Starfleet

In the Star Trek fictional universe, Starfleet is the military and exploration corps of the United Federation of Planets. Starfleet Headquarters is located in San Francisco, California, Earth, Sol System, Sector 001, in the Alpha Quadrant.

Many of the Headquarters' buildings are concentrated just east of the Golden Gate Bridge in what is now the Presidio of San Francisco, a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula.

Starfleet consists of many branches which make up the organization, namely:

Though Starfleet ranks are comprised of many races, it is mostly populated by humans and Vulcans, two of the founders of the Federation.

Starfleet has been shown to handle diplomatic, scientific, and military missions, although their main mandate seems to be one of peaceful exploration. The flagship of Starfleet (and also of the "1st fleet", see Dominion War) is the Starship Enterprise.

Most members of Starfleet who handle day-to-day operations are enlisted persons. There is an officer corps that serve on ships and installations. Officers typically serve as department heads and as command officers. The rank structure of Starfleet is similar to that in use with the United States Navy.

Ranks of the Starfleet

Flag Officer

The rank of Commodore was often mentioned in Star Trek: The Original Series; however the title fell into disuse in the feature films and follow-on series. A Starfleet Commodore is briefly seen in the Federation Council Chambers of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but the later Star Trek televison series have never had a Commodore appear on camera. In Star Trek fanon, the rank of Commodore has appeared much more frequently, in particular in Star Trek novels and comic books.

Officers

There have only been two Fleet Captains shown in the entirety of Star Trek, both from the Original Series. Garth of Izar and Christopher Pike are the only Star Trek characters to have ever held the rank of Fleet Captain. Star Trek fanon has established Fleet Captain as a rank between Captain and Commodore.

Warrant Officers

The only Warrant Officer who has ever been seen in Star Trek was Kosinski, in the Next Generation episode “Where No One Has Gone Before”. However, due to Kosinski’s attitude in the episode, and his highly disrespectful demeanor towards commissioned officers, many have assumed he was a civilian granted a warrant rank due to the nature of his assignment.

Officer Candidates

Officer Candidate
Midshipman
Cadet

By the time frame of Star Trek: The Next Generation, students at Starfleet Academy had firmly been established as Cadets. This does not account, however, for the Midshipmen which were seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, also Academy students. It is conjectured that the Midshipmen in Star Trek II were senior cadets, most likely fifth year or graduate level students given the advanced nature of their training. Officer Candidate is a purely conjectural rank, mentioned in Star Trek fanon to explain Starfleet officers with direct commissions, such as scientists and medical personnel, who apparently did not attend Starfleet Academy.

Chief Petty Officers

In the modern United States Navy, a Master Chief Petty Officer may further advance to the title of Command Master Chief, Force Master Chief, Fleet Master Chief, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. The paygrade of the Master Chief does not change, but the responsibilities increase dramatically. Star Trek has never given any indication that such "positional ranks" exist in Starfleet, but it is reasonable to assume given the apparent size of the organization.

Enlisted

Petty Officer 1st Class
Petty Officer 2nd Class
Petty Officer 3rd Class
Crewman First Class
Crewman
Recruit

Until the Fourth Season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek had never firmly established a set of Enlisted Ranks. The character of Miles O'Brien was one of the first recurring enlisted roles and was the first enlisted character to ever be given a rank insignia pin. Miles O'Brien was often referred to as "Chief", which began in Star Trek The Next Generation, while he was transporter chief. Previous recurring enlisted roles included Yeoman Janice Rand and the security guard Mr. Leslie, both from Star Trek: The Original Series.

Other uses

In other science fiction universes, "starfleet" is used as an alternative name for starfaring space navies. The Imperial Navy in Star Wars, for example, is often called the "Imperial Starfleet." This does not apply to all storylines; the military in Wing Commander, for example, is known simply as the Terran Confederation Navy, while the main military force in Macross is known as the UN Spacy.

External link

Starfleet at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki