# Is Starfleet more like a navy or an air force? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488 "2013-02-27T03:20:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488/61 "2013-03-04T19:12:52Z")
Well, the term “yeoman” has come to be associated with “hard work,” so that fits. Not a lot of farming going on aboard a starship, so that’s out. Not seeing a problem here. Or were you expecting something like [this](http://yeomenoftheguard.com/cyw.yg%5B1%5D.JPG)? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488/62 "2013-03-04T19:17:36Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > They _do_ have Marines. Security officers do all the classical (meaning pre WW2) roles of Marines, which is shipboard security and being the core of away teams and boarding parties. I should have been more specific. It always bugged me, in TNG, that the Tactical Officer and Chief of Security were the same person; it seemed an obvious conflict. I liked TNG, especially when they established right off the bat that the Captain did not routinely go on away missions. I just wish they’d taken it further. I’d like there to have been a rule that the chief medical officer and chief engineer were likewise forbidden to go on most away missions. Troi should have been a medical officer–specializing in psychiatry, yes, but still a doctor in her own right. The standard away team would be Riker, Data, Troi, and Worf; Yar would have been the Tactical Officer and Second Officer. And Wesley, of course, would have been ON EARTH. Because it’s not believable that ANYONE with kids would have wanted them on board after seeing another Galaxy-class ship blown to smithereens, as happened fairly early in the series. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488/63 "2013-03-04T19:56:29Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I should have been more specific. It always bugged me, in TNG, that the Tactical Officer and Chief of Security were the same person; it seemed an obvious conflict. Technically, they were different officers in season 1 - Yar was the Security Chief, Worf was the Tactical Officer. It was only after Yar’s death they merged the two. > [@](#): > > I liked TNG, especially when they established right off the bat that the Captain did not routinely go on away missions. I just wish they’d taken it further. I’d like there to have been a rule that the chief medical officer and chief engineer were likewise forbidden to go on most away missions. Troi should have been a medical officer–specializing in psychiatry, yes, but still a doctor in her own right. The standard away team would be Riker, Data, Troi, and Worf; Yar would have been the Tactical Officer and Second Officer. On a ship the size of Enterprise D, it is ludicrous to think there is only one doctor. Any reasonable policy would have the department heads as stationed on the ship, not sent on random away missions. It is only the need for player characters to be involved in everything that we get the conceit that the staff officers are also the away team. Your suggestion does try to address that concern within the limits of TV constraints. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488/64 "2013-03-04T21:25:17Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Technically, they were different officers in season 1 - Yar was the Security Chief, Worf was the Tactical Officer. It was only after Yar’s death they merged the two. I’ve heard that before, and I disagree. I’ve watched the 1st season episodes in the last year, and Yar is always acting as both Head Gunner and Chief of Asskicking." > [@](#): > > On a ship the size of Enterprise D, it is ludicrous to think there is only one doctor. Any reasonable policy would have the department heads as stationed on the ship, not sent on random away missions. It is only the need for player characters to be involved in everything that we get the conceit that the staff officers are also the away team. Your suggestion does try to address that concern within the limits of TV constraints. They had at least one other doctor: Selar, a Vulcan played by Suzie Plakson, who appears once but is referred to several time. Also, since the Enterprise has about a thousand people on board, I think 2 is enough. I’ve always thought the various Enterprises had a full-time medical staff of about six – two doctors, four nurses – and various people in the Biology department did double duty in emergencies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-starfleet-more-like-a-navy-or-an-air-force/651488.md?page=3)