User:FruitLoop/Sandbox/Starfleet

Starfleet
Active:	Since 2132
Part Of:	United Federation of Planets
Allegiance:	United Federation of Planets
Branch:	Military
Role:	Exploration Diplomacy Defense
Flagship:	USS Enterprise NCC-1701 E
Motto:	"To boldly go where no one has gone before"
Command Staff
Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Starfleet:	President of the United Federation of Planets
Commander, Starfleet:	Fleet Admiral Ral Grax
Chief of Staff of Starfleet:	Admiral Teval
Master Chief Petty Officer of Starfleet:	MCPO Christopher Guerrera
Source

Starfleet serves as the exploratory and diplomatic arm of the Federation though it also serves as defense. Any Federation citizen may join Starfleet, though non-Federation Citizens may also join if they have a letter from a Starfleet officer in good standing. Starfleet officers are also expected to set an example for the rest of the Federation, and to curb their drinking and carousing as this will end in time in the brig and a letter of discommendation. To much of the galaxy, Starfleet is the Federation as those are likely the only Federation members they ever see. The allure of adventure along with exacting entrance exams ensure that Starfleet only admits "the best and the brightest" within its ranks. As a result, Starfleet has produced more than its share of legends some of whom single-handedly helped shape the future of the Federation. Among Starfleet's various duties are bringing medical supplies to frontier outposts, protecting the fringe colonies from pirates and raiders, intervening to prevent astronomical catastrophies, making first contact with new life forms, and negotiating disputes with foreign powers.

History

United Earth

Starfleet began in the 2132 as the primary space defense and exploration arm of United Earth. The primary authority of Starfleet was referred to as either Starfleet Command or UESPA (United Earth Space Probe Agency) under the command of the Command Council and was located in the city of San Francisco on Earth. The primary purpose of Starfleet from its infancy was to "...seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before." This quote is attributed to Zefram Cochrane, the father of Earth warp drives. Some Starfleet personnel worked in conjunction with the United Earth Diplomatic Corps.

In 2153, following a Xindi attack on Earth and numerous firefights that the Enterprise NX-01 had been involved in since its launch in 2151, Earth determined that its vessels would begin to carry detachments of United Earth's elite military unit, the MACOs, thus taking a step towards the unification of Starfleet and the military as in times of war every ship had MACOs to help defend the ship, though in times of peace, they were separate.

One of the primary projects of Starfleet was to develop a viable and fast interstellar engine that would allow Earth to cross huge distances in reasonably short time. Despite some allegations of interference - or at least, a refusal of assistance - from the Vulcans, Earth had made notable progress in developing the warp five engine by the 2150s, largely due to Henry Archer, father of Captain Jonathan Archer.

When Starfleet was founded, the writers of the United Earth Starfleet Charter included Article 14, Section 31, thereby creating an organization of the same name that was allowed to bend certain rules in times of extraordinary threat. This organization operated completely autonomously for the following nearly 300 years.

In 2151, the Romulan cold war started with the assistance of the Enterprise NX-01 to the Andorians and the Vulcans. The Romulans, angered by the interference of the humans, began to place them higher on their list of threats to the Romulan Empire. With the status of the humans somewhat increased on Romulus, the Romulans began to attack the human colonies, started what became known as the Earth-Romulan War. Though it began in 2155, the war continued until 2160, when the Coalition of Planets eventually defeated the Romulans and began the talks of what would be the founding of the Federation.

Birth of the Federation

With the birth of the Federation in 2161, Starfleet and the deep-space exploratory and military services of the other member worlds were folded into the authority of the Federation to create what is known today as Federation Starfleet. It was not an easy transition for the various peoples of the newly-founded Federation as Tellarites were prone to squealing when upset, frustrated, or angry. Vulcans saw the other races as overly emotional and some Vulcans even saw them as weak. The Andorians were unhappy with the less militaristic stance that Starfleet took than their own Defense Force but saw the need for exploration. Starfleet was unhappy that the Vulcan High Command and the Andorian Defense Force maintained their autonomy without answering to Starfleet, and wished that they would be folded into it, though the Andorians insisted that they be allowed to keep their own military for defense purposes. It was a trying time, though they managed to get through it very quickly.

Later in 2198, Starfleet expanded to include Saurians though not many joined Starfleet at first. Appearing as large reptiles including tails, they were quite "creepy" to most humans though they did learn to work with them. As more species were admitted to the Federation, their militaries began to be brought among Starfleet's ranks, creating a mishmash of very peoples, from Vulcans to Andorians to Saurians and everything in between.

2200s

Often referred to as Starfleet's golden age, the early 2200s saw an ever expanding universe with the discoveries of more and more new lifeforms and planets such as Betazed. Deltans and Trill joined the Federation as did others and shared their knowledge and technology with the other members of the Federation and the Federation began to grow into what it was known as during Kirk's time. It was a time of exploration and diplomacy, a time when Starfleet did what it did best: explore.

However, during the 2250s Starfleet and the Klingon Empire were escalating into a full scale war. The people of the Federation were fearful of and hated Klingons as Klingon warships would attack the outlying colonies and outposts. Some colonies were evacuated to be closer to the core of the Federation because the Klingons were becoming so much of a threat. The cold war ended in 2267, just days after it had begun, because of the actions of the Organians, a powerful noncorporeal race. The Organian Peace Treaty started what would be known as the Federation-Klingon Alliance where the ships of one would come to the aid of the other.

There were more skirmishes with the Klingons, though far more with the Romulans where the Federation stole a cloaking device from a Romulan ship that was ordered to test it to see if it could pass the Federation listening posts successfully. Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Spock escaped by a small margin, though succeeded in bringing the cloaking device back to the Federation for further study. The Romulan Empire demanded the return of the cloaking device and a full public apology from the Federation for its actions, though the Federation President countered that the Romulans had been attempting to enter Federation space uninvited.

With the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis, Starfleet and the Federation gave aid to the Klingons, leading to the First Khitomer Accords and the friendship that Federation and the Klingons now enjoy. The cold war was over, and a program was put into place for the Federation and the Klingons to better understand each other: The Federation-Klingon Officer Exchange Program. It has not always been smooth as empathic and telepathic species have trouble with being surrounded by the aggessive Klingon minds, but Humans, Andorians, and other non-telepaths eventually learn to accept and trust Klingon warriors who in turn learn that Federation has honor.

Until as late as the 2290s, some Starfleet operations continued to fall at least partly under the jurisdiction of United Earth Space Probe Agency, though by the 24th Century Starfleet operations were regulated by Starfleet Command alone, answering only to the Federation President and the Federation Council

2300s

In 2311, a confrontation between Starfleet and the Romulan Empire, costing thousands of lives, occurred. This event, called the Tomed Incident, led to the signing of the Treaty of Algeron, which redefined the Romulan Neutral Zone and additionally banned Federation research into developing a cloaking device and the use of any such device and led to the withdrawal of the Romulan forces within their own borders from whence they did not emerge for the next 53 years. At the same time, Federation-Klingon relations became rocky again and, by the 2340s, another war seemed imminent. Starfleet ships gave aid to the Klingon outpost of Khitomer which had been attacked by Tal Shiar forces, and the Klingons became more cordial towards the Federation, and the signing of the Second Khitomer Accords. However, it was the sacrifice by the crew of the USS Enterprise-C, giving their lives in defense of the Klingon outpost of Narendra III, changed the setting. Being regarded as an honorable act, the incident enormously helped the Federation's image with the Klingon Empire. Although relations were "not too cordial" around 2349, the Treaty of Alliance was signed by 2353, establishing a firm alliance between both powers, and Starfleet and the Klingon Defense Force. This enabled the Officer Exchange Program to come to full fruition as once again, the officers were able to learn about one another's culture.

In the 2340s, Starfleet was called upon to defend the Federation in several wars as many powers were against the expansion of the Federation. One of the most notable was the Federation-Cardassian War one of the most severe of these conflicts. The war began as a series of conflicts along the Federation-Cardassian border, which became known as the Border Wars. The two powers, obsessed with protecting their interests, brought the conflicts to a height in 2347 when the Setlik III massacre. The conflict ended with the Jankata Accord and the Federation-Cardassian Treaty, creating what became known as the Demilitarized Zone.

Another incident occurred in 2353, which began a series of skirmishes with the Talarians, which were fought over a 3-year period. Though technologically inferior to the Federation, the Talarians overcame this hurdle with a willingness to fight to the death and by using unconventional guerrilla tactics. This "war" took place over several border planets, include Castal I and Galen IV, the latter of which was overrun and destroyed by Talarian forces in 2357. Eventually, a treaty was signed between the two powers, which included the return of all prisoners of war.

In the year 2365, the worst threat to the Federation and Starfleet came when the USS Enterprise-D made first contact with the Borg. It then that it was discovered that the Borg were responsible for the mysterious destruction of several Federation and Romulan outposts on the edge of the Neutral Zone a year earlier. An advanced race of cybernetic and biological beings possessing a level of technology far beyond that of Starfleet and the Federation, the Borg began their campaign to conquer the Federation. In 2366, at the Battle of Wolf 359, Starfleet's confidence crumbled when a single Borg cube effortlessly put down an armada of forty starships with the help of an assimilated Jean-Luc Picard, known to the Borg as Locutus. Though the Borg were defeated, the effect on Starfleet morale was undeniable. After Wolf 359, Starfleet focused more effort in defense technology, which became apparent in ship classes like the Sovereign-class, Defiant-class, and Prometheus-class, which were cleawrly more combat-focused than the traditional research vessels that Starfleet had previously employed. The creation of these new ships proved to be pivotal in the Dominion War.

Another fight with the Borg took place in 2373, when another Borg cube attacked Earth. After Deep Space 5 reported the destruction of a colony on Ivor Prime by the Borg, the first battle took place in the Typhon sector. Since the Federation fleet, under the command of Admiral Hayes, was not able to stop the Borg, the final battle was fought in Sector 001, in Earth's orbit, where the cube was eventually destroyed by the USS Enterprise-E, though the ship needed to travel back in time to stop the assimilation of the planet itself.

Hostilities with the Klingon Empire erupted once again in 2371 with the Klingon attack on the Cardassian Union. Angered by Starfleet's refusal to declare war against an enemy of the Empire and its aid to said enemy, Chanellor Gowron dissolved the two Khitomer Accords and also caused the first Federation-Klingon War in nearly a century. The two peoples began to relearn the old hatreds of their grandparents and great-grandparents, channeling the hatred towards violence. However, with the assistance of Captain Benjamin Sisko and some of his staff, the Klingon High Council uncovered a changeling in their midst who was impersonating General Martok. The location of the real Martok remained unknown for some time, though the actions of Sisko and his crew led to a stronger alliance between the Federation and the Klingons.

Dominion War

After settling hostilities with the Klingons and taking heavy losses in the Battle of Sector 001, Starfleet's means of defending the Federation against the Dominion was by and large greatly diminished, which is part of why the Dominion War went on as long as it did. The ensuing 3-year conflict was one of the bloodiest in Federation history, as well as in the history of the Klingon Empire. Though ambassadors attempted to convince the Romulans to enter the war, they refused to do so until the suspected assassination of Senator Vreenak. The tide began to turn in the Federation's favor, enabling Starfleet to stop some of the attacks on Federation worlds, and liberate the ones that had been taken, such as Betazed, Bolarus IX, and Benzar. The war ended with the Battle of Cardassia and the signing of the Treaty of Bajor, ensuring the Bajorans' entrance into the Federation some months later.

Organization

See Also:

• Starfleet Command
• Starfleet Headquarters
• Starfleet Intelligence
• Starfleet Engineering
• Starfleet Medical
• Starfleet Scientific Operations
• Starfleet Security
• Starfleet Corps of Pilots
• Starfleet Marine Corps

Starfleet Command

Starfleet did not start out as a military, though it does have a very militaristic chain of command. The people at the top hold the rank of Admiral or even Fleet Admiral, the Commander of Starfleet answering only to the Federation President. The Commander of Starfleet then carries the President's and his own orders to the Chiefs of Staff of the various departments, such as Starfleet Medical, Starfleet Intelligence, or Starfleet Engineering. These people then carry the Commander and the President's orders along with their own to their staffs, the Chief of Starfleet Operations ordering the various fleet commanders where to place ships in time of need.

Fleet Operations

The Chief of Starfleet Operations coordinates all the Fleets, numbered 1 through 20, to enable them to get the maximum effect of their resources. Though the other departments are there, Starfleet Operations are what most people think of when they think of Starfleet. They think of the starships and the captain's chair rather than the doctors and engineers that also make Starfleet run.

The Fleets

Each fleet is given a specific area of space to patrol, and as such various cadets want to get assigned to a certain fleet. Those wishing to go to the Galactic South want to join the 11th "Pegasus" Fleet while those who wish to go to the Romulan border, want to join the 9th or 7th Fleets. The 8th Fleet is deployed along the Cardassian border and is giving aid to the ruined Cardassian Union. Other fleets are stationed elsewhere in the Federation's borders, or may be exploring into deep space. Each fleet has a "name" or mascot that they call the fleet by, most of the time a Greek letter or animal. These are commanded by a single person, who is called the Fleet Commanding Officer.

Task Forces

Each fleet is made up of an average of 1,500 ships, divided into 5 task forces, each comprised of around 300 ships, commanded by a Task Force Commanding Officer, or TFCO. Like the fleets themselves, the task forces have mascots or names, and relatives in the various task forces often compete with one another about their task force's various episodes and undertakings. Entire task forces may be sent to a battle or only part of it. More commonly, single ships are sent to investigate problems within and without the Federation's borders and to conduct diplomatic meetings, to make first contact with new species, and to help those who need aid.

Task Groups

Most task forces, though not all, are made up of 3 task groups of around 100 ships each and are commanded by a Task Group Commanding Officer, or TGCO. However, it should be noted that some of the smaller fleets have only 2 task groups in each task force, and as such are much smaller than those that have three. Some task groups have as little as 50 ships, though others could have as many as 130. However, if more than 2 or 3 ships are needed in a certain situation and less than a full task force is needed, the TFCO whose task force operates nearest the given area could order one task group to go to the area to help resolve the problem.