership in a given year coming from colonial outposts. The UFP provides supplies, resources, advisors, and Starfleet protection. The Federation Bureau of Colonization must approve all prospective colonies. The Bureau assigns a survey team to examine the site, ensuring it meets the Bureau's requirements. The new site must not be on an inhabited world, must have sufficient resources to support a stable population, and must be relatively free of threat. If a group wanted to colonize an uninhabited world on which an Iconian gateway existed, the Bureau would turn the application down because of the possible risk to colony safety and Federation security (not to mention the scientific value).

For some people colonial life represents the best of two worlds. They gain some of the benefits of Federation life while benefiting from a higher degree of cultural and governmental freedom than might otherwise be possible as a full member. Most colonies start on moons or planets near the founding culture's homeworld. Occasionally, colonists desire to start completely anew, moving as far away from the parent homeworld as possible. Thus are frontier colonies born.

Colonial Life

Some long-established colonies, such as those on Mars, Rigel, and Deneva, are essentially member worlds, and life on these older colonies is indistinguishable from life on a member world. They enjoy a high degree of technological sophistication, such as replicators, a large, stable population, and local industry. On the stereotypical "rugged" colonies along the frontier, however, life is markedly different.

Colonists typically work hard for many of the things most Federation citizens take for granted, including their survival. Science outposts are often isolated and depend on supply shipments from the Federation. On farming and mining colonies, people work long hours to maintain their precarious existence. On some colonial outposts, replicators may be unavailable because they require phenomenal amounts of energy, and such basic requirements as food and water must be acquired through farming or supply shipments. Buildings may either be prefabricated structures or constructed locally using primitive techniques. Some colonies, by their nature, may be located in hostile environments or inhospitable worlds—underground pergium mines or penal colonies on barren rocks—requiring sophisticated life support. Governments typically range from appointed colony administrators (since small colonies cannot support large bureaucracies) to various political and social systems—democracy, socialism, Luddism, and so forth. At any time, a colony could suffer utter catastrophe, from a Borg attack on the Jouret IV colony to radiation-induced hyperaccelerated aging on Gamma Hydra IV, from famine on Tarsus IV to government collapse on Turkana IV.

Finally, life on a colony requires, more than anything else, reliance on oneself and one's fellow colonists. Colonies are often so remote that, it can take time for a starship to arrive. If a strange alien race shows up in orbit, it is often up to colonists to decide the best course of action, whether to negotiate or fight, then follow through. To participate in a colony a colonist needs the ability and willingness to stand on his own two feet.

The Frontier and Exploration

The frontier also provides limitless opportunities for exploration. Starfleet's mandate devotes fully half its resources to exploration. Federation starships, unlike their Romulan, Klingon, or Cardassian counterparts, are packed with exploratory technology. From advanced sensor arrays sophisticated enough to catalog a planet's flora and fauna to dozens of probes designed for everything from atmospheric survey to spectrographic isotope isolation, Starfleet's capacity for exploration is unrivalled in the galaxy.

But the "frontier" of exploration is not always the edge of the Federation. New discoveries await on even the oldest, best known Federation worlds. Where Starfleet concentrates its resources changes from era to era.

The Frontier in Star Trek: The Next Generation

During the 24th century, Starfleet devoted itself to exploring more fully those planets merely surveyed in the previous century. The Federation couldn't simply continue forward, crossing political boundaries for the sake of exploration. With the Romulans and Klingons thwarting outward expansion in the Beta Quadrant, Starfleet at first changed direction, exploring spinward until it ran into the Cardassians and Ferengi. In effect, the major powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants "bumped up" against each other, making further outward exploration difficult.

As a result, exploration during this era meant detailed surveys of planets and systems only cursorily reported on previously, if at all. Ships in the previous century often expanded the Federation's frontiers by hundreds of light-years at a time, without stopping to catalog all the planetary systems and other stellar phenomena they passed. Starfleet concentrated on filling in the gaps on its star charts. It seemed the frontier—represented by new worlds to explore and new civilizations to study—could be anywhere: the next planet, system, or sector.

Additionally, contact between starship captains and Starfleet Command became, thanks to improved technology, much more frequent. Starfleet Command could advise on emerging situations, provide information more readily, and dispatch reinforcements more quickly and in greater numbers. As a result, starship crews became less isolated. Rather than as a group of individual, far-flung ships, Starfleet could act as a concerted whole.

Starfleet

Starfleet serves as the instrument of policy for the Federation, as well as safeguarding its borders and expanding the boundaries of knowledge through exploration and research. No other organization in the UFP embodies its principles of brotherhood and peace as Starfleet does. Serving among Starfleet's ranks is one of the highest aspirations for citizens (and many noncitizens) of the UFP.

Control over the fleet is centralized at Starfleet Command, located in San Francisco near the Federation Council hall. Because of the vast distances involved in space exploration, starship crews answer to their captain, who in turn reports to a fleet admiral, in order to coordinate operations and maintain cohesion. The Chief-in-Command of Starfleet oversees a staff of fleet admirals charged with various responsibilities ranging from a specific region of space to a related set of operations (such as exploration and research, or intelligence gathering). The C-in-C answers directly to the Federation President, though he is also answerable to the Federation Council.

Each Starfleet officer, from a lowly cadet to a fleet admiral, is expected to follow Starfleet regulations. While a starship crew may find itself two weeks' journey from the nearest starbase and have wide latitude in dealing with unexpected circumstances, it does not have carte blanche. Starfleet's regulations are meant to ensure a standard code of conduct, and serve as guidelines for how a Starfleet officer is expected to behave. The Starfleet Manual of General Orders and Regulations contains rules governing virtually every facet of starship operation, from manual checks of warp core efficiency and dilithium crystal degeneration to the behavior of flag officers during diplomatic dinners. These rules come in three types: General Orders, Orders, and Regulations. General Orders are broad, sweeping rules of primary importance to the continued functioning and security of Starfleet, the most famous of which is the Prime Directive. Orders cover more mundane operational rules, such as outlining a vessel's chain of command and establishing officer responsibilities aboard ship. Regulations detail specific codes of conduct and procedures, such as mandating the ship go to yellow alert when detecting an unidentified ship or establishing a weekly check of deuterium tanks. Violations of the Regulations could be met with a simple reprimand (for neglecting a Regulation) to a court-martial (for violations of a General Order).

The Function of Starflect

Starfleet's two basic functions, defense and exploration, manifest themselves in a wide variety of mission types. A given ship may, over the course of the year, undertake several of each mission type. Other ships serve for long periods in one mission posting—threat alert or deep-space exploration, for instance. Indeed, entire fleets are sometimes posted to a narrow category of duties because of the specific strengths of the fleet's ships—Starfleet's Extended Exploration fleet, for example, comprised mostly of Nova-class science ships. The basic mission types are listed below.

Exploration

In every era, exploration comprises the bulk of ship missions. Every ship in the fleet, in every era, over the course of a five-year tour of duty, adds immeasurably to the sum total of Federation knowledge of its own space and that of the frontier. Consider the discoveries made by the Enterprise over the course of two TV series. The Tholians, the Gorn, the Iconians, and over a dozen more races and countless planets and systems were encountered and explored by the Enterprise. Multiply that by the hundreds of ships in Starfleet, and you gain some notion of the role of exploration in Starfleet. Each ship is responsible for volumes of new information every year, yet at the same time Starfleet has explored only a tiny fraction of the galaxy. There are two broadly defined types of exploration mission:

DEEP-SPACE EXPLORATION: These missions involve cataloguing planetary systems, nebulae, black holes, and other stellar phenomena. A deep-space exploration mission might catalog the location of a planetary solar system. The number of planets, their types, locations, and number of moons, and any comets or asteroids would be filed for examination by Starfleet's Department of Astronomical Phenomena.

PLANETARY EXPLORATION: Starfleet's primary goal is the search for new worlds, life-forms, and civilizations. Once a noteworthy planet has been discovered, Starfleet dispatches a ship to explore its surface. Planetary missions begin with extensive sensor scans of the surface, cataloguing atmosphere, hydrosphere, geology, and abundance of plant life. Modern sensors can accumulate a wealth of information before an away team beams down. Often, after the sensor scans are completed and the planet's surface is fully mapped, survey teams are sent to examine the world more closely. This might mean traveling through the upper atmospheric layers of a gas giant in a shuttlecraft, or actually setting foot on the planet's soil. Most observation of intelligent life occurs during planetary missions. Extensively trained first contact teams can spend weeks studying a new species without their subjects' awareness. Warp-capable cultures, however, are usually contacted by the deep-space survey crews, since most warp-capable cultures are able to detect Starfleet warp signatures.

Defense

The second half of Starfleet's mission statement as set forth in the Federation Constitution, defense missions fall into one of four basic categories:

PATROL MISSIONS: These form the bulk of all nonexploration missions. Some areas of space contain known threats, others contain recently discovered species who may pose a threat. Patrol missions intentionally give Starfleet a high profile in these areas, to ensure hostile and potentially hostile species understand Starfleet's commitment to defense, and to maintain a ready defense force should any potentially hostile species attack.

THREAT ALERT MISSIONS: Patrols along currently hostile borders, such as the Romulan Neutral Zone or, in some eras, the Klingon border, and responses to acts of aggression against the Federation constitute threat alert missions. If a starbase or colony is attacked, a ship is dispatched on threat alert to respond.

TACTICAL MISSIONS: These missions almost always involve combat or the threat of combat. Federation lives or the lives of its allies are at stake and ships are required to defend against the aggressors. These include everything from the incursion of alien probes intentionally or unintentionally threatening the Federation to full-fledged war.

CONVOY AND ESCORT: Universally considered the most uneventful of defense missions, convoy and escort missions require a starship to follow along with a fleet of freighters or serve as hosts to important dignitaries on their way to an important diplomatic function. Despite the "babysitting" aspect of these kinds of mission, their completion is often vital, and starship crews remain on alert for potential threats. In the event of trouble, a starship's primary duty is to avoid danger and get its charges through safely.

Diplomacy

As instruments of Federation policy, starships and their crews are often called upon to handle diplomatic affairs, from attending state ceremonies such as the inauguration of a new leader to representing the Federation's position at an intergalactic conference, from negotiating peace treaties to simply demonstrating the Federation's concern. In this capacity, every starship serves as a floating embassy and every crewmember represents Starfleet.

FIRST CONTACT: Starfleet officers, in their capacity as explorers, are often the first to establish contact with a previously unknown species. In the case of prewarp societies, a first contact mission is meant to evaluate the culture secretly, so as not to contaminate the society's natural evolution. While this may seem a facet of exploration missions, because of the delicacy of such missions Starfleet considers it a matter of diplomacy. In the case of species already possessing warp drive capability, a first contact mission is intended to reveal the existence of life on other planets and welcome them into the interstellar family of nations.

INTERGALACTIC AFFAIRS: The bulk of diplomatic missions fall under this category—negotiating trade agreements, arbitrating local disputes, participating in diplomatic conferences, and demonstrating the Federation's interest as a neutral observer. These missions involve tact, courtesy, and a fine understanding of interstellar politics. Starship crews are often the first on the scene of emerging diplomatic situations and can be dispatched much more quickly than a mission from Earth. Starship captains often have wide latitude to represent the Federation's interests and are authorized to speak on behalf of the Federation.

Emergencies and Natural Disasters

Whenever a planet or system undergoes a cataclysmic upheaval—giant solar flares, geological or meteorological disturbances, potential asteroid impacts, outbreaks of disease or famine—Starfleet is called in. These kinds of mission include:

AID AND RELIEF: This mission profile involves any of a number of related solutions to planetwide disaster, such as transporting critical medical supplies to a world engulfed by plague, ferrying food to a world affected by famine, destroying approaching asteroids, and relieving tectonic stress using the ship's phasers.

EVACUATION: When a mission to provide relief fails or nothing can be done to save a planet, starships are called upon to evacuate as much of the population as possible. A flotilla of Starfleet's largest spaceships takes on hundreds or thousands of people and transports them to the nearest starbase or refugee world.

Scientific

Scientific missions are often considered as going hand in hand with exploration missions. What good is it to discover a new world if nothing is learned from its unique environment? What good is identifying a new class of pulsar without performing a spectrographic analysis? Scientific missions include:

EXPERIMENTATION: These missions involve testing new theories or new equipment. The starship and her crew host a visiting scientific team with the intention of putting their work to the test—trying a new warp field geometry, observing the collapse of a red giant star. Alternatively, the starship pays a call on a research station and serves as witness to a scientific experiment.

INVESTIGATION: At any given time, the many laboratories on board a starship engage in various inquiries related to the phenomena they encounter over their operational lifetime. A starship, by virtue of its extensive travels, encounters a wide variety of specimens (sometimes never before seen) and can gather a wealth of information across a broad spectrum, from a comparative study of primitive cultures to a detailed investigation into supernovae.

Starfleet General Orders

Over 24 General Orders form Starfleet's guiding principles. Below is an abbreviated list covering those orders of most interest to players.

GENERAL ORDER ONE: THE PRIME DIRECTIVE: Prohibits interference in the normal development of any society and mandates that any Starfleet vessel or crew member is expendable to prevent violation of this rule. In most cases, this rule applies to civilizations that have not yet developed warp drive. Even learning of the existence of other life-forms can damage a developing culture, so great care must be taken to ensure first contact teams remain well hidden.

GENERAL ORDER TWO: PROTECT FEDERATION CITIZENS: One of Starfleet's two mandates is the defense of the Federation. This order allows Starfleet officers to violate orders or duty requirements in order to assist Federation citizens in need. For instance, the captain of a Starfleet vessel en route to a starbase for a regulation inspection invokes General Order Two to break off and assist a Federation colony under attack from the Tholians. Usually this order need not be referenced. Simply noting the incident in the captain's log is sufficient.

GENERAL ORDER THREE: DESTRUCT SEQUENCE: Starships are unbelievably potent and sophisticated devices, arguably the most sophisticated machines man has ever built. The danger should a ship fall into the wrong hands is not merely that the enemy may gain vital technologies to improve his own fleet, but that the enemy gains a new weapon of powerful destructive force. To prevent this, the third General Order permits the captain to enable the ship's destruct systems when capture of the vessel appears imminent or the ship constitutes a danger to Federation security. If the captain is dead or unable to evaluate the situation, the acting captain is authorized to do so.

GENERAL ORDER FOUR: NOTWITHSTANDING PROTOCOL: This order allows commanding officers to countermand Starfleet regulations in the event of extreme threat to Federation security (though not General Orders).

GENERAL ORDER FIVE: WELFARE OF THE CREW: This Order allows a captain to disregard regulations and mission priorities in order to save the lives of a crewman or crewmen. It also prevents commanding officers from taking actions that would unnecessarily jeopardize the lives of those under their command. General Orders One and Four supercede this order.

The regular Orders are more general, governing the behavior of most Starfleet officers.

ORDER 104.B: CHAIN OF COMMAND: This section describes Starfleet's rank structure, establishing the requirements of junior officers to respond promptly to the commands of senior officers.

ORDER 104.C: FITNESS FOR DUTY: Section 104.C grants to the Chief Medical Officer the right to relieve the commander on duty if the CMO can demonstrate the commanding officer is physically or mentally unfit. The CMO must log in his medical records the test results that led to this conclusion.

ORDER 118: MISSION PRIORITIES: Section 118 categorizes all mission types by priority, enabling commanding officers to determine which mission requirements supercede other mission requirements. Order 118 allows a commander to break off a routine mission (type D) to undertake an urgent mission (type B.) The four mission types are:

• CATEGORY A: VITAL MISSIONS: Also known as a Priority One command, a Category A mission supercedes all other mission types and overrides all orders and regulations under General Order Four. The fate of the Federation rests on this mission, and all Starfleet lives are considered expendable for its completion.

• CATEGORY B: URGENT MISSIONS: Urgent missions usually involve rescuing or protecting the lives of thousands, if not millions, of Federation citizens. A ship carrying the cure for a plague threatening to wipe out large populations undertakes an urgent mission. Typically, only vital missions supercede these.

• CATEGORY C: STRATEGIC MISSIONS: These missions usually involve securing or defending resources or Starfleet outposts. Missions of high threat factor during peacetime, such as patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, are Category C missions because of the high probability of danger, as are escort duties.

• CATEGORY D: ROUTINE MISSIONS: Encompassing the majority of Starfleet missions, a starship crew may undertake dozens of routine assignments at the same time: categorizing gaseous anomalies, measuring pulsar fluctuations, researching the life cycle of the Gamelan root beast, conducting soil analyses, and putting in an appearance at Caldos Colony, for example. Routine missions include most patrols, exploration, and research duties.

Divisions of Starfleet

Just as a starship, Starfleet Command is organized into various departments. Officers posted to a starship technically serve within the Department of Fleet Operations. Some departments serve in a purely organizational role, as with the Office of Fleet Operations, while others oversee various operations, such as Starfleet Intelligence and the Office of Planetary Exploration. Often, a mission objective transmitted from Starfleet Command originates from one of these departments. A starship dispatched to escort the Dolmen of Elas to a conference comes from the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps, while a mission to defend a mining colony from possible Ferengi attack comes from the Office of Strategic Operations.

THE JOINT CHIEFS: With its far-flung operations across vast distances of space, Starfleet is too large to be overseen by one person. The Joint Chiefs—comprised of the Chief-in-Command, Chief of Fleet Operations, Chief of Research and Exploration, Chief of Strategic Operations, and Chief of Interplanetary Affairs—represent the five major departments in Starfleet Command. Chosen from among Starfleet's most capable admirals, the Joint Chiefs are collectively responsible for setting policy and guiding operations.

FLEET OPERATIONS: The office of the chief of Fleet Operations manages the deployment and mission rosters of all ships in the fleet. Other departments task Fleet Operations with mission profiles, with Fleet Operations selecting the best ships for the missions. Starfleet organizes its ships into 27 separate fleets, with each assigned to a particular region of space and with its own numerical designation. The First Fleet, for instance, stationed at and around Alpha Centauri, protects Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, and the rest of sector 001. Each fleet is commanded by a fleet admiral, who oversees the ships under his command and serves as the linchpin between the fleet and Fleet Operations. Fleet Operations keeps track of the present locations of every ship in the fleet and can quickly ascertain which ship is available to respond to emergencies. Departments under the Office of Fleet Operations include Starbase Operations, the Judge Advocate General's office, and the Corps of Engineers.

STRATEGIC OPERATIONS: while Fleet Operations manages the routine deployment of ships in large areas, Strategic Operations manages the planning of strategic defense. One of the smallest divisions of Starfleet, Strategic Operations is nonetheless the most vital in maintaining the defense of the Federation. This division draws up Starfleet's battle plans, conducts threat assessments, and reviews the fleet's preparedness for defense. It monitors emerging threats and, through the Strategic Planning Council, devises new tactics and strategies. Defense missions originate with the Strategic Operations office. Departments under the Office of Strategic Operations include the Strategic Planning Council and Starfleet Intelligence.

RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION: One of the most important divisions within Starfleet Command, this office supervises and coordinates the fleet's exploration efforts—from surveying newly discovered planets to studying the effects of warp fields on chroniton particles. Missions to explore a sector, survey a planet's surface, or study a black hole come from this department. It collates incoming information, reviews various discoveries, and prioritizes scientific endeavors. Departments under this office include Starfleet Medical, Planetary Science Operations, and Astronomical Science Operations.

INTERPLANETARY AFFAIRS: Responsible for coordinating Starfleet's diplomatic efforts, the Office of Interplanetary Affairs oversees first contact efforts, colonization programs, and interplanetary affairs. This office dispatches experts to attend diplomatic conferences, evaluates species for possible contact, instructs starship captains in negotiating strategies, and coordinates diplomatic responses with the Federation Council. Diplomatic missions ranging from establishing contact with the Malcorians to ferrying diplomats to Babel typically originate here. The office of Colonial Affairs, First Contact Division, and Starfleet's Diplomatic Corps fall under this division.

Tours of Duty: Serving in Starfleet

The most sought-after posting in Starfleet is an assignment to a starship. What more glamorous image is there than traveling the galaxy (even in the smallest class of starship), seeing what no one else has seen, going where no one has gone before? Yet Starfleet is more than state-of-the art spacecraft, and includes postings to starbases, Starfleet Command, scientific outposts, sensor arrays, and more. No matter where an officer is destined, he selects a particular branch, which loosely describes his duties.

Branches and Duties

Starfleet divides its operations into three basic categories—command, operations, and science. Members of Starfleet enjoy some latitude when moving between its branches. It is not unusual for an officer to transfer from the science division to command, or for a command officer to move into operations. Starfleet in the 23rd century identified these branches by a particular service uniform color—red for command, yellow for operations, and blue for science.

Command

Command personnel are responsible for the smooth operation and administration of people under their command, from science labs to management of the entire crew. While starship captains and starbase commanders are the most apparent members of this branch, command officers can be found throughout a facility's ranks. Officers involved in flight control (navigators, helmsmen) are also counted among the command ranks, because of their importance in guiding a starship, for example, while command officers in various departments coordinate activities and supervise smaller teams. Junior command officers report to the First Officer on matters related to the ship's smooth operation and coordinate with various department heads. For example, a command officer might supervise repairs on the main deflector array, contributing his organizational talents and reporting to both the First Officer and the Chief Engineer. Command personnel are trained in crisis management, diplomacy, leadership, and tactics. Positions include such well known areas as helm, navigation, flight control, first officer, and captain, along with lesser-known jobs such as quartermaster, strategic operations, and shuttlecraft pilot.

Science

From the science officer on the bridge to the lab technician belowdecks, Starfleet facilities are heavily staffed with science personnel. Every ship maintains several laboratories (and even the smallest vessel has at least one multipurpose lab) where vital experiments and investigations take place. In orbit over a newly discovered planet, for instance, plant surveys are handled by the botany lab, weather studies are conducted by the meteorology department, the chemistry lab conducts an analysis of everything from soil composition to atmospheric gas composition, and so forth. Starships and starbases include among their crews experts in the hard sciences (astronomers, chemists, geologists) and "soft" sciences (like the ship's historian and A&A [archaeology and anthropology] officer). The Chief Science Officer supervises all scientific efforts on board, prioritizes tasks, and interprets data for the captain. Individual scientists are often called in to advise the command staff on particular matters, as when an astrometrics officer advises on a wormhole's potential threats. The medical department, responsible for the health and well-being of the ship's crew, falls under the Chief Medical Officer, who holds equal rank with the Chief Science Officer. Science personnel are trained in at least one science, sensor use, computers, and deductive reasoning.

Operations

Responsible for the daily operation of the starship or starbase, members of the Ops branch repair and maintain equipment, provide security for ship and crew, and operate various critical systems. Operations is a catch-all for a wide range of duties.

ENGINEERS maintain the physical operation of ship or starbase. From the environmental controls to the warp core itself, the engineering crew diagnoses, maintains, and repairs every piece of equipment on board, making sure everything is ship-shape in Bristol fashion. Engineering duties range from structural engineering (maintaining the integrity of the hull) and servo systems (maintaining the operation of the ship's moving parts, such as the doors) to propulsion engineering (monitoring and operating the ship's warp and impulse drives) and various systems engineering (transporter, phaser, computer, and sensor specialists). Each engineer is assigned to a team, related to his area of expertise, and teams either collectively tackle complex problems or make repair calls where needed. The Chief Engineer, who reports directly to the commanding officer, supervises the engineering department.

SECURITY personnel guard the ship from threats both internal and external. Internal security includes responding to altercations on board, answering intruder alerts and boarding actions, beaming into potentially hostile landing zones, protecting dignitaries, and guarding prisoners in the brig. Security officers charged with defending against external threats man the ship's tactical systems—the phasers, photon torpedo bays, and deflector grids. While this function is traditionally thought of as the sole responsibility of the Chief Security Officer on the bridge, tactical experts staff each phaser array and deflector emitter, supervising and coordinating the ship's tactical response. The Chief Security Officer supervises both types of security officer.

Crew collectively known as OPERATIONS officers handle additional operation duties not included above. While an engineer keeps the transporters in tip-top working condition, transporter specialists actually operate the equipment. Each operations officer receives extensive training in one area of expertise, though they are capable of serving anywhere in a pinch. In the 24th century, an important position was added to the bridge crew—the Operations Manager. This position is responsible for monitoring a vessel's resources, as well as nominally overseeing all operations personnel on board. Positions generally relate to specific systems, such as computer ops, environmental ops, and transporter ops.

Rank and Responsibility

The chain of command establishes clear lines of authority and responsibility. Each level in the chain of command answers to the level above it. Because of the unexpected situations a Starfleet crew may encounter, Starfleet encourages flexibility in the chain of command. What does that mean? Ideas or solutions can come from any quarter, and even the most junior officer may find himself handling a vital assignment.

Ranks in Starfleet

Flag officers administer the larger operations of Starfleet. Their duties stretch beyond the running of a single ship. Commodores, for instance, often work from starbases in areas with large local contingents of Starfleet vessels, serving somewhat as regional commanders. Fleet captains, vice admirals, and admirals direct the various branches of Starfleet. Some direct the operations of entire fleets, usually doing so from the command chair of a given ship. Fleet admirals run Starfleet itself from positions within Starfleet Command.

FLAG OFFICERS
Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Vice Admiral
Fleet Captain*

• Sometimes referred to as Rear Admiral.

Line officers carry out the orders of the flag officers. They direct the daily operation of starships, starbases, and other Starfleet facilities.

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LINE OFFICERS
Captain (CAPT)
Commander (CDR)
Lieutenant Commander (LCDR)
Lieutenant (LT)
Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG)
Ensign (ENS)

Commanding Officer

On a starship, starbase, or other Starfleet installation, the commanding officer is the person in charge. This person often holds the rank of commander or higher, though on smaller installations the commanding officer can rank as low as lieutenant. On starships, no matter their size, the commanding officer is traditionally called Captain, no matter his true rank. The commanding officer takes responsibility for the operation of his starship or starbase and the behavior and performance of his crew.

First Officer

The First Officer, also known as the Executive Officer, is the commanding officer's right hand. When the captain leaves the bridge, the First Officer takes over command in his absence. First Officers often accompany the captain on important away missions, though to safeguard the captain they usually lead missions off-ship. Typically responsible for routine operations such as maintaining duty rosters and supervising the department heads, the XO maintains the most visible presence on board a starship or starbase. Many crewmembers never see the captain in a given week, but often see their department heads conferring with the First Officer. First Officers usually hold the rank of commander, though there have been instances of captains serving as executive officers to other captains.

Senior Officers

Senior officers supervise various departments and include positions such as Chief Medical Officer, Chief Engineer, and Chief Science Officer. These officers oversee activities falling within their departments, determining things such as duty rosters and mission assignments. These department heads report directly to the commanding officer and first officer, and ensure that orders are carried out efficiently.

Enlisted Ranks

The Starfleet rank system has a long history dating back to early space explorers of the Earth Starfleet and its predecessor naval and military forces. Enlisted personnel (also called rates, crew, or men) are people in Earth Starfleet or Federation Starfleet vessel who are not commissioned officers—meaning they have not taken and passed the full four-year Starfleet Academy course, only a shorter basic training course.

ENLISTED RANKS
Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet (MCPOSF)
Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer (FMCPO)
Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMCPO)
Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO)
Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO)
Chief Petty Officer (CPO)
Petty Officer First Class (PO1)
Petty Officer Second Class (PO2)
Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)
Crewman (CN)
Crewman Apprentice (CA)
Crewman Recruit (CR)

Crewman Recruit (CR)

Crewman recruit (also known as crewman third class) is the lowest Starfleet enlisted rank, ranking below crewman apprentice. In Starfleet, this rank is awarded upon completion of a training course, where recruits are given basic instruction in manning a starship or filling another role in the fleet.

Crewman Apprentice (CA)

Crewman apprentice (also known as crewman second class) is the second-lowest Starfleet enlisted rank, ranking above crewman recruit and below crewman.

Crewman (CN)

Crewman (also known as crewman first class) is the third-lowest enlisted rank in Starfleet, ranking above a crewman apprentice and below a petty officer third class. Crewman is the highest Starfleet enlisted rank not to be considered a non-commissioned officer.

Petty Officer Third Class (PO3)

Petty officer third class is the fourth enlisted rank in Starfleet, just above crewman and below petty officer second class, and is the lowest form of non-commissioned officer, equivalent to a corporal in the Marines or senior airman in the Starfighter Corps.

Petty Officer Second Class (PO2)

Petty officer second class is the fifth enlisted rank in Starfleet, just above petty officer third class and below petty officer first class, and is a non-commissioned officer.

Petty Officer First Class (PO1)

Petty officer first class is the sixth enlisted rank in Starfleet, just above petty officer second class and below chief petty officer, and is a non-commissioned officer.

Chief Petty Officer (CPO)

Chief petty officer is the highest enlisted rating in Starfleet. The chief petty officer, invariably referred to as chief, is a senior non-commissioned officer and is often in control of an entire section of petty officers and unrated enlisted personnel.

Chiefs are further subdivided into a series of ranks based on seniority and merit. These ranks, from lower to higher are as follows: chief, senior chief, and master chief.

A chief or senior chief is addressed as Chief (with surname, as in Chief O'Brien in the first instance, and as plain Chief thereafter). A master chief is addressed as Master Chief.

While chiefs are subordinate to all commissioned officers, intelligent ensigns or lieutenants will listen to their chiefs, as these non-commissioned officers frequently have far greater experience than the junior officers under whom they serve. Even senior officers recognize the value of a good chief petty officer and will take their suggestions and advice seriously. Chief of the boatEdit

Master Chief Petty Officer (MCPO)

Master chief petty officer (MCPO) is an enlisted naval rate, a type of military rank used by the service organizations of different cultures. As a traditional naval grade, MCPO is the most senior grade of chief petty officer, and is almost the highest non-commissioned officer grade in organizations like Starfleet and the US Navy. In comparison to infantry ranking systems, this rate is approximately equivalent to the most senior sergeant grade, such as Sergeant-Major. Personnel of this grade can be addressed simply as chief (or more properly, "master chief"), and sometimes by their job title, such as "master chief specialist."

While nominally subordinate to all commissioned officers, master chiefs wield far more influence and authority than most junior officers and act as mentors and advisors to senior officers. Master chiefs have decades of practical experience and are an indispensable source of technical skill and leadership on Starfleet vessels.

When there are individual grades of chief petty officers, senior chief petty officer (SCPO) is subordinate to MCPO.

In 2286, when a probe projecting humpback whale signals threatened to destroy Earth, MCPO Janice Rand was one of the personnel in Admiral Cartwright's command area.

Command Master Chief Petty Officer (CMCPO)

Personnel who hold the rank of Command master chief petty officer are the most senior enlisted personnel on starships and starbases. They serve as the primary liaison between the commanding officer and the enlisted crew. On starships, the Command Master Chief is known as the Chief of the Boat.

Chief of the Boat (COB)

Usually, the most senior chief on board ship is designated the Chief of the Boat (nicknamed "COB"). In many ways, the Chief of the Boat serves as the enlisted counterpart to the ship's first officer. His responsibilities include ensuring that the other chiefs and the duty sections they are responsible for are properly carrying out their duties, carrying out crew evaluations of enlisted personnel, handling minor disciplinary infractions that do not require the first officer or captain's direct attention, and otherwise liaising with the captain and first officer to ensure the smooth running of the ship.

Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer (FMCPO)

Fleet Master Chief Petty Officer (FMCPO) is a Starfleet rank given to the senior enlisted crewmember in a fleet. The crewmember holding this position is the liaison between the fleet's commanding officer and the enlisted crew in the fleet.

Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet (MCPOSF)

The Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet is a unique non-commisioned rank in the Federation Starfleet. The holder of this post is the senior enlisted member of Starfleet. They are appointed by the Chief of Starfleet Operations to serve as a spokesperson to address the issues of enlisted personnel to the highest positions in Starfleet. As such, they are the senior enlisted advisor to the CSO. Their exact duties vary, depending on the CSO, though they generally devote much of their time to traveling throughout Starfleet observing training and talking to enlisted crewmembers and their families.

A Day in the Life

Life on board a starship or starbase involves routine. Everyone, from the captain to the ensign on deck 34, has a schedule outlining his duties for the day. Starfleet officers have tasks to accomplish according to a deadline, to keep things running in an orderly fashion. A look at the duty roster for Lieutenant Commander Alex Gonzalez, Chief Engineer on the U.S.S. Resolute, provides a good idea of a day in the life of a Starfleet officer.

0700	End Sleep Period
0730	Breakfast
0800	Begin Duty—Alpha Watch
0900	Daily Department Review
0930	Scheduled Servicing: Ablative Armor
1000	Senior Staff Meeting: Warp Drive Maintenance Schedule
1130	Tactical Defense Division: Review Phaser Enhancements
1200	Meal Break (Captain MacKenzie)
1300	Prepare Maintenance Schedule: Stardate 51266
1400	Supervise Shuttlecraft Maintenance: Ensigns J. Vittetow and Z. Vittetow
1600	End Alpha Watch
1615	Review: Sensor Performance
1800	Evening Meal (Lt. Cmdr. Ivari)
2300	Begin Sleep Period

This is essentially a "to do" list for Alex Gonzalez, a list of things Alex must do on this particular stardate. The duty roster is regimented to manage his time effectively and ensure that he gets to everything on his list. The language is a bit formal because each officer's daily schedule is part of his daily report and the ship's log. It is a combination of elements both personal and professional, set by Alex and his superior officer.

For example, Lieutenant Commander Gonzalez's day begins at 7:00 a.m., with breakfast scheduled for 7:30. Although his schedule lists 7:00 a.m. as his time to wake up, this is something Alex chooses for himself (it's not as though the first officer cares what time Alex wakes up); this is the time he chooses to awaken, and when he likes breakfast. While his schedule says "0730 Breakfast", it's not a rule. He doesn't sit alone in his quarters with a knife and fork waiting for a bell to ring so he can start eating. He can eat and get ready in any order; the entry simply denotes how he spent his time during that hour. Similarly, although his schedule lists 2300 hours as his bed time, this is simply the time Alex generally goes to bed. He also chooses to review sensor performance logs in his off-duty time and schedules dinner for himself with Lieutenant Commander Ivari.

His professional day is less about his personal choices and more about the responsibilities of his job. After breakfast, Alex reports for his duty shift at 0800 hours. This is the time when he begins his work day, established by the crew's duty roster. The duty roster is usually developed by Alex's supervisor, the First Officer, who logs the report. Work on a starship is broken down into three shifts, each eight hours long, referred to as Alpha, Beta, and Gamma watches. During extended periods of critical performance, the shifts are usually shortened to four six-hour shifts to relieve stress on the crew.

Alex begins his duty shift by spending an hour reviewing the ship's status and answering questions or handling problems. Afterward (0900 hours) he holds a staff meeting in which he debriefs everyone in his department on the ship's status and their duties. This is typically brief, since everyone usually knows what their jobs for the day are, but if someone's going to be assigned a new task, he learns about it at this meeting. This is also the place where any unforeseen difficulties can be discussed and clarifications can be made. At 0930 hours Alex supervises an inspection of the Resolute's ablative armor, something mandated by Starfleet regulations. Afterward, at 1 000 hours, he meets with the other senior staff members, where they discuss issues that might impact the other departments. Alex, for instance, informs everyone that his crew plans on performing the monthly warp drive maintenance, which means running on impulse power for a few hours.

After the meeting, Alex talks with one of the many teams on his staff, the Tactical Defense Division. These junior officers are responsible for the maintenance and repair of the Resolute's shipboard weapons systems. Alex has made a note to talk to them about the performance of the phasers and projected modifications to enhance their effectiveness. Afterward, he'll have lunch with the Resolute's captain, Matthew MacKenzie (scheduled by Captain MacKenzie).

And so on through the day until the end of Alex's duty roster and a return to his personal schedule.

Standard Operations

What keeps the starships flying? Not dilithium, or warp nacelles, or even miracle-working engineers. What keeps starships flying is order and organization. Starships embody science and rationality; Starfleet standard operating procedure aims to do the same.

Operational Practice

Once a ship leaves spacedock, its crew should be prepared for anything the galaxy can throw at it, from rogue Klingon madmen to enormous Iconian berserkers. Starfleet ships maintain a regular schedule of operational practices to ensure readiness; the Crew will have responsibilities to this schedule both during their eight hour on-duty watch and outside it. Ion storms don't take the evening off, after all.

Under Weigh

A starship between ports of call planets, starbases, etc. is "under weigh", a term dating back to the old water navies of Earth. A starship under weigh usually travels at its cruising speed or slower on condition green, the lowest alert status. However, even while not on alert, a competent Starfleet crew is always ready for a sudden contact, whether with a dangerous intruder or a new scientific wonder to catalog and explore. General Order Thirteen mandates that Starfleet personnel are obligated to investigate any unusual phenomenon where possible.

While "under weigh," ships primarily run on long-range navigational sensors and a full array of passive sensor systems. (Passive sensors like gravimeters only receive; active sensors lie radar both transmit and receive.) Depending on the mission, the captain may order a full sensor sweep (including active sensors) every eight hours. On survey and scientific missions, the sensors are usually continuously active on all wavelengths. This makes the ship much easier to detect, but also adjusts the chance of detecting another ship at long range. If another ship is detected, the tactical officer or science officer identifies it if possible. If the ship is unknown, or is from a known culture but has an unknown intent, standard Starfleet ship contact protocols come into play.

In Orbit

While in orbit around a planet, the starship should monitor planetary communications where possible, maintain sensor scans for energy discharges or hostile life forms, and scan the system for other ships, especially incoming ships under warp. If the ship is orbiting a Federation, allied, or neutral world, the commanding officer should respect the planetary orbital control system (except in cases of emergency). If the ship is orbiting a world without warp travel, the Prime Directive may restrict all ship emissions to those not detectable at that world's Tech Level; ships orbiting a Tech Level 5 or 6 world may have to secure for silent running.

On the Planet

While planetside, Starfleet officers remain bound by Starfleet directives and guidelines. Starfleet officers on other planets should assume that they are under that planet's legal jurisdiction. In some cases, Starfleet Command has acquiesced to an officer's execution by local authorities if convinced of local capital crimes—however Starfleet expects officers on the scene to do everything they can within the local law to preserve fellow officers' lives and freedom. Starfleet officers on planets without warp travel must remain cognizant of the Prime Directive, and Starfleet officers in general should follow the Away Team Guidelines.

Alert Status

CONDITION GREEN
The standard peacetime status of all Starfleet vessels. Crew members perform their regular routine duties; while off-duty they may engage in personal hobbies, continue research on their own time, fraternize, utilize the holodeck, enjoy the ship's library, or sleep. The mandatory bridge crew on a capital ship on condition green consists of a command officer, a flight control officer (or helmsman), a sensor operator (usually a science officer or operations manager), and (if the Federation is in a state of emergency) a weapons or tactical officer (who can also serve as navigator or operations manager on some ships). Some captains maintain a full bridge crew even on condition green.

Even on condition green, navigational deflectors are up, forty percent of the ship's weapons are on standby status able to power up in two minutes, and one shuttle remains ready for launch in five minutes. While on condition green, the operations manager or first officer runs a level 4 diagnostic check of primary ship systems every eight hours.

YELLOW ALERT
The senior bridge officer (or the captain or first officer at any time) can place the ship on yellow alert. A yellow alert signals the possibility of combat, hazardous flight conditions, or ship system malfunction. On yellow alert, sleeping personnel wake, dress, and equip themselves. Off-duty personnel stand in quarters for assignment to their departments. Senior bridge crew report for duty. On some ships, or during wartime, unarmed on-duty security personnel arm themselves. All crew members keep a special eye out for anything out of the ordinary, reporting any strange readings, damage, or occurrences. Ship's weapons arm, and the operations manager clears the decks of low-priority systems use such as holodecks, scientific experiments or surveys, and so forth. The operations manager or first officer runs a level 4 diagnostic check of the entire ship immediately.

RED ALERT
Only the captain or the senior officer can order red alert. In theory, ships should go to yellow alert first, which should bring the captain to the bridge to decide on red alert status. In practice, crises don't always wait for turbolifts. On red alert,, all personnel head to battle stations. Security personnel fan out to transporter rooms and other strategic locations throughout the ship. Medical personnel report to sickbay and other duty stations. Engineers check and wait near critical systems. All shuttle crews report to shuttlebays, and all shuttles warm up. Weapons arm and load; shields come up. Active sensors begin sweeps at all ranges. The computer automatically runs a level 4 diagnostic check continuously.

INTRUDER ALERT
This operational mode is similar to yellow alert but focuses on an internal breach of security. During an intruder alert, all nonessential personnel are confined to their quarters or duty stations for the duration of the emergency. Movement through the ship requires the authorization of an immediate superior officer and all turbolifts key to authorization codes only. Armed security teams patrol each deck, with teams stationed at sensitive areas of the ship (e.g., transporter rooms, shuttlebays, torpedo bays, main engineering, computer core, armory, and the bridges). The securtity officer mounts a full internal scan of the ship, ready to seal bulkheads, flood the decks with anaesthezine, or any other response required.

MEDICAL ALERT
In the event of an outbreak, this operational mode confines all personnel to their current locations, while environmental controls isolate life support systems for each deck. This ensures the contagion does not spread throughout the starship or facility. Priority power is routed to sickbay, and the chief medical officer runs a full internal scan of the ship to locate and deal with any contagion.

ABANDON SHIP
If the commanding officer considers a vessel lost, he may give the order to abandon ship. All shuttle crews ready their craft and prepare for immediate departure. If a habitable planet is in range, ship's power transfers to all working transports. All personnel report to a designated mustering station in the event of the abandon ship order being given, with the key supplies on their evacuation roster. Lifeboats are enabled, and launched either by the bridge of by their occupants. A microwarp buoy is launched, containing a subspace transmitter and a copy of the ship's logs. The operations manage or first officer oversees the evacuation of the ship while the rest of the bridge crew works to contain the emergency that caused this drastic measure.

Starfleet Ship Contact Protocols

If the contact remains unidentified:

• Shields remain at standby mode.
• Sensors use is restricted to passive sensors. If the contact is from a completely unknown culture, even navigational sensors go on standby.
• Immediately attempt communication by opening hailing frequencies; activate adaptive communications to detect the unknown ship's beacon or guidance frequency and begin universal translator search of EM background.
• Response should be measured and equivalent; if the contact actively scans your ship, you may return the scan using analogous technology where possible. If the contact raises shields, you may raise shields. If the contact powers weapons, you are encouraged (by Regulation 8A) to raise shields.
• As per General Order Ten, a Starfleet vessel never fires first, except when faced with a known enemy vessel during wartime.

If the contact fires on your starship:

• If the contact if from an unknown culture, the captain's first responsibility is to the safety of his ship and crew (per General Order Five) unless the contact poses an immediate threat to other Federation citizens (as per General Order Two).
• The safety of both his ship and the Federation will often depend on breaking the engagement and retreating to report the contact and the full on-site assessment to Starfleet Command. Where this is impossible, the captain must use his best judgement as governed by general Starfleet tactical doctrine.
• If the contact is from a known culture, the captain may use his best judgement in responding, governed by general tactical doctrine and wartime status, if any, of the Federation.

Starfleet Tactical Doctrine

• If the ship's shields are capable of handling the opponent's full primary weapon, the opponent should not be destroyed unless completely unavoidable.
• Only the commanding officer or first officer can order weapons fire; firing weapons without orders is a court-martial offense.
• Phasers should be used for pinpoint attacks to immobilize and disarm where possible.
• Photon torpedoes should be used when phasers are insufficient to end the engagement rapidly and with limited loss of life. All photon torpedoes should be inventoried and secured except when actually in firing mode.

Away Team Guidelines

These are among the guidelines established for away team conduct in te 2340s. Before that time, Starfleet officers remain guided by Starfleet directives. Even in the late 24th century, Starfleet directives can trump these guidelines in emergency or crisis situations. Landing party or away team officers must think on their feet; this, after all, is why such groups normally contain at least some (and sometimes all) of the ship's senior staff.

• Treat all encountered beings with respect and dignity.
• Maintain complete and accurate tricorder records of all actions and observations.
• Remain within eyesight or communicator contact at all times, and establish communication protocols with the ship and with the commanding officer or Mission Ops.
• Take only essential items of vital scientific or security interest; leave nothing behind if at all possible.
• Do everything in your power to avoid hostilities. Never fire first.
• If hostilities are unavoidable, end the combat as soon and with as little damage as possible. Avoid lethal damage.
• Establish containment and decontamination protocols based on biological surveys both from the ship and on the planet; do not transport potentially infectious agents to an unsecured area of the ship.

Mission Operations

Starfleet sends it ships on many and varied missions and duty tours to every corner of the known galaxy. For each mission type, there are certain reliable patterns of operation and standard practices that Starfleet officers should at least begin with. This can often rapidly narrow the field down to the real crisis at hand, which may not have anything to do with the ship's ostensible assignment!

Exploration Missions

Deep-Space Exploration

For these missions, continuous attention to every detail of the long-range sensors pays off. Deep space contains dangerous interstellar phenomena, bizarre radiation fields, and even entirely unknown spacegoing civilizations; it's worth knowing everything you possibly can before you meet any of them. Keep an eye out for departures from accepted scientific knowledge, for sensor ghosts paralleling your course, and for system malfunctions on your own ship.

Planetary Exploration

These missions can involve all levels of planetary sciences, but don't neglect the A&D officer! On a planet with intelligent life, knowing the ins and outs of their culture can help avoid gladiatorial combats or dangerous logic games with all-knowing supercomputers—and if it can't help you avoid them, it can help you win them. Sensor scans should be especially alert for Romulans or other threat races; statistically, a planet is seldom in only one set of spacelanes.

Defense Missions

Patrol

Like planetary exploration, patrolling dangerous or under-policed sectors tends to turn up threat ships, or Ferengi or Orion pirates who will report your existence to rival nations. Consider working with these third force ships and using them as your own eyes and ears. Even if they still betray you, you may get some useful intelligence out of their sensor logs.

Threat Alert

Be wary of being drawn into a compromising position. Enemies and rivals of the Federation often attempt to embarrass starship officers into aggression, high-handedness, or other violations of standard Federation practice. While patrolling the frontier of a known rival, always remember that you are diplomats first and naval officers second.

Tactical

Review the tactics of your likely opposition, and be ready for anything. Some captains use tactical deployments to practice drill and space combat skills at a measured pace; others prefer to move in at top speed to hopefully get a jump on the crisis before it boils over. Be ready to look for the force multiplier option, a place where a few key personnel can make all the difference by deactivating a planetary deflector shield, switching the locals to the Federation side, or getting detailed sensor scans to find the weakness of some unprecedented threat.

Convoy and Escort

Treat these missions like deep-space explorations; have sensors on full and be ready for anything. Keep your charges in line and in phaser range; one missing ship can wreck the whole mission. This is the time for phaser drill and tactical training.

Diplomatic Missions

First Contact

Here, again, the role of the A&A officer or first contact specialist is paramount. Every culture has something worthwhile to offer the Federation; identify that thing and encourage it where you can (assuming the Prime Directive will let you, that is). Keep in mind that not all cultures obey the Prime Directive, however; unscrupulous merchants or enemy soldiers can do much more damage than you can.

Intergalactic Affairs

When involved in intergalactic diplomacy, the key is to maintain sight of your own objectives. Do not get drawn into diplomatic horse-trading, or (worse yet) personal squabbles; you are constrained by regulations and Starfleet practice in a way that envoys aren't. However, when you are the envoys on the scene, get the best deal you can and advance Starfleet directives where possible.

Emergency Missions

Aid and Relief

There is almost always more to the crisis than meets the eye. Keep a sharp lookout for scavengers (such as mercenaries or merchants) preying on the misery around you, and for complications to the ongoing emergency. Sometimes the two are connected. Always remember that nobody's pride is worth the lives of innocent people—not yours, and not the so-called experts on the scene. Trust your opinion; that's why Starfleet sends you there.

Evacuation

These missions resemble diplomatic missions or convoy missions to the tenth power. Strict rules, personal neutrality, and focus on the key goal (saving lives) must be your lodestones during a logistical nightmare such as this.

Scientific Missions

Experimentation

Experiments always go wrong; it's the key to the scientific method. As with deep-space survey missions, keep an eye on the sensors, and run diagnostics on ship systems whenever possible. Pay attention during briefings, and try to get a familiar handle on the underlying scientific theories being tested. Work out which ship systems you could adapt to fix the first four things you can think of that might go wrong.

Investigation

As contrasted with official experimentation missions, the chances are that you won't hear about specific investigations unless they are assigned to your branch or they go wrong. Try to get to know the personality of the lead investigator; be ready to use that knowledge to replicate, abort, or assist her investigations. (This is also good advice for experimenters.) Use the ship's library computer liberally; at the worst, you'll help close off some dead ends.

Intelligence Missions

The Federation places primary responsibility for espionage, counterespionage, and other covert activities in the hands of Starfleet Intelligence. This remains a source of some discomfort for Starfleet as a whole; Starfleet's primary scientific goal has obvious intelligence applications, and the meshing of intelligence and defense responsibilities in the same agency can occasionally cause interdepartmental friction. Starfleet understandably prefers to emphasize its open actions for science and defense—but when the safety of the Federation requires some cloaking-device-and-dagger work, they do their duty as they have always done. Intelligence missions include:

Infiltration

An infiltration mission calls on Starfleet personnel to covertly (or under false pretenses) enter a dangerous or interdicted location, perform some action, and exfiltrate or escape, ideally unnoticed by the opposition. Captain Kirk's 2268 mission to cross into the Romulan Neutral Zone, steal a cloaking device, and return with it is a classic infiltration mission.

Performing an infiltration mission requires a solid plan—and inspired improvisation when it falls apart. Like diplomatic missions (with which they have some surprising commonalities), keeping mission goals in mind and not becoming distracted by personalities are the key to limiting complications in an infiltration mission. Often, infiltration missions are classic force multiplier situations where a single landing party does more good than a whole starship crew. Sine you don't always have access to your whole starship, this is a comforting thought.

Assessment

By contrast, an assessment mission is one in which Starfleet Intelligence suspects something is up but doesn't know where to go, or what to do when you get there. Assessment missions generally start with an anomaly—a vanished agent, a rumor of sabotage, a political shakeup—that requires expert analysis by Starfleet personnel can be inserted under the cover of another mission, such as a scientific or diplomatic mission.

Where infiltration missions resemble diplomatic missions, assessment missions resemble scientific missions. The key is data, and checking it for anomalous patterns. Always have two backup plans for getting out of whatever trouble you stir up; be ready to react on the fly. After all, Starfleet Intelligence wouldn't send you to check things out if the situation was normal.

Counterintelligence

A counterintelligence mission is one that thwarts an intelligence (or military) mission by a foreign power or internal radical group. Starfleet officers usually stumble into these missions while pursuing other goals, although often an assessment mission becomes a counterintelligence op halfway through.

Counterintelligence missions require initiative; if Starfleet Command knew about the situation, they would already have sent someone else to deal with it. In speed and complexity, they resemble emergency missions, but in solution they often times become tactical missions. With counterintelligence missions, decisive and correct use of force is often your only option; better to stop the plot early than wait too long and discover that you no longer can.

Starfleet Uniforms

Starfleet's first uniforms, created before the Federation for Earth's space exploration service, began with the practical tradition of the astronaut's jumpsuit. On early spacecraft, a jumpsuit and sealed helmet would serve to keep crewmen alive if air loss threatened the ship; this design conservatism carried over well past the era when single micropunctures could evacuate a ship's air supply.

With the founding of the Federation, Starfleet duty uniforms changed to a different tunic and trousers model, although technicians stayed in the comfortable jumpsuits. For a non-military organization, Starfleet uniforms have shown general continuity, although individual officers and ships have adapted various fatigues, undress uniforms, and other styles for maximum comfort and efficiency on given missions.

Uniforms in Transition

With the introduction of cheap, reliable replication technology, Starfleet uniforms went through a period of repeated re-design beginning in 2266. This uniform (which, unlike other Starfleet uniforms before or since, differentiated between male and female crewmen) was comfortable and efficient, and proved very popular with Starfleet personnel. In 2270, Starfleet regularized the Enterprise "arrowhead" insignia as standard throughout the fleet, and redesigned uniforms on the Enterprise and at Starfleet Command to indicate the new status of the ship. The pastel blue-and-gray tunics worn on the Enterprise during Captain Kirk's second five-year mission never caught on elsewhere in the fleet, so Starfleet Command redesigned the uniform again in 2275, returning to the 2266 model, changing the color scheme slightly, and adding a crimson jacket for all branches of Starfleet.

This uniform lasted through the end of the Klingon cold war and into the new era of cooperation and exploration in the early 24th century. Only after the fleet reorganization by Admiral Taneko in 2350 did the uniforms change again. (The "field operation" uniform, a fatigue uniform for ground-based personnel, remained the same.) Duty uniforms returned to the three branch colors, reversing engineering and security (now called operations) with command, and the general "jumpsuit" look from Starfleet's earliest days returned as well. Slight design variations again crept in between ships, issue years, fabrication plants, and among Starfleet's highly independent and individual officers.

Procedures

Three different disciplinary procedures apply to offenses by Starfleet personnel. The more serious the offense, the more forbidding and formal the disciplinary procedure.

Command Discipline

Any non-senior officer can be directly disciplined by his commander. Department heads may use command discipline with their subordinates. Most command discipline takes the form of a reprimand, a verbal dressing-down during which the offender stands at attention. Reprimands appear in the offender's record. More serious reprimands include confinement to quarters (for 24 or 48 hours), and some result in demotion, the loss of rank. Extremely serious offenses can result in brig time, but outside states of emergency, most such cases require a board of inquiry.

Board of Inquiry

A board of inquiry is a panel of ranking officers (usually the ship or base's command staff) who sit in judgement of serious, but non-criminal offenses. They may acquit the defendant, or subject him to any sanction which does not deprive him of is liberty, including a dishonorable discharge from Starfleet. In addition to these sanctions, they may issue a non-binding recommendation that the defendant's commanding officer sentence him to a brief stay in the brig.

Any charge against a senior, commanding, or flag officer is referred to a board of inquiry. If the board determines that the charge is unworthy of consideration, or lacks sufficient evidence, it dismisses the case without hearing witnesses. This happens more often than not. If the board decides that the offense is criminal in nature, it refers the case to a court martial.

Court Martial

Court martial are formal trials, with Starfleet judges (a minimum of three of captain's rank or higher), prosecutors, and defense attorneys. Rigorous standards of evidence apply. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty and afforded due process of law. Guilty verdicts can result in anything from demotion to dishonorable discharge to penal colony time to death (for violating General Order Seven only). Court martials of senior officers are exceedingly rare; the first court martial of a serving captain occurred in 2267, when Captain James T. Kirk was tried for causing the death of Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney.