# Staffing rotas on Star Trek star-ships **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [December 12, 2022, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425 "2022-12-12T23:05:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/81 "2022-12-15T04:13:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Wasn’t he the one who made Troi wear an appropriate uniform while she was on watch? Which, I think, she wore for the rest of the series, so there is that in his favor. > [@DPRK](#): > > turned down command of his own vessel, because apparently nothing except a _Galaxy_-class ship of the line was good enough for him. The funny thing is, after the events of The Best of Both Worlds, he could have had command of any ship in the fleet, _including_ the Enterprise, if he wanted. Starfleet would have given him a blank check. I know I would have asked for a Galaxy class. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/82 "2022-12-15T04:39:53Z")
> [@simster](#): > > That.was.fantastic. Fantastic my ass. That was _totally wicked!!_ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LTX51OzGndw/hqdefault.jpg "Incredibles, The - That Was Totally Wicked.wmv") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTX51OzGndw&t=105s) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/83 "2022-12-15T13:56:13Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > The jerk came in and insisted that people do their jobs, keep current on their training, and wear their uniforms correctly. What a jerk! > > Stranger I had never considered this argument. I have now changed my entire world view. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/84 "2022-12-15T14:01:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The funny thing is, after the events of The Best of Both Worlds, he could have had command of any ship in the fleet, _including_ the Enterprise, if he wanted. Starfleet would have given him a blank check. I know I would have asked for a Galaxy class. Forget what he wanted; after losing so much of their fleet, and the crews of those ships, there’s no way any real military force would have let a experienced, command-rated officer stay as first officer on an existing ship. He would have been desperately needed elsewhere as they re-built the fleet to counter the biggest threat they’ve ever seen, and if he tried to play “I don’t wanna!” games, they’d either court-martial him for dereliction of duty, or cashier him, since he’s clearly not suited to command anything in such a time of crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/85 "2022-12-15T14:38:29Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Forget what he wanted; after losing so much of their fleet, and the crews of those ships, there’s no way any real military force would have let a experienced, command-rated officer stay as first officer on an existing ship. He would have been desperately needed elsewhere as they re-built the fleet to counter the biggest threat they’ve ever seen, and if he tried to play “I don’t wanna!” games, they’d either court-martial him for dereliction of duty, or cashier him, since he’s clearly not suited to command anything in such a time of crisis. Plus, someone with his experience should have been assigned to teach at the Academy for a semester or two. If he’s really that good, then he should be training the entire next generation of Starfleet personnel, no just the ones who happen to pass through the Enterprise. That goes for everyone, not just Riker. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/86 "2022-12-15T14:43:51Z")
I remember from Star Trek NG that Data used to have the bridge during the night cycle because he required no sleep. Even though “night” and “day” are irrelevant in space, people still needed a wake/sleep cycle because they were biological entities. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/87 "2022-12-15T15:04:36Z")
Speaking of Riker in command of the Big E, I always liked the possible-alternate future history Enterprise of All Good Things… with the future Enterprise having that “Borg Buster” cannon with what I surmised to be its own dedicated engine powering it. That was always my theory on how to beat a Borg Solid. Forget rotating phaser polarities or whatever and just put so much energy into them that whatever they have for shields overloads. Simple physics. Unless the Borg have found a way to shunt weapons energy into a parallel universe, more energy going in than being radiated away will always win. Eventually, they’ll melt. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/88 "2022-12-15T15:27:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Plus, someone with his experience should have been assigned to teach at the Academy for a semester or two. If he’s really that good, then he should be training the entire next generation of Starfleet personnel, Someone in the Starfleet Academy Personnel Department read his HR jacket, saw the breadth of sexual harassment claims, and said, “Oh, hell no!” to that posting. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/89 "2022-12-15T15:43:04Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I remember from Star Trek NG that Data used to have the bridge during the night cycle because he required no sleep. Even though “night” and “day” are irrelevant in space, people still needed a wake/sleep cycle because they were biological entities If it comes to that, do you really need to have a “night” watch at all? If you’re on, say, the 0000 - 0800 watch, in an environment lacking any external “daytime/nighttime” cues, wouldn’t your body simply adjust its circadian rhythm so that 0230 is “the middle of the afternoon” to you, and 1600 is “bedtime”? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/90 "2022-12-15T15:54:13Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > circadian rhythm It’s not just a matter of circadian rhythms, though, there’s also social rhythms. We’re seen that the Enterprise has an extensive social scene, with concerts, plays, and other events happening pretty regularly. These people live a whole life on board the ship. So it would suck to be stuck on a shift where you always miss the big social events. And just duplicating the event for every shift introduces its own problems. “Man, the Beta Shift _MacBeth_ sucks!” ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/91 "2022-12-15T15:55:14Z")
There will still need to be a standard “night” and “day”, which I imagine will default to whatever rhythm the Captain is on as commanding officer of the ship. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/92 "2022-12-15T15:56:49Z")
Good question, and I think you would have to test that in a practical situation. Horatius makes some good points, and there may be other ramifications of having a ship’s crew on different biological cycles. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/93 "2022-12-15T16:18:45Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > in an environment lacking any external “daytime/nighttime” cues, But they do. (well, internal cues). It’s been canon since 1966 that the ship dims the interior lights during “night”. Except on the bridge of course. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/94 "2022-12-15T16:19:28Z")
I’m not so sure that just showing up and upsetting the applecart in order to reinforce that there’s a new sheriff in town is the best leadership technique, especially if you’re a “jobbing captain” as described in _Post Captain_ by Patrick O’Brian. I mean, the _Enterprise-D_ already had a good, efficient, and established crew. It’s flat-out stupid to disrupt all that if they’re expecting to “get into combat on a moment’s notice”- ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/95 "2022-12-15T16:21:05Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > There will still need to be a standard “night” and “day”, which I imagine will default to whatever rhythm the Captain is on as commanding officer of the ship. What if the captain is a species that evolved on a tidally locked world of a red dwarf star? “I hate serving under a Luytenian! The ship’s illumination set to 860 to 1520 nm makes it so dark I can’t tell if I’m transporting someone to the surface or playing Cardassian Tetris!” > [@bump](#): > > I mean, the _Enterprise-D_ already had a good, efficient, and established crew. Were they, though? The ship seemed to have a lot of maintenance problems and was almost constantly running into “spatial anomalies” and “quantum filaments” like a Cadillac being driven by Ray Charles. The exec seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in the holodeck doing nobody-wants-to-know-what and the empathic “ship’s counsellor” didn’t seem to be very good at either sensing emotions or counseling crew members. Don’t even get me started about putting a teenager at the helm or a Klingon head of security who lost more fistfights than Pete Campbell. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/96 "2022-12-15T16:27:20Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I mean, the _Enterprise-D_ already had a good, efficient, and established crew. And the first thing they did was disobey a direct order, and go cry to each other about the new captain. So, not so good or efficient. I’m in camp Jellico on this issue. PS Memory Alpha really is on the anti-Jellico side. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/97 "2022-12-15T16:33:12Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > What if the captain is a species that evolved on a tidally locked world of a red dwarf star? > > “I hate serving under a Luytenian! The ship’s illumination set to 860 to 1520 nm makes it so dark I can’t tell if I’m transporting someone to the surface or playing Cardassian Tetris! Presumably species with who’s environmental requirements don’t mesh well together usually serve on different starships. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/98 "2022-12-15T16:35:46Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Presumably species with who’s environmental requirements don’t mesh well together usually serve on different starships. That would violate the tenets of Starfleet’s DEI program. As a Starfleet officer you have to learn to accommodate the sensory, environmental, and atmospheric needs of all species. Working with a chlorine-breather? Learn to hold your breath, ensign! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/99 "2022-12-15T16:36:55Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > What if the captain is a species that evolved on a tidally locked world of a red dwarf star? > > “I hate serving under a Luytenian! The ship’s illumination set to 860 to 1520 nm makes it so dark I can’t tell if I’m transporting someone to the surface or playing Cardassian Tetris!” Well that Luytenian didn’t just show up to Starfleet as a ship’s captain. They would have attended Starfleet Academy, which is still overwhelmingly human, and went through the ranks in mostly human-crewed ships. So the low-ranking Luytenian would have been the one who had to adjust, with some sort of techy goggles to attenuate things for it’s optical receptors, I imagine. Once given command sure they could say “to hell with these goggles, set the ship’s illumination to 900nm when I’m awake” and the mostly human crew would have to deal, but a good Captain probably isn’t going to do that out of interest in the safe operation of the ship. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2022, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425/100 "2022-12-15T16:39:32Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Were they, though? The ship seemed to have a lot of maintenance problems and was almost constantly running into “spatial anomalies” and “quantum filaments” like a Cadillac being driven by Ray Charles. The exec seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time in the holodeck doing nobody-wants-to-know-what and the empathic “ship’s counsellor” didn’t seem to be very good at either sensing emotions or counseling crew members. Don’t even get me started about putting a teenager at the helm or a Klingon head of security who lost more fistfights than Pete Campbell. But they could get away with these things because they had an efficient and established crew! and 99% of the time Starfleet cruises are routine and uneventful. They only keep footage of the exciting 1% 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staffing-rotas-on-star-trek-star-ships/976425.md?page=6)