Difference between revisions of "Starfleet Headquarters"


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[[File:Starfleet Headquarters logo.jpg|thumb|Logo for Starfleet Headquarters]]
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[[File:Starfleet Headquarters logo.png|thumb|Logo for Starfleet Headquarters]]
 
[[File:Starfleet headquarters briefing room.jpg|thumb|A briefing room at the Starfleet Headquarters in 2293.]]
 
[[File:Starfleet headquarters briefing room.jpg|thumb|A briefing room at the Starfleet Headquarters in 2293.]]
 
'''Starfleet Headquarters''' is the administrative centre of [[Starfleet Command]] located in San Francisco, California, on [[Earth]]. Sharing grounds with [[Starfleet Academy]], it encompasses territory adjacent to and even within the city of San Francisco, on either side of the Golden Gate passage into San Francisco Bay. The main building was constructed from lunar rock, as recognition of the organisation's purpose and aims.
 
'''Starfleet Headquarters''' is the administrative centre of [[Starfleet Command]] located in San Francisco, California, on [[Earth]]. Sharing grounds with [[Starfleet Academy]], it encompasses territory adjacent to and even within the city of San Francisco, on either side of the Golden Gate passage into San Francisco Bay. The main building was constructed from lunar rock, as recognition of the organisation's purpose and aims.
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! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" id="Starfleet Sites" | Starfleet Sites
 
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" id="Starfleet Sites" | Starfleet Sites
 
|-
 
|-
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:StarfleetHeadquarters2151.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" width="33%"|[[File:SFHQMainBuilding.jpg|150px]]
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:Starfleet Headquarters, 2155.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" width="33%"|[[File:SFHQOffices.jpg|150px]]
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:Air tram station.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" width="33%"|[[File:SFMedicalHQ.jpg|150px]]
 
|-
 
|-
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Horseshoe Bay, [[2151]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Main Building</center>
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Horseshoe Bay, [[2155]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Offices</center>
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Presidio, [[2270s]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Medical Headquarters</center>
 
|-
 
|-
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:Starfleet Headquarters at night.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:SFR&D.jpg|150px]]
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:StarfleetHeadquarters2372.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:SFApartments.jpg|150px]]
| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:San Francisco attacked.jpg|150px]]
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| colspan="1" align="center" |[[File:SFAcademy.jpg|150px]]
 
|-
 
|-
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters at night, [[2293]] and [[2375]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Tucker Memorial Building, Starfleet Research & Development</center>
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Headquarters, Presidio, [[2372]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Apartments</center>
| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Academy, Horseshoe Bay<br/>after the [[Breen]] attack of [[2375]]</center>
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| class="even" | <center>Starfleet Academy, Horseshoe Bay</center>
 
|}
 
|}

Revision as of 15:55, 25 October 2013

Logo for Starfleet Headquarters
A briefing room at the Starfleet Headquarters in 2293.

Starfleet Headquarters is the administrative centre of Starfleet Command located in San Francisco, California, on Earth. Sharing grounds with Starfleet Academy, it encompasses territory adjacent to and even within the city of San Francisco, on either side of the Golden Gate passage into San Francisco Bay. The main building was constructed from lunar rock, as recognition of the organisation's purpose and aims.

Starfleet Headquarters features prominently in the life of every Starfleet officer, as all must pass through its doors at least once during their careers; when receiving their first assignment after graduation. Officers are regularly called back to Headquarters for hearings, evaluations and to receive critical new orders or significant promotions, such as when they are officially offered command of their first starship. The vast majority of Starfleet's Admirals also work from within the Starfleet Headquarters complex, thus creating a strong concentration of power in one location.

By necessity, security is very tight within the complex, and Starfleet Security has a large presence on the grounds. The complex contains many secure areas, with zones encompassing either specific rooms or an entire building and the surrounding grounds. Secure areas have many restrictions not just on the personnel permitted access, but also on the devices permitted to be carried; devices such as holo-imagers for example are not allowed within these zones, and in some the carrying and use of tricorders and phasers is restricted to Starfleet Security and command-level officers only.

The Starfleet Headquarters complex is also the home of Starfleet Medical Headquarters and the Tucker Memorial Building; the home of Starfleet's Corps of Engineers.

The portraits of notable Starfleet officers are placed within Headquarters, including those of Captains James T. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu, and Jean-Luc Picard.

History

The sprawling complex was originally built as the headquarters of the Earth Starfleet in the early 22nd century, on what was previously a portion of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County, overlooking Horseshoe Bay. After the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, it continued to serve as the command centre of the Federation Starfleet. By the 2270s, the headquarters had expanded to the Presidio, an ancient military post on the southern side of the Golden Gate, where it included an air tram station. By the 24th century, the complex had expanded until it occupied land on both sides of the bay. The term 'Starfleet Headquarters' can interchangeably be used to refer to the entire complex of buildings, or to the primary structure within which much of Starfleet Command's top-level decision making is held.

In 2364, Starfleet Headquarters was infiltrated by the Parasites, who seized control of many of Starfleet Command's high-ranking admirals until Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Commander William T. Riker of the Enterprise exposed the conspiracy and killed the parasite spawnmother.

In 2372, Starfleet Headquarters was at the centre of an attempted coup organised by Admiral James Leyton, who replaced many key officers at Headquarters with those loyal to him in an attempt to place the Federation under martial law and take over the functions of the government. He planed on ruling the Federation from Headquarters, but his plans were exposed, and he turned himself in to Starfleet Security for court-martial.

In late 2375, during the Dominion War, Starfleet Headquarters was attacked by the Breen. Buildings were badly damaged, including the historic Golden Gate Bridge, and many people were killed. Though security had been considerably heightened during Captain Benjamin Sisko's term as Chief of Starfleet Security on Earth in 2372, security on the site was once again increased following the attack, and Earth was never left with less than five starships for in-system defence. By 2376, the city had been restored to its original appearance, and security procedures began to relax, though it would take some time before they would approach the levels that were maintained previous to the war.

Facilities and Annexes

Starfleet Headquarters maintains numerous facilities and buildings not just in San Francisco, but also in other cities around Earth. These extra facilities are referred to as 'Annexes'; numerous annexes also exist on other worlds in the Federation. These are usually either specialist research sites, or remote sites designated to carry out de-centralised functions for specific fleets operating distantly to the core of Starfleet.

San Francisco Facilities

The Starfleet Headquarters Main Building has been altered and replaced many times over the Federation's history, but from the 2360s, it has been housed in the skyscraper-style building near the southern shore of the Golden Gate Bridge, in the area of the Presidio, and near the old Federation Council building, which housed Starfleet Command until 2365 while the new building was being completed. The most modern of the buildings in the Starfleet Headquarters Complex, the Main Building is constructed largely of lunar rock and glass, and is one of the highest-security facilities in the city, being the home of many of the senior command-and-control functions and admirals offices for running Starfleet operations.

Very close to the main building are the Starfleet Headquarters Offices; a building constructed at the same time as the main building and using the same architectural style. The two buildings look very similar, but the offices building was not designed as a skyscraper, and does not possess the same tower structure above the building's base. It was the Offices building that took some of the heaviest damage during the 2375 Breen attack.

The Starfleet Medical Headquarters is a large, block-based building designed to have the aesthetics of ultra-modernity as a way of reassuring its patients that they are in the best hands for their care. Functioning both as Starfleet's most advanced hospital and as the headquarters from which Starfleet Medical is run, the facility has numerous wards, surgeries and offices. Starfleet Medical also plays host to students from Starfleet Academy wishing to enter service as doctors, as all medical students spend extra years in workplace study following the standard 4-year Academy programme. This period is most commonly referred to as attending the Starfleet Medical Academy.

Starfleet Research & Development also bases its main facility out of San Francisco. Responsible for developing many of the advancing technologies used by Starfleet ever since its inception, Starfleet R&D by necessity is formed of multiple annexes in addition to the primary facility, each with a specific research focus. Starfleet R&D also liaises heavily with the Daystrom Institute and its annexes from the building.

Starfleet Apartments is the present name of the building which was once the main Starfleet Headquarters building from 2286 until 2293. With the move of Starfleet Command's control centre to the newer building, the old was refurbished rather than demolished, and fitted to provide accommodation for Starfleet officers assigned to Headquarters who did not already have a residence elsewhere on the planet.

The Starfleet Tram Station is a facility built roughly 300 meters east of the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, atop the hill range in the Presidio. In use since the 23rd century, the facility is run by Starfleet, but is also serviced by Earth's public transport system. Originally designed to handle air trams only, the facility has since expanded to accomodate travel by air tram, shuttles designed for both atmospheric or orbital/spacebound service, and the public site-to-site transporter system. The first public-use transporter pad was installed in the station in 2362 and was one of the first such platforms in the government's policy to bring transportation technology to the public for more wide-spread use. Prior to this, transporters were largely used only on starships or within a select few Federation and Starfleet facilities. The pads at the Starfleet Tram Station are some of the few pads programmed to accept a direct transport to the Palais de la Concorde in Paris, to facilitate the travel of senior Starfleet officers to the seat of the Federation.

Starfleet Academy

The Earth-based Starfleet Academy complex is the main campus of Starfleet Academy, and is the facility most commonly referred to simply as 'the Academy'. The facilities roots trace back as early as the 2140s, where it was originally used as the training ground for United Earth Starfleet personnel. The facility obtained its current name in 2161, following the foundation of the Federation and its incorporation as the primary training grounds for the Federation Starfleet.

The grounds of Starfleet Academy are across the Golden Gate Bridge from the central hub of Starfleet itself, the Starfleet Headquarters Main Building, which used the Academy main building as inspiration for its own architectural design. The Academy grounds in San Francisco include a parade ground where drills are performed, and the extensive gardens designed to create a comforting and relaxing environment out of classes are meticulously kept by the Academy's groundskeeper, Boothby.

Sol Annexes

The annex on Earth which has gained the most repute is the Starfleet Communications Research Centre in Hong Kong. The Centre was used as the base for the Pathfinder Project which was successful in making contact with the starship Voyager whilst it was stranded in the Delta Quadrant.

Starfleet Academy maintained a facility in Marseille, France, where students could opt to study at in lieu of attending the main campus. The facility is far smaller in scale in comparison to the main site, and is usually favoured by those cadets who are uncomfortable in large crowds, or who prefer a quieter environment.

The Starfleet Technical Services Academy was a facility based on Mars, which served as the primary institution for the training program for enlisted crewmen and non-commissioned officers in Starfleet. The Mars facility serves a similar function for the enlisted training branch as the San Francisco facility does for the officer training branch, though there are many more minor training institutions for enlisted crewpeople throughout the Federation.

Extra-Solar Annexes

An expansive Starfleet Headquarters Annex is maintained on Cestus III, and is operated by the 11th Fleet. Forming a part of the city centre of Cestus' capital, the annex is one of Starfleet's largest annexes, and has substantial defensive features as a result of its close proximity to the Klingon and Gorn borders. Serving as the dedicated headquarters complex for the 11th Fleet, the Cestus Annex also contains annexes comparable to the facilities in San Francisco, such as Starfleet R&D, Starfleet's Judge Advocate Generals Office and its own Starfleet Academy annex.

Starfleet Academy also maintains several other facilities around the Federation, including annexes on Beta Aquilae II, Beta Ursae Minor II, Psi Upsilon III and Relva VII.


Starfleet Sites
SFHQMainBuilding.jpg SFHQOffices.jpg SFMedicalHQ.jpg
Starfleet Headquarters, Main Building
Starfleet Headquarters, Offices
Starfleet Medical Headquarters
SFR&D.jpg SFApartments.jpg SFAcademy.jpg
Tucker Memorial Building, Starfleet Research & Development
Starfleet Apartments
Starfleet Academy, Horseshoe Bay