Protocol officer was a crew position for postings on starships and outposts of Starfleet. Individuals with this title were responsible for enforcing Starfleet General Orders and Regulations among assigned personnel.
History and specifics[]
For normal operations, a commanding officer could select an officer or NCO for this administrative position, in addition to their other duties.
In the 22nd century, aboard the Earth Starfleet vessel Enterprise NX-01, Captain Jonathan Archer chose Communications Officer Hoshi Sato for this role during the historic frontier mission on Enterprise. In the year 2154, Archer tasked Sato with informing Navaar, an Orion slave girl, as to the specific expectations for Navaar's conduct while she was traveling aboard ship. (ENT episode: "Bound")
Sato's role as protocol officer on Enterprise was also listed in her personnel file, as read in the library computer on the Federation vessel Defiant a century later. (ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" display graphic)
In certain extraordinary circumstances, the Federation Council could override the commanding officer's discretion and assign an appointed protocol officer to make sure the CO and senior staff were operating within appropriate boundaries of their authority. In the 2280s decade, James T. Kirk called this sort of appointment a diplomatic "watchdog". In 2287, R.J. Blaise was appointed by the Federation President and the Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Starfleet to serve in that respect aboard the USS Enterprise-A. (DC TOS volume 2[citation needed])
Appendices[]
External link[]
- Protocol officer article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.