Talk:Federation Starfleet ranks (2240s-2260s)

This name is very much a generalization right now -- as discussed on my talk page, this uniform and rank stripe set was also now revealed to be in use in the 2240s by IDW's Crew. We know that these lasted until the 2260s, but no solid beginning date is established. We also are about to see more details in upcoming productions about a different uniform that was in use in the year 2233, as first seen on the licensed from Intel. This means these uniforms & ranks we currently identify as "2250s" may be better described as "2240s" but may even be "2230s" -- Captain MKB 17:56, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Ensigns and Cadets
What insignia do ensigns and cadets wear in this phase?

In Early Voyages, Colt doesn't wear a sleeve stripe on her duty uniform until issue 10, when she began to wear a solid gold stripe (i.e. not a CPO stripe). The stripe stayed until issue 13, when it disappeared while she was in an alternate future. In issues 16 and 17, after her return, she didn't have stripes in several panels, but Number One's stripes are also missing in many panels (they do appear in some). The series was plagued by rank errors at first, but had cleared them up by about issue 8, except the last two issues, which were drawn by a different artist. (Editorial commented on the earlier errors on the letters page.)

Captain's Log: Pike, established that Pike put Colt in for immediate promotion just after the Enterprise returned from Talos IV. It's possible that her sleeve stripe represented a promotion from ensign to lieutenant. Twelve years later, she was a captain, which would have been difficult if she weren't an officer in Early Voyages.

All of the officers shown wearing sold gold stripes on these uniforms whose ranks are known are lieutenants or above, except in Star Trek: Crew, where Number One, Griggs, etc. are called "cadets," and an admiral is shown wearing a single solid gold stripe. Number One, etc. might be lieutenants, like Kirk, et al. in the 2009 movie. Crew does say that they're part of that year's graduating class, like dialogue suggested Kirk was in the movie. Finnegan is shown not wearing stripes as a cadet, and Colt etc. don't wear them in the Early Voyages Talosian illusion of the Academy.

I think it's possible that lieutenants and above wear a solid gold stripe, CPOs wear a complicated gold stripe, and ensigns, cadets and junior enlisted crew wear no stripes. Is there evidence that shows that ensigns and non-Lt cadets wear stripes? --Archimedean 22:35, September 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * While that's possible as an alternate interpretation, it is also possible that she was enlisted, but became eligible for officer's commission with that promotion, perhaps due to her previous Academy attendance.


 * I'm afraid that both your postulation on ensigns and the current article status required some open interpretation to formulate. The article was written with the interpretation that the ranks were sequential from no stripe (enl) to open-braided stripe (nco) to solid stripe (officer). Your interpretation is based on the length of time it takes to become captain, which is obviously subjective, and the assumption of officer's status stemming immediately from Academy attendance, which is not written in stone, as the future service is only quasi-military with some parts of the rank structure being only loosely defined at times, in canon Star Trek.


 * As to Crew, I could see the group being transitional officer cadets that were properly wearing their officer insignia, and I'm not sure what to make of the one-stripe admiral except to group it with one-stripe Pike as a possible casual wear of an officer's uniform. -- Captain MKB 23:40, September 12, 2010 (UTC)


 * I know my suggestion is as speculative as the current article. I favor it over the simple stripe progression, but my point here was to make a case that was as solid as the article's, for a different system.


 * I think that ensigns should be separated from the other officer ranks on the table, and marked as "insignia unestablished," like CPOs and LCRs on Earth Starfleet ranks. Between Crew, Early Voyages and TOS, the insignia for all other ranks has been firmly established, but insignia for ensign can be argued - not demonstrated - either way. --98.204.140.83 00:25, September 13, 2010 (UTC)