The marine debate where did it come from
Starfleet Marines have not, can not and will not be ever considered canon, end of discussion. Then way does it always keep caming back up and where did they start in the first place?
The original series made no mention of ground forces nor of marines but the Starfleet of Kirks time was heavily influenced by the US Navy (as well as Royal Navy) so it was easy for fans so predisposed toward that idea to see that the marines were just off stage in the shadows. Franz Josef was the first to put them into anything which resembled semi official status when there was mention in the original technical manual published in the mid 1970’s of star Fleet Marines. But Bjo Tremble’s Star Trek Concordance made no mention of any such organization (nor did she include any information from the tech manual ). For the most part fan fiction left them out of the picture as well wanting to deal with the continuing adventures of the original cast and not wanting to invent new settings and characters unless seen first in either the original or animated series.
When FASA published there Role Playing game in the early 80’s Star Fleet Marines were considered a full part of Star Fleet and FASA long promised a full supplement on them as part of thee expanding Game line though non was ever published. But in the mean time Star Trek: The Next Generation came along and one of the character concepts put forth was for a Klingon Marine Officer serving in Starfleet. While the idea took some convincing of Roddenberry before it was approved he did lay down the law on one issue for the first and final time “Starfleet has NO Marines”. Shortly afterwards Worf became the Enterprise’s newest chief tactical officer and future chief of security. Roddenberry’s clear statement should have settled the matter once and for all, but it didn’t.
Shortly afterward several new points of argument emerged. First it became obvious that Chief O’Brian had been involved in some sort of ground combat action on a planet named Setlick III and his rank was never quite right officer one episode enlisted the next. Later in DS9 his past actions would become more and more unclear by more passing references. Then in Star Trek V we see a hostage resuce situtation resolved with a crew of very military looking ground troops. The next was the appearance of one Colonel West in Star Trek VI seen addressing gathered Federation officials on a rescue mission for Kirk and later as part of a conspiracy to upset the peace talks. Colonel West, whose rank was clearly out of place for the normal naval inspired rank system used by Starfleet has never been adequately addressed by the current producers/writers or any other person in an official capacity. He remains 12 years after his appearance an “enigma wrapped in a mystery” or the ultimate Star Trek writers “OOPS!”
Meanwhile a large international fan organization emerged called Starfleet which encourages fans to become active in there community and with other charities and causes. The organization of the club bases itself on the paramilitary organization of Starfleet i.e. chapters are named after fictional starships/starbases and there members are given ranks. As part of this organization is an affiliated group called The Starfleet Marine Corps which does the same functions as the parent organization and it too is organized loosely along paramilitary lines its chapters being named after fictional SFMC units and members being given ranks and such. The organization as a whole was closely allied to the growing Fan technical base which had grown out of the efforts of Franz Josef and others in detailing the particulars of the Star trek universe such as deck plans and six volumes described as the “Federation Reference series”. This niche of the fan base is usually very supportive of Marines as there guiding light Franz Josef had created them as part of the original Trek universe.
Then Deep Space Nine came which more or less invented the new concept of Starfleet Ground Forces serving the marine function in Star Trek. The new Ground force would serve as a recurring plot device in several episodes and even had a few guest star level appearances. In the end it was clear some ground force did exist in the canon trek universe even if that force was not named marines. At the same moment a new RPG was released by Last Unicorn Games (LUG) well it did not have marines it did have Rapid Response Teams which were highly marine like in there purpose and function even though they were apart of Security. Though the game line ended production before a new Security and Dominion War Sourcebook could be produced many of the concepts which were to be apart of those books found there way to the internet.
The thriving internet allowed for the first time the marine/ground force supporters to find there own voice free from canon concern and Paramount Studio directives. Fan fiction based on ground combat, especially from the Dominion Wa,r became fairly popular and common as did fan created websites for the RPG with game material geared toward those who wished to run more military inspired Trek games. At the same time the SFMC organization site offers detailed military style manuals for a fictional Starfleet Marine force which provide excellent resource material. And finally various discussion boards have countless threads dedicated to the subject and bring together temperaments best not brought together on the subject.
So what can we say is the current status of Marines/Ground Forces in the trek Universe well they are not going to go away that is for sure. If a direct statement from Gene Roddenberry could not put the issue to rest it is doubtless fan bickering and official dickering will. There will always be those who support Marines/Ground Forces because it fits with there primarily military based view of Star Trek even though they fully support Gene Roddenberry’s basic vision.
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(man I would love to have a piece of that pie).
