Difference between revisions of "Starfleet Operations"
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Revision as of 02:04, 7 June 2013
Starfleet Operations | |
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Active: |
circa 2135 |
Part Of: | |
Allegiance: |
United Federation of Planets |
Role: |
|
Command Staff | |
Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Starfleet: |
President of the United Federation of Planets |
Chief of Staff of Starfleet: |
Fleet Admiral Teval |
Chief of Starfleet Department: |
Admiral Katrina Ard |
Master Chief Petty Officer of Department: |
MCPO Ral Banel |
Source |
Starfleet Operations, also known as Fleet Operations or Fleet Ops, is part of Starfleet based at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. The highest ranking officers, such as its chief, are usually listed on starship dedication plaques. Though some mistake Starfleet Operations for a part of Starfleet Engineering, this is not the case as Operations does a lot more than just fix things.
Contents
History
United Earth
Starfleet Operations was created in 2135 shortly after the creation of United Earth Starfleet itself. The headquarters of this department were located at the Fleet Operations Center in San Francisco. Most of the Operations department greatly resented the interference from the Vulcans and wished fervently to see the stars. They proved they could handle the strain when a Klingon crashed on the planet in a farmer's field.
Upon venturing to the stars, Starfleet Operations began its job of dispatching personnel to certain ships, and also organizing the food, equipment, and other materiel to who needed it. The Earth-Romulan War caused a great deal of strain on all of Starfleet, causing the need for more personnel and materiel goods, and making Fleet Ops' job even more important. When the war finally ended, the four members of the Coalition of Planets knew they were stronger together than separate, and began talks of creating one government for all.
The Late 2100s
Since Starfleet was chosen to be the exploratory, diplomatic, and military arm of the new Federation, Vulcans, Tellarites, and Andorians were absorbed into Starfleet's ranks, causing some to lose their positions and creating some resentment. As they began to learn to work together, a comraderie sprang up among them, creating the ideal of a Starfleet officer.
In the 2170s, Starfleet Operations began the task of assigning captains and crews and materiel to new vessels while trying to avoid the appearance of favoritism. While some Andorians did feel as though they were cheated out of the opportunities that they had rightfully earned, for the most part, Starfleet personnel were certain that Fleet Ops was treating them fairly.
2200s
In the year 2221, Starfleet began to have trouble with the Klingon Empire. The Klingons were a violent race to the Federation, however the Federation needed to keep its borders protected and began ordering personnel and goods to the appropriate Starfleet installations. They started by assigning new ships to the task forces most in need, and personnel to the ships and starbases in the same situations. Those facilities running low on supplies were given food, medicine, parts for the ship, etc, to keep them on par with the other ships, all while maintaining Starfleet supplies at Fleet Operations headquarters in San Francisco.
In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Spock began the Organian Peace Treaty, enforced upon them by the powerful beings known as the Organians. The war was over and eventually things settled for a while. Starfleet began a golden age where exploration was the main focus and began to meet new peoples such as the Deltans, Benzites, and Betazoids, all of whom joined the Federation.
In 2273, James T. Kirk was appointed Chief of Starfleet Operations, and did well at the job until he was retired in 2281. His replacement was extremely good at the job, but she still did not do the job as well as Kirk who "seemed to have an intuitive sense for it" according to his superiors.
2300s
In the early 2300s, the Federation-Cardassian War began. These enemies were unlike anything Starfleet had seen and it took a good deal of creative thinking to deal with them. Supplies and personnel went in quantity to the Cardassian border, until the stalemate at which time the treaty was signed, creating the Demilitarized Zone between the two powers.
Unlike the 2200s, the 24th Century began an era of warfare that Starfleet personnel despised. Several wars, including ones with the Cardassians, the Talarians, and a few border skirmishes with the Tzenkethi created an environment of stress and ill tempers in Starfleet. Throughout the span of the 2300s to the 2370s, Starfleet Operations managed to keep its facilities well maintained and supplied. However, in 2371, four years of constant war began, first against the Klingons, previously their allies, and then against the Dominion.
The Dominion War was not only the bloodiest war in the history of the quadrant, but it was also the most draining in matters of materiel for Starfleet. Upgrades were continuously done, factories were always making new parts for starships and starbases, and Starfleet Academy and the Training Center on Mars could not train the personnel fast enough. By the time the war was over, Starfleet's personnel was reduced by 32 percent, its starships reduced by 38 percent, and the materiel goods were almost nonexistent.
In 2376, the Federation began providing aid to Cardassia Prime. Federation Council members from Betazed and other planets that had been conquered by the Dominion opposed it, though they did approve of the admittance of Bajor into the Federation. This continues to this day as the Cardassians are unable to feed themselves and the dust from millions dead still remains in the air in the capital city.
By 2380, Starfleet has recovered from its losses during the Dominion War, however much to Starfleet's dismay, the Federation Council insists it provide humanitarian and material aid to the devastated Romulan Empire. Starfleet Operations obeyed its orders, though was careful not to give weapons of any kind, even kitchen knives, to the Romulan people. Fleet Ops was also concerned with being overgenerous and suddenly running out of provisions for its own ships.
Starfleet Operations saw that it had enough ships for two new fleets, and so created both the 11th Fleet, and the 12th Fleet. The 11th Fleet was assigned to the Galactic South, in hopes of deterring a Klingon-Gorn War. Instead, the tension between the three powers has only increased over the years, though by 2390 it has calmed, but marginally.
Divisions
Starship Operations Officers
See Also:
- Chief Operations Officer
- Assistant Chief Operations Officer
- Operations Officer
- Boatswain
- Quartermaster
- Transporter Specialist
Starfleet operations officers deal with the mostly mundane tasks of supplies and scheduling. The operations department must be consulted before scheduling a holodeck so everyone does not schedule one at the same time, or that they would all be in use and someone would have a duty-related need for it and be unable to use it. Personnel scheduling also goes through Operations, the department head getting the opinion of his staff before giving the schedule to Operations so everyone will know who is working when. They also schedule training times for the gymnasium so it is not packed with people waiting for the weights and machines, but rather everyone is able to use what they need.
The operations department also collects inventories from all the departments, and then tells the captain when the ship needs to stop at a starbase. If it is a starbase, they will tell the captain that the starbase needs to be resupplied from Material Supply Command.
The operations department does do some maintenance, however it is of the like that engineering does not do. If the carpets need to be replaced, it falls under operations. If the EPS conduits need to be replaced, it falls under engineering, though operations does do all things computers. The computer upgrades are done by operations officers, who also then allocate power to the different systems, based on how much power each system is drawing. If one system is drawing too much power, then the operations officer on duty will notify engineering so it can be fixed.
Starbase Operations
The Department of Starbase Operations oversees the administration of Starfleet's various starbases, long range sensor arrays, and other stationary bases in space. The office reviews the idea of a starbase in a particular region and weighs it against the good of Starfleet and the cost of maintaining such an operation. The Office of Starbase Command is on Starbase 1 in orbit of Earth. While most people think of Starfleet as starships, they forget about the need for long range starbases so the starships can resupply and go even farther beyond the frontier, not needing to come back to Federation space to get supplies.
Starbases also provide other benefits such as playing host to detachments from the Astronomical Sceince Services. This benefits both the starbase and the science officers whom would not be able to chart as many stars and stellar phenomena simply by being forced to go back for resupply. Other starbases are home to various attaches from the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps. These people represent the Federation to local populations and those throughout the sector. Also, the medical care can often be found on a starbase. Even the Marines use starbases as forward outposts. The main office of Starbase Operations coordinates all of this and more.
Shipyards Operations
The Admiral of Shipyard Operations directs all construction of new Starfleet vessels and substantial repairs on active vessels. The Chief of Starfleet Operations issues build orders based upon the needs of the various fleets, and the resources allowed by the Federation Council. In general, Starfleet launches several hundred new ships each year, from one of four primary construction yards--Utopia Planitia, Antares, the San Francisco Yards, or Earth Station McKinley--though others do offer to construct starships or make repairs for a fee. The main office to Shipyard Operations is at Utopia Planitia on Mars, along with hundreds of engineers.
Mission Operations
The head of Mission Operations is in charge of assigning missions to the Task Force Commanding Officers of Starfleet, who then in turn assign it to someone in the right task group through the Task Group Commander, who will do the job better than anyone else could. Sometimes it could be a test of loyalty or competence to see what the commanding officer would do. In these cases more often than not, it is a test to see if someone is ready for promotion.
Personnel Management
Another division of Operations is the Department of Personnel Management that makes sure that all Starfleet operations, vessels, starbases, and agencies have the staff they need. The DPM assigns ensigns to their first tours of duty when they graduate from Starfleet Academy and also handles requests for specific personnel and requests for transfer and also approves qualified civilian advisors for missions aboard Starfleet facilities. However, it rarely acts without the knowledge, advice, and consent of the commanders in the field. In otherwords, it normally transfers only the personnel who have submitted requests approved by their commanding officers.
In addition, the DPM also makes takes great care to accommodate officers both by honoring assignment and meeting a species's biological requirements. A number of factors are taken into account: Is this person qualified for the assignment? Where is there a need for someone with this particular skill set? Is there an opening on the requested ship? Will their biological needs be met? Most of the time, personnel requesting a particular assignment research the answers before requesting the posting.
When a planet joins the Federation, officers from the DPM survey the species to determine any special requirements and evaluate their technical skills. Those species with sufficient training and skill are rapidly integrated into Starfleet through an acceleerated training program at Starfleet Academy. There they learn the skills necessary to function on a starship, such as using the Starfleet equipment rather than their own and also learning to repair the Starfleet ships or learning to heal the myriad of species in the Federation. Sometimes an alien race has difficulty adjusting to Federation standards and must be integrated more slowly.
Materiel Supply Command
The Starfleet Materiel Supply Command are the other end of the quartermaster onboard a starship. The Materiel Supply Command specilizes in transportation of supplies, cargo, and storage in Starfleet. For example, if a starbase needed more toilet paper and uniforms, they would order it from the Materiel Supply Command along with the other items needed and the MSC would send cargo ships under escort to the starbase with the supplies.