19 replies to this topic

[Brandon Toullis]

So, who else out there plays a non-comissioned officer? My primary is one, though I'm sure for the rest of you it's a secondary. How do you sim, given that you're in a completely different sect than everyone else. How much background do you give your characters? What about development?

[FltAdml. Wolf]

Interesting topic. We've never focused too much on these folks, and neither has Trek, so it's hard to know really what they do or what their history is. Much room for development

[Kwame Alexander]

Wasn't O'Brien a NCO? A chief Petty Officer I believe. I created my NCO so as an ensign I could order someone around

[Rourke]

Non commissioned officers... jolly bad show... scoff scoff etc.

Any definitive answer on how they develop? Literature says obrien went to the academy but then why isn't he an officer?

Quite confusing.

[Kwame Alexander]

Pulled this from Memory alpha




Non-Commissioned Officers, also known as NCO or "Non-Comm"

Enlisted crewmembers of Starfleet who have not attended the Academy, but function in within the organization of Starfleet as lower-ranking crew, thus, without Starfleet Academy education, they do not hold a Commission from Starfleet. An example of which is Chief Miles O'Brien from TNG/DS9, he was a Senior Chief Petty Officer.


Non-Commissioned Rank Structure is as follows as of 2370, from highest to lowest

E-10: Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet

E-9: Master Chief Petty Officer

E-8: Senior Chief Petty Officer

E-7: Chief Petty Officer

E-6: Petty Officer 1st Class

E-5: Petty Officer 2nd Class

E-4: Petty Officer 3rd Class

E-3: Crewman

E-2: Crewman Apprentice

E-1: Crewman Recruit

[Rourke]

Remembered watching a ds9 episode the other day where he said 'at the academy I learnt'.

[Varaan]

I hate to keep referring back to the tabletop ST RPG, that I have, by Last Unicorn Games, but they produced a complete boxed set about Starfleet Academy, and had several chapters in the Player's Guide devoted to the whole Non-Comm process, etc.

Their take on the whole thing is that non-comms DO attend the Academy, in the non-comm program, not the officer training program that "traditional" 'fleet personnel graduate from.

Officers attend for four years, taking rigorous programs and courses, and graduate with a wide range of knowledge.

non-comms attend (separate campus on the Academy grounds) for a year, learning task specific and basics. Therefore a transporter specialist would learn all about transporters and replicators (same principle) and basic engineering, and SF protocols, self defence, etc, but wouldn't be able to field strip a warp core, etc.

[FltAdml. Wolf]

One thing to keep in mind: NCO does not equal "enlisted." An "enlisted" soldier/navyman/airman is someone who is not in a leadership role. Wikipedia says this about NCOs:

The non-commissioned officer corps is the 'junior' management of the military. Typically NCOs serve as administrative personnel, as advisors to the officer corps, as trainers of both lower and higher ranking personnel, and as both supervisors of, and advocates for, the lower-ranking or more inexperienced enlisted personnel. But their most valuable function is as a link between the 'common soldier' and the (commissioned) officer, who in most armies is encouraged to not develop a too close personal relationship with his charges.

All NCOs are "enlisted," but not all enlisted soldiers are NCOs.

I hate to keep referring back to the tabletop ST RPG, that I have, by Last Unicorn Games, but they produced a complete boxed set about Starfleet Academy, and had several chapters in the Player's Guide devoted to the whole Non-Comm process, etc.

Their take on the whole thing is that non-comms DO attend the Academy, in the non-comm program, not the officer training program that "traditional" 'fleet personnel graduate from.

Officers attend for four years, taking rigorous programs and courses, and graduate with a wide range of knowledge.

non-comms attend (separate campus on the Academy grounds) for a year, learning task specific and basics. Therefore a transporter specialist would learn all about transporters and replicators (same principle) and basic engineering, and SF protocols, self defence, etc, but wouldn't be able to field strip a warp core, etc.

Makes sense. Seems like that's similar to what happens today for enlisted soldiers. Join up, get job training, go to work. NCOs would have more training as they, mentioned above, are "junior leadership."

[nmnman]

Not sure if this is still going, but hey!

I've always thought that a NCO (for this we'll go with the army) is a person holding a rank such as sergant or corporal, they exercise authiorty but are not commisioned ..in which case you don't say 'Sir'

now going by Kwame's post, would that make E-1 to E-3 enlisted crew, E-4 to E-10 NCO's

or E-1 to E-6 Enlisted and E-7 to E10 NCO.

[FltAdml. Wolf]

I've always thought that a NCO (for this we'll go with the army) is a person holding a rank such as sergant or corporal, they exercise authiorty but are not commisioned ..in which case you don't say 'Sir'

now going by Kwame's post, would that make E-1 to E-3 enlisted crew, E-4 to E-10 NCO's

or E-1 to E-6 Enlisted and E-7 to E10 NCO.

Here's an article on Wikipedia that might help explain it better:

http://en.wikipedia....ssioned_officer

[Francis_deMarc]

One of the main NPCs that I play is an NCO. She was originally a Master Chief PO, and now that she's attached to the Marines, she is Brevited as Chief Gunnery Sergeant. I think that the 'workers' of the fleet are important, and in the actual Marines, the NCOs are the ones with the real knowledge. You look at some other countries military organizations, the NCOs are the real professional soldiers. You don't see a professional Lieutenant or Captain, but you start to see them more at the Colonel and above. It all depends. But my character has a very strong relationship with the NCO, who often treats me as a kid, and is the 'old man' of the department.

[FltAdml. Wolf]

One of the main NPCs that I play is an NCO. She was originally a Master Chief PO, and now that she's attached to the Marines, she is Brevited as Chief Gunnery Sergeant. I think that the 'workers' of the fleet are important, and in the actual Marines, the NCOs are the ones with the real knowledge. You look at some other countries military organizations, the NCOs are the real professional soldiers. You don't see a professional Lieutenant or Captain, but you start to see them more at the Colonel and above. It all depends. But my character has a very strong relationship with the NCO, who often treats me as a kid, and is the 'old man' of the department.

I'd love to find a way to make the NCO's more integrated into the fleet, but it's difficult to make that leap from just having them be background characters to full-fledged parts of the crew.

[Seph 647]

Hi, I don't really know where to post this, but hey...

According to TrekWeb.com, there was a Library scene on the movie Star Trek: Insurrection.

http://www.trekweb.c...d=hGyb3dJvyUwo2

I guess if the ship is big, like a sovereign class, it has a library. The same as the Navy ships.

[Salak]

Yup, Riker and Troi did some research on the Sona in the Enterprise-E's library. Not sure how that relates to NCO's though, think the librarian was a female Lt in Science colours?

Edited by Salak, 15 January 2008 - 03:32 AM.

[Valis of Vulcan]

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of having more people playing NCOs as primaries and even setting up an NCO/enlisted Academy program.

Unfortunately, I like my primary too much to s[...] him for an NCO primary. But I think when I finally start a secondary, I'll probably go with an NCO.

[Salak]

It's an avenue I hadn't thought of, I'll give it some consideration I think given I am looking to create a new Primary at the moment.

[Seph 647]

Yup, Riker and Troi did some research on the Sona in the Enterprise-E's library. Not sure how that relates to NCO's though, think the librarian was a female Lt in Science colours?

Actually, when I used to be in the US Navy, as a Religious Program Specialist, one of my primary job was to man the library.

[Salak]

So it's a role that is filled by NCO's in navies in RL then? Okies, fair enough

[Vasily Reznov]

I was in the NAVY and a NCO is Petty Officer 3rd class and above

[Sinda Essen]

When I first started I strongly considered playing an enlisted officer who decided to take a commission - thought it would be a good background.
What's the ratio of enlisted to comissioned officers in Starfleet? I had the impression it was about 2:1 in Trek, which is why I'm in favour of NPC enlisted crew.