Federation Peace Corps

A couple of years back, when the majority of the ICON game traffic was held on an emailing list, someone suggested the Junior Explorers of the Federation A Federation based 'Boy Scout' movement.

Its one of my favourite pieces that I have ever seen, so original and yet so obvious that nobody thought of it sooner...

So in a similar vein. I would like to suggest yet another Federation organisation outside of Starfleet, again based on a real organisation in service today;

The Federation Peace Corps.

A Civilian organisation that often works closely with Starfleet, but where Starfleet survey and explore, and where colonists build, the Peace Corps help. Like Starfleet they have the Prime Directive to stop them developing societies that are too primitive, or making contact with species that are simply not ready yet. However there are hundreds of worlds in the Federation, and even more known but un-affiliated, and some need help.

The Peace Corps are an organisation of specialists, from Farmers, Construction Specialists and Doctors, who travel to planets in need of help, and try to improve the life of those in need. Often seen on Struggling Colony worlds or after great Disasters, or even helping rebuild worlds after devastating wars... fro example the Peace Corps was heavily active on Bajor when Starfleet took over DS9, and many of its specialists have been assigned to Cardassia following the Dominion War.

This is just an idea right now, but I will try and get a template or two up later if anyone is interested...

Anyone that wants to see where I might be going with this, or even join in with templates and tours should see;
http://www.peacecorps.gov/indexnf.cfm

I like this idea. Seems very idealistic and Federation-like.

The Federation Peace Corps.
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
John F Kennedy

The Federation Peace Corps is a civilian volunteer organisation that aims to spread prosperity and hope throughout the Galaxy. The organisation originates from Earth with nearly 400 years of uninterupted history from the original Peace Corps that began in 1961. At the formation of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, the organisation, then 200 years old opened its doors to its fellow Federation members, an idea that was embraced wholely alongside the developing Starfleet.

Since that time, the Federation has grown, encompassing hundreds of member worlds and affiliates and trading partners. The Starfleet has also grown, its mission encompasing Exploration and Defence, along with other more humanitarian mission profiles. The mission of the Federation Peace Corps remains the same to give humanitarian aid wher it is needed and offer logistical support. Like Starfleet they too are bound by the Prime Directive to stop them from interferring with a developing culture during its natural stage of development.

Volunteers give 2 years of their life to this task spending that time among their chosen culture on assignment, and then return. Longer assignments are then possible, as is 'retirement' from active duty returning to either civilian life at that point or helping prepare the next group of volunteers.

Many volunteers are just normal Federation citizens with a wish to travel, to help and to learn, the equal of any determined Colonist, but at least 20% of any intake is far more specialised, made up of teachers, Doctors, Engineering Specialists or agricultural Specialists.

The group is often active on Struggling Colony worlds, or after great Disasters, or even helping rebuild worlds after devastating wars... for example the Peace Corps was heavily active on Bajor when Starfleet took over DS9, and many of its specialists have been assigned to Cardassia following the Dominion War.

Templates
Peace Corps Volunteer
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Planetary (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)
Science, Social (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any Other (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
or Engineering, Any (Choose Specialisation) 1 (2)

Athletics (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
History (Federation) 1 (2)
Language; Federation Standard 1
Choose Language 1
planetary Survival (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
World Knowledge (Choose World) 1 (2)


The support skills of the specialists will remain the same as that of the standard volunteer, however change the Core skill base as follows.

Peace Corps Specialist
Medical
Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) 1 (2)
Science, Medical (Choose 2 Speciaisation) 2 (3) and (3)
First Aid (Choose 2 Speciaisation) 1 (2) and (2)
Science, Any Other (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Code of Honour - Hipocratic Oath -2

Teacher
Computer (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Persuasion (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)

Agricultural specialist
Craft (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Engineering, Material (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Planetary (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)

Engineering specialist
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Engineering, Material (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)
Engineering, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)

Think the only problem with that is getting any sort of significant membership. If that happens, I agree, the idea is idealistic enough to probably allow people to see past the "Trekface" and behind to the core principles.

All in all not a bad idea. I doubt Starfleet would have the numbers of personnel to perform relief work long term in a disaster area. It'll make an interesting addition to my game.

Another thought, what about our real world charitable relief organizations, won't they have made the transition into relief work on devestated or wartorn worlds...but obviously they could have just been folded into the Peace Corp...hmm tres interesting...(forgive my bad French).

Excellent thinking, perfectly appropriate to Federation ideals. On a similar note, there's likely to be a group analogous to "Doctors without Borders" or the Red Cross. A civilian agency that seeks to alleviate the results of natural disasters and plagues and the like.

Naturally, Starfleet does stuff like that too. But in modern times, the Center for Disease Control hasn't eliminated the need for the Red Cross. This sort of thing is self-reenforcing.

I like this idea. If one were fortunate enough to have a stable group of non-combat-oriented players, the "Federation Peace Corps" concept would offer a lot of gaming potential.

I'm not sure, however, that I see a Federation relief/assistance agency as necessarily directly modeled on the present U.S. Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is certainly one historical ancestor for such an agency, just as contemporary navies are historical ancestors for Starfleet, but that may be all the relationship there is.

For one thing, I wonder whether describing 24th- or even 23rd-century relief workers as "volunteers" quite fits. In the posteconomic Federation ("You don't get paid?"), there may not be much clear distinction between volunteer and career personnel. I more picture a Federation relief agency as having a more-or-less professional core with a large number of internship or practicum opportunities to fill out the less-specialized personnel needs.

That alone is rather different from the Peace Corps, but necessarily so in light of the specialized technical personnel that would be needed on a planet like Turkana IV, or Bajor, or post-war Cardassia. Since coordinating such program needs across several agencies (together with the Merchant Marine for transport needs and Starfleet for security issues) would be pretty messy, I'm supposing one UFP relief agency covering all such needs rather than several more specialized organizations.

Those are just detail points to ponder, though. This is a cool enough idea that I'd love to see a game built around it. (The idea of a "relief mission" series set on Bajor parallel to the events on DS9 appeals to me a great deal, because that was an aspect of DS9's back story that got pushed aside much too quickly as the show developed.)

I have to go with Erik on this one. While the Peace Corp is a good basis to build this Federation Relief Agency, it should have a broader base of origin. Perhaps all the various Terran charitable relief organizations have combined with those of other member worlds to form the Federation Relief Agency (might be a better name than Peace Corps) under the direction of a member of the Federation Council.

It would of course be backed up by Starfleet who can assist with ships and of course SCE construction teams (although the Agency would have its own engineers and such). Perhaps Starfleet could second officers and personnel to the FRA to render assistance in special areas.

Thanks guys...

Fair comments all. And theres an even broader scope, why just limited to human aid agencies... Although the post-economic Federation with the eradication of Hunge, Plague and Famine would also reduce the need for charities... So the conglomeration of the various agencies both Terran and non-terran is a good point...

However Eric, remember that the Peace Corps is a Federal Agency with volunteers based on its current model? However I see the point. So an advanced model would likely have the clout you suggest to coordinate with the Various agencies such as Starfleet, Merchant Marine and even the various Colonies.

One of the reasons with the history was the 'coincidence' that the Peace Corps and UFP share a birthyear, and was founded by Kennedy who always strikes me as meeting many of the standards of TOS Star Trek... But there's room for adjustment and you raise some valid points...

Please help me make the appropriate adjustments to keep the feel while expanding the group to its best possible conclusion...

Very well thought out Dan!

Still logistics and cordination would be a problem. Some sought of ranking would be needed.

Heck even Red Cross has there ranks; I used to be the 2nd Officer of my local detachment.

Some retired StarFleet ships kitted out for their needs would be appropriate for transportation. Probably Oberths and other obsolete no military focused ships.

:D Hey I just noticed that my post count equals the founding year of the federation. How cool is that ;)

The Transport issue has come up twice on ICQ this morning.

Initially my concept was that they would hitch a ride with either Starfleet or th Merchant Marine. But Greg also suggested that they might have access to certain ship resources, such as a couple of Olympic class ships for mass emergencies where 1 or 2 doctors might not be enough... Along the lines of Greenpeaces Rainbow Warrior

And there is canon use of the Oberth class in Civilian service (SS Vico anone?), so those might also fit into the groups useage ideology.

Perhaps even an older, retired Miranda class?

All of which would allow greater flexibility, and still retain the original concept of another organisation with close ties with Starfleet...

He also had some other ideas, about their current working environments and project locations... But I'll let him post them when he wakes up!!!

After mentioning the Red Cross ranks to Dan on icq. He asked that I should flesh it out a bit more.

So this is how it works in the Australian V(voluntary) A(aid) S(service) C(corps). They respond to the needs of the community by offering trained first aid volunteers. Also they help with disaster relief in a number of functions.

At the State level there are as many detachments as there is a need and a interest for.

The core basic ranks of a detachment are:

QuarterMaster now Logistics Officer
................ now Second Officer
Commandant now Officer in Charge (OIC)

Then there are regional Executive Officers who have a number of detachments under them. At the moment there is one for N,E,S,W.

Then there is a organising comittee that has a Honorary Directy and Deputy plus various other postions such as Corps Finance & Logistics; VASC Corodinator etc.

Also there are Regional Centres that offer training to the public and do fund raising for the corps.

Hope that presents some insight into how such a organisation is structured.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden
Teacher
Computer (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Persuasion (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)

Agricultural specialist
Craft (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Engineering, Material (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Planetary (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)

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Teacher:
Why not give this Template Debate instead of Persuasion? Debate is more about convincing people, while Persuasion is more about swaying them to your POV more by emotions then arguments IMHO.
In addition there is a skill "Teaching" in the Player's Guide. Might be worthy of inclusion in this template.

Agricultural specialist:
Maybe a choice between Planetary Sciences and Life Sciences would be in order or instead a choice between Craft and Life Sciences. But the later is a skill I would definitely consider for this template.

The rest of this idea looks just fine.

Quote:

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Originally posted by ghosty
I have to go with Erik on this one. While the Peace Corp is a good basis to build this Federation Relief Agency, it should have a broader base of origin. Perhaps all the various Terran charitable relief organizations have combined with those of other member worlds to form the Federation Relief Agency (might be a better name than Peace Corps) under the direction of a member of the Federation Council.

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LUGTrek back story has the Bolians convincing the Federation Council that they are membership material by single-handedly pulling off a planetary evacuation. After that stunt, I could see a UFP relief agency jumping all over itself to get in on a Bolian logistical model.

Quote:

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It would of course be backed up by Starfleet who can assist with ships and of course SCE construction teams (although the Agency would have its own engineers and such). Perhaps Starfleet could second officers and personnel to the FRA to render assistance in special areas.

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I prefer to keep the Starfleet backup to extreme emergency transport (in LUGTrek, at least, the Merchant Marine is tailor-made for all but the most desperate situations), occasional security coordination, and some supervision by/collaboration with SCE and Starfleet Medical. I suppose that options for detached duty personnel exist in many of those examples, especially security--I just don't see a dedicated relief agency wanting to spend resources on its own security group that would see only limited use to start with.

There are loads of storytelling possibilities here.

I have been involved in several humanitarian aid missions in various countries [in real life] and my thought would be that there would not be one central "federation aid society" simply because that makes to much sense.

What I mean is that in the real world Red Cross doesn't like working with the military, which doesn't like working with Doctor's Without Borders, which doesn't like working with Oxfam which will NEVER work with the Vulcan Relief Society. OK- those are just examples - but the point is that each little or big relief agency either governmental or non-governmental has its own focus, political agenda, mission and level of resources. When they get to a specific mission area they set up some sort of joint command structure which hashes out who does what to whom with what.

If I were having my Game Ship interact in such an arena I'd place them into the role of trying to get several of these different agencies working together to accomplish a task. Bear in mind that none of these agencies are "bad guys" they are all trying to do the right thing according to their own lights.

Federation Peace Corps is a great idea - UFP would surely like to have that sort of long term mission supporting worlds both inside and outside. But I'd keep a wide array of other less governmental agencies in play too.

In fact. Something I'd messed with in my campaign was a Klingon Dr. who runs a mercenary hospital ship. Sort of a "field hospital for hire" for regional conflicts, etc. For a price they'll provide assistance to your refugees - and give you a discount on their "revenge services" as well.

Quote:

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Originally posted by toadkiller
...In fact. Something I'd messed with in my campaign was a Klingon Dr. who runs a mercenary hospital ship. Sort of a "field hospital for hire" for regional conflicts, etc. For a price they'll provide assistance to your refugees - and give you a discount on their "revenge services" as well.

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THAT's an interesting idea!!! You wouldn't ordinarily think of a Klingon relief agency. Or a relief agency that also offers "revenge"!

Quote:

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Originally posted by LizardQueen


THAT's an interesting idea!!! You wouldn't ordinarily think of a Klingon relief agency. Or a relief agency that also offers "revenge"!

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The neat thing is that after performing a revenge service, they could then turn around and offer relief to the victims. (Or maybe that would be more of a Ferengi thing...just add latinum!) :D

>Teacher:
>Why not give this Template Debate instead of Persuasion

Because debate is a specialty of the pursusasion skill.
However, a teacher who regularly addresses a whole class of students might find the oratory specialty of the pursuasion skill more useful.


That Klingon idea is great. I love things that fit in, but not as you expect... adds a lot of flavor. Let's see if we can go further... I imagine an extremely efficiently run Vulcan aid agency which is excellent at meeting physical needs but is infamous for a sub-par "bedside manner." In other words, after the flood washes away the city this Vulcan agency distributes the most food and blankets most efficiently, but while wellmeaning is at a loss comforting the bereaved.

What about relief agencies run by people who are not ordinarily considered the "good guys"? Perhaps a Romulan relief agency? Post-Dominion War the Cardassians would more likely be on the receiving end of a relief agency, but they may have had their own agencies prior to the war.

One of the great things about Trek is that it's NOT usually black-and-white. So even when a species is cast as the "bad guys", you still see individuals of that species that are compassionate or honorable, even when they are STILL enemies of the Federation.

I think, you could keep your Peace Corps, and there would be some parallel agencies that mirror modern agencies as well.

Where I would come from with it is to either make it a subsection of a new Bureau of the Secretariet (Federation Relief Bureau) or make a Federation Relief Agency that falls under the Bureau of Colonization, and then have your Peace Corps fall under that Agency or Bureau respectively.

Either way you can use the pre-existing political/bureaucratic ranks from the Price of Freedom..and this opens doors to story seeds like annoying PADD Pusher back home tampering with budget to Non-Complient Peace Corps people stymieing a Star Fleet Operation.

By attaching them to a greater relief umbrella you do also open the door for friendly competition for prestige assignments and budget of resources with other similar agencies. If I had to choose I'd go with the FPC being a subordinate of the FRA which is under the BoC -- and then I would have the PCs assigned to say, try to get a colony back on track in a year that looks unlikely to make it's minimal standards or recall at the end of it's 5 year probationary period.

Peace

Done some tidying, and taken much of what has been said here into account. So I would like to present, hopefully the final version of;


The Federation Peace Corps
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
John F Kennedy


The Federation Peace Corps is a civilian organisation that aims to spread prosperity and hope throughout the Galaxy. The organization originally originates from Earth with nearly 400 years of history from the original Peace Corps that were formed in response to a call from John F. Kennedy while campaigning to become US President in 1961. After his election he ratified the group creating the first Peace Corps. Since that time they have worked to improve the third world, in healthcare, education and infrastructure. Helping to equalise the imbalance of 20th century Earth. Their efforts went a long way to the recovery of the post-atomic horror of the 21st century, and helping to ensure equality in Earths cooperative world government that become a founding part of the UFP. During this time many smaller groups collected under the single umbrella of the Peace Corps, expanding its membership from US citizens only to world membership.

At the formation of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, the rapidly expanding organisation, then 200 years old was honoured for its work, and given a new directive, to spread their work among the stars. The Federation had a requirement for a relief agency, many colony worlds from ages past had been lost, and explorers from all 5 member worlds were finding new worlds, potential members of the newly formed UFP, with just a little bit of help… Some kind of
Federation Relief Agency was required, and probably due it bi-centenary falling in with the creation of the UFP the two organizations found themselves tied together. The Federation Peace Corps, as their new charter knew them, opened their doors to all Federation member worlds, accepting volunteers from any that wished to give their time. Although like Starfleet the vast majority of the groups membership remained human.

Since that time, the Federation has grown, encompassing hundreds of member worlds and affiliates and trading partners. The Starfleet has also grown, its mission encompassing Exploration and Defense, along with other more humanitarian mission profiles. And mirroring Starfleet the Peace Corps too has expanded its membership with its membership prominently including many Federation species.

The mission charter of the Federation Peace Corps remains the same to give humanitarian aid wherever it is needed and offer logistical support. Like Starfleet they too are bound by the Prime Directive to stop their relief efforts from interfering with a developing culture during its natural stage of development. This doesn’t mean that they do not offer humanitarian aid to a sufficiently advance, non-affiliated species, quite the contrary in fact. But has stopped the organization from

Any Federation Citizen with a desire to help can volunteer for service in the Peace Corps, either sharing an existing skill or ability, or learning a trade and skill to share. Many volunteers are just normal Federation citizens with a wish to travel, to help and to learn, the equal of any determined Colonist, but at least 20% of any intake is far more specialised, made up of teachers, Doctors, Engineering Specialists or agricultural Specialists. Its not unusual even, to find even more specialized personnel among their ranks, from Starfleet personnel on leave and the like.

The group has a ranking system to enable effective organization. The most senior member of the Federation Peace Corps is the Director, who reports directly to the Federation Council and the President of the UFP. This senior officer is usually an established political figure, and if possible a veteran of the Peace Corps themselves. The post is currently held by Director Eliaz of Bolarias.

Next in the chain of command is the sector director, who is assigned a particular sector to administrate and organize, they are the senior representative for a particular area, and hold a role very similar to that of a Starfleet Admiral.

Next are the Objective Administrators, tasked with the Command of a particular project (objective), these project managers control the various missions and aid stations tied in with their objective and upon completion move on to the next one. The Objective Administrators are always made up of Veteran Peace Corps personnel, with lots of field experience.

Lastly the field command of a mission or aid station lies with the Mission Commandant and their second in command the Quartermaster (or Logistics Officer) who apply field administration of the personnel working at the mission. At the mission level all volunteers are equal under these two and often are equal including these two, with the leadership role simply taking the form of a reporting and administrative duty.

The group is often active on Struggling Colony worlds, or after great Disasters, or even helping rebuild worlds after devastating wars... for example the Peace Corps was heavily active on Bajor when Starfleet took over DS9, and many of its specialists have been assigned to Cardassia following the Dominion War.

The group undertakes larger Objectives either based on a sector or planet, for instance the aid mission to the post-war Cardassia is known as the Cardassian Objective. Such a mission is assigned a Senior administrator who directs resources and briefs the Peace Corps Director and President of the UFP on the mission status, but is a direct subordinate of the Sector Administrator. At the field level the Peace Corp runs either Aid Stations or Missions. An Aid Station is designed as a crisis response, offering medical and emergency usually in response to larger scale disasters. A Mission however is the term used for longer term projects, such as area coordination center usually offering a school, a medical centre and support to help a population regain a prosperous life for themselves, but rarely dealing in ‘handouts’.

The Peace Corps also has a small response fleet. Made up of Peaceful vessels, a couple of Olympic class medical ships, several older Oberths also serve as transports and smaller medical aid ships, offering mobile aid stations. They even have a decommissioned Miranda Class vessel donated by Starfleet for larger scale transportation requirements, crews are made up of specifically skilled personnel, but usually the Peace Corps is often looking for more experienced hands for these vessels. However these ships are few and often the supply and personnel requirements of the Peace Corps are supported by Starfleet and Federation Merchant Marine vessels, who also both keep a watchful eye over the established missions.

Templates
Peace Corps Volunteer
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Planetary (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)
Science, Social (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any Other (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
or Engineering, Any (Choose Specialisation) 1 (2)

Athletics (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
History (Federation) 1 (2)
Language; Federation Standard 1
Choose Language 1
planetary Survival (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
World Knowledge (Choose World) 1 (2)


The support skills of the specialists will remain the same as that of the standard volunteer, however change the Core skill base as follows.

Peace Corps Specialists
Medical
Personal Equipment (Medical Tricorder) 1 (2)
Science, Medical (Choose 2 Speciaisation) 2 (3) and (3)
First Aid (Choose 2 Speciaisation) 1 (2) and (2)
Science, Any Other (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Code of Honour - Hipocratic Oath -2

Teacher
Computer (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Persuasion (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)
Instruction (Choose Specialisation) 2 (3)
Code of Honour (Prime Directive) -2

Agricultural specialist
Craft (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Engineering, Material (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Planetary (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3) or
Science, Life (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)

Engineering specialist
Personal Equipment (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Engineering, Material (Choose Speciaisation) 2 (3)
Engineering, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)
Science, Any (Choose Speciaisation) 1 (2)

Advantage;
Rank

+6 Director of the Peace Corps
+5 Sector Director
+4 Objective Administrator
+3 Objective Administrator
+2 Mission Commandant
+1 Quartermaster/Logistics Officer

Dan, that was great! :)

I'm definitely integrating them into my campaigns... :)

The Doc

That's great work, Dan! May I suggest that civilain tours of duty are critically necessary for this organization. The templates are great for representing volunteers who basically made this their main career, but tours of duty would be perfect to represent those who volunteer for a while (like just out of school) and then go on to do something else. That's how most volunteers work in the 20th century Peace Corps.

OK. So you want Tours of Duty do you? Are those applicable to Civilian templates? Or was that just a 10 point 'after training' package?

So before I get started. Any ideas for appropriate packages? What sort of thing do you want to see???

This looks great.

Personally, I'd fold this into Starfleet. Starfleet does lots and lots of things that in the modern US are part of seperate agencies. Starfleet is the Navy, the Coast Guard, the NOAA, and the Peace Corps all rolled into one. Starfleet gets assigned all kinds of jobs that in the US would be given to private/civilian agencies, like building starships or aqueducts or .... well, I could go on forever. Regardless of what agency we think is doing the work, we all agree that helping the neighbors is something the Federation does, so let's embrace that we agree and move on.

Palladium Books' Recon was an RPG that was set in the Vietnam War. The supplement Advanced Recon presented an alternate campaign idea: American advisors in Laos. The PCs are ex-military guys sent to a village in Laos to try the "winning hearts and minds" stuff. Their goal is to get the villagers to quit growing drugs for the local warlords.
So, they have to find another cash crop for the locals. They also need to convince the locals that they are good guys, which means doing a lot of genuinely good things for them, like building a road, digging a well, building a medical dispensary, building an auditorium and showing movies there, making the road better and wider, building a sawmill, and so on.
What I mean to say is that, while hostile alien of the week makes for an interesting adventure, humanitarian aid makes for an excellent campaign. The PCs have been sent to help out a village (either a colony or a remote settlement of some overburdened nearby government). There may be dangerous animals or pirates, so there can be a little action for the guys who feel incomplete if they didn't shoot at something, but there will be plenty of work installing a fusion reactor to provide power for a hospital, and organizing work crews to build shelters. Some people will distrust the outsiders, some may even resent them, and the real job isn't to do these jobs for the locals, but to train them to do the jobs themselves.

What sells this to the players is the same thing that sells it to the characters: most Starfleet crews get to make a tiny difference in the lives of dozens of people a few hundred times, but in the Peace Corps you can dramatically change the lives of a few hundred people, and see it all happen. It's the difference between giving $10 a week to charity for the rest of your life, or giving $20,000 to a neighbor family whose house just burned.

But your arguement also disables the Federation Merchant Marine too, as Starfleet has plenty of ships and can transport goods around. When they are not too busy elsewhere. ;p

But, as you say, this is for the most part Starfleet-light. I sort of envisioned them as a group of people with similar ideals but whom dont want to actually join up to Starfleet for whatever reason (or maybe who failed to meet the grade)...

Politically, they may also be able to work in places that the fleet cannot reach, as they are a Peace operation and dont 'do' weapons. And as such they do double duty in helping extend the long arm of Federation cultural expansion/propaganda... As well as providing halfway decent bases of operations for occasional Espionage duties... Just like their historical counterparts...

But it is very likely that service in the Peace Corps would involve working closely with Starfleet, as well as helping build a candidacy profile for future enrolement in Starfleet Academy or just doing good by others...

But that could all tie in to make a good campaign along the lines you say, perhaps on an affiliated world, building up to membership or after a disaster? In post DS9 universe this sort of campaign would easily slip into Cardassian or former Maquis territory.

Well, while we see Starfleet ships carry cargo occasionally, we have also seen dedicated freighters. And none of those freighters were Starfleet vessels, IIRC.
In contrast, when faced with a massive natural disaster, we never see the Starfleet guys trying to hold things together until the proper relief agencies can arrive. Instead, we see them trying to hold things together until more Starfleet vessels can arrive. This suggests that Starfleet is the primary disaster relief agency, and that disaster relief is one of Starfleet's main jobs.

That said, there is canon evidence that some people consider Starfleet too "military" for their tastes. (David Marcus, for one.) Such a person would likely still want to help people in need, but prefer not to work through Starfleet towards that goal. There is plenty of room for civilian agencies, maybe even non-government agencies, whose duties overlap part of Starfleet's mission.
As you said, they would be populated by people who harbor objections to some part of Starfleet's role, and by those who for whatever reason are not wanted by Starfleet.

Starfleet faces a lot less political prejudice than the modern military. The US armed forces do a lot of disaster relief, but are always recognized to be a military service that also aids people in need. Starfleet turns that on it's head, so people are more likely st see them as helpers first and potential conquerors second.
On the other hand,I doubt the people of Cardassia would be thrilled to have people in Starfleet uniforms walking their streets: even if the devastation of Cardassia was done by their "allies" and not Starfleet, there are a lot of Cardassian families who have a member sent to the grave by a Starfleet phaser.