Freshmen Cadet Uniforms

[tonyg]

I am starting up a Starfleet Academy campaign, set in the post Dominion War era. Accrding to the sources I've dug up, cadet uniforms c.2275+ are grey with branch colors on the shoulders (Voyager-style, but with grey body instead of black). I was wondering, what color the top would be for cadets before they decided on a branch. Generic red? White? Black?.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Erik Filean]

Actually, I don't think we've ever seen a TNG/DS9/VOY era cadet uniform in any branch color other than command red. It may be that cadets do not, administratively, "enter" a branch until they receive their commission.

[Ergi]

Actually, I don't think we've ever seen a TNG/DS9/VOY era cadet uniform in any branch color other than command red. It may be that cadets do not, administratively, "enter" a branch until they receive their commission.

That's possible. IIRC, in all TNG episodes dealing with Wesley on the Academy, all cadets were wearing red.

However, the attached picture from the DS9 episode Valiant shows that, at least later, there are three varieties of cadet uniforms. One for each department.
Maybe you get a new uniform once you embark on your cadet cruise. Or maybe you get it even earlier, once you have decided which branch to join.

I think that in the post-TNG era, the latter option became the rule.

[tonyg]

There was a TNG episode ("Allegiance") where a cadet was in a uniform with a gold top.


I wondering if the color for cadet's is actually branch based, and not something else? Wesley fellow cadetsd were all members of "Red" Squad, so manybe they had a special uniform.

Maybe I'll give a one color uniform to cadets until they pick a branch.

[spyone]

A thought:

At some point in Starfleet Academy, a cadet will choose a Branch. When exactly this is is not clear. Perhaps it is like choosing a major in college (in my experience, if you are in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, your major is irrelevant to your courseload until your Junior year, so there is no need to pick a major before then, although you may pick electives that will be helpful to the major you are planning to have). Or it may be like selecting a specialty in Med School, which is mostly about deciding where your after-Med School education will take place.

I think it is reasonable to assume it happens after a year or two at least: first we get you oriented and give you some basis to make the decision upon, then we ask you which branch you want.

The point of the above it: Cadets in their first few years probably haven't chosen a Branch, and it appears that cadets who have not chosen a Branch wear Command Red.
This would not be confusing, since a quick look at the insignia on their collar will show which year they are in, so at a glance you can tell the difference between a "Second Year generic Cadet" and a "Third Year Command Cadet".

Personally, I might have given early Cadets a neutral grey or something, but we have canon uniforms so that falls into the realm of "changes to canon".

In "The First Duty", Wesley's team was called "Nova Squadron", and they all wore red. Now, Cadet First Class Nick Locarno was probably Command Branch, but Wesley was undecided I think, and Sito Jaxa we later learn chose Security. Wesley was a sophomore, Jaxa must have been at least a Junior, because after repeating a year (the punishment for all members except Locarno), she managed to graduate and serve aboard USS Enterprise for several months before a date roughly 2 years later "Lower Decks".

[JALU3]

I have several friends who are officers . . . and as far as I am aware . . . there are only X amount of slots for each branch. Would Starfleet Acadamy (and any other sources of Starfleet Officers) use this system? And if so, at what point are Midshipmen assigned those slots?

[Ergi]

I assume that it depends on both aptitude and interests of the cadets which branch/department they are assigned to.

I could imagine the following system:
After the first (i.e. orientation) year the cadets choose their desired field and put their name on the list for that department.
However, since there are restrictions to how many graduates there may be in a certain department each year, all those names are ordered according to cadet-department fit. This means that those with better grades, or those who are better-suited for selected career path than their comrades due to other reasons, are allowed to join that department.
Those who don't make it into the desired department are offered/allowed to choose between the open slots in the other departments (preferably in the same branch as the originally desired department).

I know, this doesn't sound Starfleet-utopia-like at all ("You can become everything you want to."), but this is the only workable solution I can imagine at the moment.

[JALU3]

That begs the question then . . . do they go with the Air Force enlisted model . . . where one can select your general job catagory (but not the specific MOS); or the Army enlisted model . . . where one is garunteed an MOS?

Of course, if you fail your AIT section of training . . . it's needs of the Army/Navy (whatever you have enlisted in).
----
It is possible for an officer to get his/her prefered slot . . . but fail the OBC (officer basic course) for that Corps . . . and then become excess . . . and be assigned to needs of the Army.
----
Even with the cream of the crop . . . life happens.

I had a CO who was gung-ho . . . high-speed . . . etc. etc. He was going for Special Forces Medical Officer . . . well he got injured . . . and decided not to recycle into the next class . . .

[spyone]

Well, I suspect the differences between the Branches are fairly small.

That is, a Command Branch cadet will get more training in Leadership, and an Engineering Cadet will get more in systems maintenence, and a Science Cadet more in theory, but all could major in Warp Field Dynamics.

As for MOS, I don't think Starfleet really has those. At least, not in the "this is what I've been trained to do, so this is what I do" kind. There are a lot of differenct job slots down in Main Engineering, and someone might get moved into any of them by the Chief Engineer. "Plasma Injector Maintenence? But my degree is in Replicator Technology?" "Transporter Chief? But I nearly flunked Transporter Operations."
The bigger divisions are more distinct; you don't put an Engineer into Security, and Paramedics do not get assigned to biological research. At least, not without them expressing an interest in changing, and/or dire need.
One of the perks of Science branch is getting to stay within your field, because Starfleet isn't going to "waste" your degree by assigning you out of field. But, you are first and formost a generic scientist, and a particle physicist may find himself assigned to aid an understaffed geological survey.


I don't think there's any hard quotas, though SFA does not seem above subtly "steering" a cadet towards a position where he's needed. If, say, Command is short this term, cadets leaning towards Science and Operations will be increasingly put in leadership positions, in the hope some of them like it and transfer to Command. If Command has all the cadets it needs, there will be fewer chances for other Cadets to lead.

[tonyg]

As far as Wesley cadet uniform goes-it's obsolete. When Starfleet change to the black uniforms the cadet uniforms were also changed to grey--probably to distingish between a DS9/VOY Starfleet uniform and a cadet uniform. Later, when DS9 has the black unfirms with grey shoulders and the branch color undershirt, we see Nog in a grey cadet uniform with red shoulders.

When Nog get promoted to Ensign (probably rushed due to the Dominion War) he is wearing the new black & grey uniform with operation gold underneath.


I guess it's "command/flight control red" until a cadet picks a branch.

As far as MOS's go. I think that is sort of what the various positions (helm officer, tranporter chief) seem to represent. It's just that Starfleet personel have more crosstraining than modern military. Not suprising since even the enlisted spend a year in training.

[Jem'hadar]

I've always been under the impression that all Starfleet Academy cadets wear one type of uniform. I imagine that at Starfleet all cadets receive broad training in a variety of subjects that all officers would need to know. Theoretically, even engineer officers need to know something about how to command their staff and command officers need to know the basics of engineering & what the other departments on a standard ship do.

That doesn't mean there aren't electives that a cadet can choose if they feel they have a better aptitude in one area or an interest in a particular subject.

At least that's how I envision Starfleet Academy. As a general training ground to produce talented officers regardless of what field they end up working in.

I think that deciding on what branch you join comes later, after graduation. That's when new officers can decide whether they want to join command, engineering/security, science/medical branches, and of course, depending on the needs of Starfleet. And of course, you can move into another branch assuming you meet certain criteria & your CO approves.

Starfleet Medical seems to be a school you go to after you graduate Starfleet Academy, in order to gain the specialized knowledge needed for medical officers.

Perhaps there's also a separate engineering school too.

[JALU3]

Presently . . . all officers, in the army at least . . . are given basic training as an Infantry officer . . . for this is the basic unit and most abundent unit within the organization . . . and only after they finish the acadamy do they go to their officer basic course . . . which then authorizes them to wear their branch insignia.

I am not sure what the navy does . . . but I am sure all officers are trained initially . . . with the basics of surface warfare . . . which allows them to know the basics of shipboard operations.

As in Battlestar Galactica . . . the pilot . . . when stranded . . . still had a very rough and rudementary understanding of infantry tactics . . . how to conduct an operations briefing following METT-T . . . although overtime this is forgotten . . . this is the base of training . . . atleast within that universe.

I wonder if Starfleet does the same thing . . . teach rudementary shipboard operations . . . and infantry tactics . . . during the Acadamy (or sister programs (OCS/ROTC/Other acadamies)) . . . and then allow the officer more specialized branch training afterwards.

As far as MOS's go. I think that is sort of what the various positions (helm officer, tranporter chief) seem to represent. It's just that Starfleet personel have more crosstraining than modern military. Not suprising since even the enlisted spend a year in training.

Ideally this would be the case in any force . . . it's just . . . how much can one person handle . . . there are your basic common task that all soldiers are suppose to know . . . and at one time . . . they may remember it . . . but as one progresses in their specific job field I am sure alot of that needs refresher.

It's funny you don't see, probably because it's not exciting, officers having to take CEs (Continuing Education) and be recertified for basic knowledge.

[tonyg]

Yeah, according to most sources, including the Starfleet Academy supplement. Starfleet personnel (enlisted and offiers) are given rudimentary trining in several areas, including self defense, hand phasers, and shipboard systems. It makes a lot of sense too. I wouldn't want to place something like a phaser 2 into the hands of someone who wasn't familar with it.

[black campbellq]

I dunno...there could be some real entertainment value in that...

[tonyg]

I had something like that happen in a campaign I was running. It was during the Dminion war and the characters were captured (along with a Gorn ambassador) by the Orion Syndicate. One of the PCs managed to overcome a guard and get a phaser, and upped the setting in order to blast through a door and free the pilots of the Gorn craft. He then promised to do "whatever he could" to help free the Gorn ambassador.

A short time later the character's stormed the bridge in an attempt to free the Gorn ambassador. The leader of the Orion ship drew a weapon and was going to point it at the Gorn Ambassador so he could be used as a hostage. The PC had a delayed action, and interrupted the Orion leader in order to shot and stun him.

Unfortunately, in all the confusion, the player forgot to change the weapon back to stun and accidentally vaporized the Orion leader.


He made a heluva impression on the Gorn.