To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)
- Thread starter OneirosTheWriter
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Another issue is time scale.
If we only want to 'borrow' member world crewmen for a short time, then the logistics of setting up the program become wasteful because the new personnel will barely have time to get used to working with the new ships' crews before having to go back home.
If we try to borrow them for a long period of time, then in effect this represents a permanent transfer of strength from the member world fleet to our fleet. Something the member worlds might not sign off on.
If we only want to 'borrow' member world crewmen for a short time, then the logistics of setting up the program become wasteful because the new personnel will barely have time to get used to working with the new ships' crews before having to go back home.
If we try to borrow them for a long period of time, then in effect this represents a permanent transfer of strength from the member world fleet to our fleet. Something the member worlds might not sign off on.
It would be less of an issue if Starfleet and member fleets had cross training/exercise programs meant to exchange personnel between them, but that is kind of complicated politically speaking.
Starfleet is the Federation's fleet. It has a further ranging, wider mandate than any member fleet does, and greater authority to act in nearly any circumstance. Using an exchange program is complex precisely because it muddles that authority.
Starfleet is the Federation's fleet. It has a further ranging, wider mandate than any member fleet does, and greater authority to act in nearly any circumstance. Using an exchange program is complex precisely because it muddles that authority.
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Plus, every attempt to interface tightly between the member worlds and Starfleet, given how the TBG Federation works, is going to trigger issues related to local autonomy. I'm sure that the member world fleets sometimes worry about a scenario where more and more of their resources and talent pool are siphoned off into Starfleet until they become withered rump organizations themselves.
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Absolutely top stuff
Given the constant expansion of Starfleet Academy, the escalating political power cost of expansion may well indicate that member fleets are already expressing fear of Starfleet siphoning off too much talent for local fleets to maintain themselves. And becoming ever more loud and well founded in their complaints.
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I'd imagine that recruiting posters for Starfleet would look rather more like the intro sequence to Voyager, to be honest, rather than anything that draws from Lord Kitchener or Uncle Sam. Quasars on view screens, ships coasting over the rings of gas giants, flying alongside space whales.
If only someone had proposed a Sousa deal during the Snakepit to "unify starship crew training standards across the Federation"....
aeqnai
Nerdy Homu
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- Laniakea Supercluster
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Probably several separate ad campaigns for different departments, all emphasizing less that Starfleet is out to protect things and more that Starfleet is on the cutting edge of every science, every medicine, every industry, and needs the brightest minds of the Federation.
If anyone is using Sam and Kitchener types these days it'll probably be UESPA, really.
If anyone is using Sam and Kitchener types these days it'll probably be UESPA, really.
I think some sort of programs where we siphon off from member world fleets is a non-starter, really. If the idea is we're grabbing people from member world programs who applied for Starfleet Academy and then went into the member world fleets as a sort of safety school, then we're getting less qualified candidates. I don't know if it's true that the member academies have 'lower' standards, however, and in fact they probably don't. In that case, you're trying to convince people who specifically signed up to serve in a member world fleet to come over to Starfleet, which seems unlikely to really net you personnel in really big numbers. Service to Starfleet doesn't have that same Nationalism Lite flavor.
If only someone had even briefly voiced such an idea...................................................................................................
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Honestly, I think we just have to deal with the fact that our recruitment rates are finite, do what we can to mitigate the problem, and accept being crew-limited. As Iron Wolf notes, we're not going to hack our way around the problem by gaining access to member world crews, not on anything more than an extremely temporary emergency basis.
I mainly mentioned the Kitchener poster because it was a good example of a personal appeal by a widely respected senior military figure to increase recruitment, so that it specifically applied to the idea of Admiral Kahurangi lending her personal weight to a recruitment drive.
I quite agree.
I mainly mentioned the Kitchener poster because it was a good example of a personal appeal by a widely respected senior military figure to increase recruitment, so that it specifically applied to the idea of Admiral Kahurangi lending her personal weight to a recruitment drive.
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
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Plus, you know, drawing crew from the member fleets to supplement Starfleet is kind of pointless, because the member fleets are supporting Starfleet regardless. It's shifting the balance in favor of big Starfleet small Member Worlds, but it doesn't actually improve the overall security of the Federation.
Yeah it's robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Night
Widow Null
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- Hoff
The basic problem that that's probably not a viable idea remains valid, because the member fleets aren't trained like us because they don't need to be trained like us. They don't handle our variety of duties and situations usually. And many of them have internal doctrinal and cultural differences that are probably insurmountable. The training of Apiata Stinger crews and the the training of Risan Corvette crews almost certainly cannot be standardized to each other.
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- the Moon
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Perhaps the creation of a voluntary Merchant Marine School where Star Fleet teaches all the hard learned lessons of how to handle emergencies, giving us a +1 to federation distress calls and + .2o and + .2e as a side effect of our subtle recruiting in the school
You're absolutely right that Member World fleets don't need to be trained like Starfleet. On the other hand, there are lots of core technical skills for operating in space that simply aren't going to change much. The overall idea was to unify training in core "operating in space" skills and then let the individual fleet build off that base for all their vital member-specific training.
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Let's combine my previous proposals:
[][FACTION] Approach the Development and Expansion parties.
It's obvious that the Federation's rate of expansion is unsustainable, without making some changes. The 5 year hold was one way to do so, but not enough has been done. To that end, I would like to propose a series of measures to meet the needs of inevitable expansion.
A) Crew Safety Initiatives
Every lost life is a tragedy, and a reminder to ask "What more could we have done?" The answer, is always not enough.
To that end, I would like to propose a series of initiatives to help reduce deaths in space from all causes - standardized safety standards, research into medical treatment and warp core stability, and improved deep-space coverage.
(Desired mechanical effect: Reduced casualties and increased income from crew retention, research bonus for Medical/Personal Tech/Warp Core Safety-related nodes, and establishment of deep-space sensor nets and runabout patrol squadrons. The latter can be either member fleet or Starfleet squadrons, and can provide initial responder support for some of the more distant colonies and ships.)
B) Merchant Marine
In 20th century earth, an academy for training merchant officers was created. Unfortunately, there is no clear equivalent for interstellar ships. I would like to propose the creation of a Merchant Marine Academy to train future generations of merchant officers. Like its predecessor, the only requirement placed on graduates is that they commit to service in an approved related profession for a period of at least six years, which includes but is not limited to service aboard a ship, service with a member world fleet, or service in Starfleet.
To administer and coordinate the Federation Merchant Marine, a new Merchant Commission should be created, with authority to regulate interstellar commerce, including setting safety standards, maintaining a register of all interstellar merchant vessels, and approving merchant ship designs.
C) Training Ships
To assist with training, the MWCO will be given some ships deemed unsuitable or retired from active fleet service. These ships will be converted to training or simulator ships to assist in training spacers in damage control, engineering, and other skills. The MWCO will have responsibility for administering and maintaining this training fleet. Starfleet, the member fleets, Starfleet Academy, the member fleet service academies, and the Federation Merchant Marine Academy will have access to the training fleet, and responsibility for updating the MWCO and the Merchant Commission with ship layouts for the purposes of training.
Possible Concessions:
An additional one year hold on new members after the next batch affiliates join
Another auxiliary yard
Infrastructure Buildup
Deployment of runabout squadrons to all starbases and select outposts for the purposes of first-responder search and rescue.
@Simon_Jester @Briefvoice Thoughts? This is sort-of a capstone deal for Sousa - a final gift to Starfleet before she retires.
I don't know what ships you're thinking of when you talk about "unsuitable or retired from active fleet service". It might be easier to just build some dedicated training ships, honestly.
Interestingly there are a number of good posters along those lines, at least on a casual google search for starfleet posters.
e: I think this is my favorite:
From San Diego Comic-Con 2016 apparently
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Those ships would be something like the Cheron or the Vulcan Soyuzes still in service. Good enough to operate but increasingly obsolete when used in the field.
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- Mid-Atlantic
We don't have a lot of ships like that...
Nervos Belli
Don't think this means you've won!
- Location
- Murica
The Soyuzes are rapidly approaching the point of being too dangerous to send out into space, and we'd be fools to give up Cheron when she's a veteran ship that packs the same punch as any Excelsior. We have maybe two operable but obsolete ships in all of the Federation, and that's with a generous definition of operable.
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Also, mothballs.
I'm assuming the Council wasn't stupid, and didn't scrap all of the Constitutions, Soyuzes, and Mirandas.
Plus, we have the Ranger-derivatives, which are one replacement from decommissioning. Even if they are unsuitable for active service, they are still usable as converted training ships.
For the Soyuzes, I propose conversion into DC training ships, or into simulators.
They probably won't be able to move under their own power, but they can still be useful without doing so.
Headcanon: The reason why we didn't get that much from the Soyuz scrapping is that SF Academy took choice parts from their hulls for training purposes. USS Buttercup, etc.
Jenny
anonymous user
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- maryland
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Constitutions: accidentally basically useless due to improper mothballing, per this omake.
Soyuzs: were literally too dangerous to continue operating and were scrapped.
Mirandas: are still in active duty.