Back in September, I posted a description of how I think the Federation police command structure would be organized. SVC may disagree and come up with something else entirely, but my idea is that each Province would have a squadron consisting of one Flag and one Cutter per hex (plus a spare Cutter). Four to six Squadrons make up a Group which falls under a District Headquarters located at a Starbase. There are nine such groups, plus the Central Headquarters group. To show what I mean, I took the F-&-E map and color-filled these districts. But I got carried away and did the other empires, too.

http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r528/Getgen/Police_Districts.gif

As you can see, the Federation breaks the command structure into more groups than the others. This is partly due to the shear size of the Federation space. The Klingon Empire could easily break the ISF into more, smaller districts, but I feel that they would tend to keep a more centralized command structure. Again, SVC may think otherwise. The Romulan Empire would likewise try to keep a centralize command, but they have a fairly wide empire to try to maintain control over. I assumed the Lyran would follow the Barony / County type of organization, and the Kzinti would similarly follow the Duke/Count/Marquis/Baron commands. The ISC would be very much like the Feds, with seven districts (two are off-map).


Garth L. Getgen

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Wednesday, January 07, 2015 - 09:41 pm: Edit

The planets represented on the map will have additional assets under planetary control with even more national security assets in the capital hex.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Thursday, January 08, 2015 - 09:33 am: Edit

Well, yeah, Ryan. That was mentioned in the discussion up-topic. But the map I posted shows the command areas of the patrol ships. The ships assigned to planets (and bases) would fall under the group commander. The capital hex is its own group.

This is where things are just before the General War starts, when the Feds get to full deployment numbers. Before the Four Powers War, they had a simpler command structure, perhaps initially with one large command, then later broken into three groups, and finally into the ten groups as shown.


Garth L. Getgen

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Thursday, January 08, 2015 - 10:46 am: Edit

Clearly the light blue area is the plum posting area outside the Capital. Orions, Klingons, Romulans, and Tholians, Oh My.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, September 17, 2018 - 04:39 pm: Edit

I've been doing a little work on my project to flesh out the entire crew roster with names for everyone. Someday, maybe, I'll actually sit down and write fiction stories about them.

At this point, it's a crew of 120:
Fifty human men and thirty human women, ten (6+4) Alpha Centarians, four (3+1) Vulcan, four (3+1) Andorian, four (3+1) Tellarite, thee (2+1) Rigelian, three (2+1) Orion, three male Arcturian, four (3+1) Cygnan, two male Deian, two male Prellarian (with two Ls), and one male Senji. I padded the original 99-man crew, perhaps a bit more than I should have, and have way more non-Humans than I originally intended.

As I think I shall be writing not-for-ADB-publication stories and posting them on Trek-BBS, I will probably change the race/species names of the Arctuian, Cygnan, Deian, and Prellarian. I should probably redesign the ship from a Callahan-class cutter to a saucer-shape, or maybe something like the Daedalus-class or perhaps a modification of the Aurora from the animated fan-film.

At any rate, I am trying to dream up names for every crewman on the ship. Thus far, I have about 52 names, although a few may get changed. I have names for all my Vulcans, Tellarites, Andorians, and Rigelians. The Orions, I decided, adopted human names when they left home and/or joined the service: Marine Sergeant Ross Quinn and Petty Officers Jacob Freeman and Sasha Sparrow.

Also, I came up with a naming convention for the Cygnan and thus their names. I decided that their name is two parts, a "given name" (usually two or three syllables) and a "family name" (almost always one syllable, maybe two), separated by an apostrophe, no spaces. I named them: Katchi'Dral, Moki'Jott, Tetsuno'Kerr, and Azuki'Rohr. Ergo, Katchi'Dral's father may have been Faren'Dral, and his father Mugano'Dral. The full names is ALWAYS used outside of immediate family.

I want to come up with "posh sounding" names for the Alpha Centurians, and I still need something for the Arcturians, Deians, and Prellarians. I think the Alphas' names can and probably should sound somewhat human, but I want the others to be "alien". HOWEVER: I want it to be pronounceable. I don't want it to look like my cat walked on the keyboard. I do NOT want it filled with dashes and/or apostrophes. I am open to suggestions.

Believe it or not, the humans are proving to be as much of a challenge as the non-humans. I want to have a fair mix of different ethnicities. I had someone get snarky with me about my last story because the main characters were Smith, Jones, Baker, and Miller. Oh well, the story wasn't really about them anyway.


Garth L. Getgen

By Patrick H. Dillman (Patrick) on Monday, September 17, 2018 - 04:49 pm: Edit

Must have a Jonas Grumby. And a Roy Hinkley and a William Gilligan.

By Steve Zamboni (Szamboni) on Monday, September 17, 2018 - 06:17 pm: Edit

Engelbert Humperdinck and his manager deciding on a name:

"Zingelbert Bembledack! Yingybert Dambleban! Zangelbert Bingledack! Wingelbert Humptyback! … Slut Bunwalla!"
"What?!"
"All right, Kringelbert Fishtybuns! Steviebuns Bottrittrundle –"
"No, Gerry Dorsey! I like Gerry Dorsey!"
"No, we can't, who we got? Zingelbert Bembledack, Tringelbert Wangledack, Slut Bunwalla, Klingybun Fistelvase, Dindlebert Zindledack, Gerry Dorsey, Engelbert Humptyback, Zengelbert Bingledack, Engelbert Humperdinck, Vingelbert Wingledanck –"
"No, no, go back one!"

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Monday, September 17, 2018 - 06:38 pm: Edit

The problem is that the doing it simply is difficult. Mostly because you are expected to have a crew that it "representative of Earth," which means you need Chinese, Indian, African, Arabic, and etc. names among the crew. So it is not a case of paging through a phone book (the easiest way, I.e., divide the number of pages by the number of names, advance the number of pages after each name and select one at random from the page, then assign jobs and ranks, so the 40th name might be Suzdal, and you had determined that that name (in the sequence) would go to the Chief of Security. But even though the American phone book has a lot of "foreign" names in it, the system is not likely to produce enough to satisfy some people.

You also have to determine ages that are appropriate and so on.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, September 17, 2018 - 07:24 pm: Edit

Yeah, Steve, I know. Trust me, I know. That's why it's taking me so long to complete it. I do have a few non-Anglo-Saxon on the list. Here's the humans thus far:

Robert James Patrick Weatherford
Dennis Albert Hammerstrom
Roger Otis Guzman
Jeffery Adam "Jazz" Zhou
John Anuniaq
Tao Chen
Darrell Jefferson, Jr.
Kyle Luke Miller
Richard "Ricky" Pak
Jon Pace
Phillip Argyros
Eric Mosley
Jason Littleton
Geovanni Raphael DeLuca
Joseph Michael “Mike” Martinez
Nazif Kobal
Nathaniel "Nate" James Wright
Robert David Carpenter

Caroline Wiggins
Ariya Raja
Lorelei Pixie Everhart
Yvonne Elsa Christensen
Suzette Clarabelle DuBois (DeLuca)
Shannon Kennedy
Susan Tanaka
Brenda Sinclair
Daisy Xiang
LaToya Robinson
Rose Calhoun
Melissa Jane Black
Ann Kolinski
Zoe Kolinski
Amy-Lynn Szczr

I did find a great web site that's been very helpful: Fantasy Name Generator

Some of the alien names it comes up with, sadly, look like the cat didn't just walk on the keyboard, he did a break dance on it.

By the way, if you haven't seen my last story, it can be found here: So Clever Just ignore the fact that civilian trading vessels can't use T-bombs.....


Garth L. Getgen

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 10:08 am: Edit

Be sure to mix at least some names across ethnicity. So, for example, have George Zhu or Tommy Srinivasan or Pankaj Gonzalez.

It is likely that by the time of a more utopic society there will be a heavy mix of ethnicity in any given individual's background.

Also, remember to make sure there is the occasional person whose visual ethnicity does not match their name's ethnicity.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 11:13 am: Edit

On the subject of "Alien Names," there is a tradition in the scientific community that when a new species is discovered, the scientist who discovers it has the honor of giving it its name. One modern take is to name the newly discovered animal after someone by "Latinizing" the honorees name. A good example is a newly discovered spider (that looks like it might be from Mars?) named after David Bowie ("Arachnis Davidbowii," perhaps?)

In the SFU, there have been a few posting names based on a simple change of the first letter of the persons name to fit the "Race" in question (i.e.: Kommodore Ketrick and Admiral Hultz). Perhaps some names might follow a mix of the two of these ideas?

OTOH: I'd be mindful of getting "Silly" with names. A friend of mine had a minor Kzinti character "Cat-who-ruins-your-good-furniture," and when I tried using him in a story, I felt that I had to come up with a back story for how he got that name.

(Exchange student who was noted for doing WAY too much property damage in bar brawls...)

Another thing is some name reversals. While it didn't go anyplace, I tried doing a story about twins playing SFB with a parallel of the game they were playing being an actual duel fought by desperate captains. The twins were named Colleen and Patrick Stephens.

(As I said, though, it didn't really go anywhere. My tactics, and therefore THEIR tactics, were unworthy of the parallel...)

You might also ask permission from your friends to have characters named after them. While some folks might not like the idea very much, other people find it a great honor.

By Steve Zamboni (Szamboni) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 01:09 pm: Edit

One thought I had was that persistent period piece entertainment (such as VR or holodecks) could result in now-uncommon names being returned to use seemingly out of nowhere. The TNG crew's obsession with Pirate of Penzance could lead to someone on the crew naming their child Frederic. Or a Hercule because the mom liked murder mysteries.

(One of the classic Doonesbury characters was a Samoan by the name of MacArthur, named after the General. His sister was named Douglas...)

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 02:37 pm: Edit

Human names are "easy". I just need to click the refresh button over and over until I see names I like.

Yes, I do have a few mixed heritage names already (Jeff Zhou, Susan Tanaka) and a couple that don't look like their name (Guzman is a Hispanic name handed down from his six-great grandfather, but otherwise he looks very WASP.) Several are described as "multi-ethnic" (Robert Carpenter) or "1/2 this & 1/2 that". Good advice, guys, and reinforces what I thought was the way to go.

The main thing I need help with is a "theme" for the non-human, especially the Alphas as one of them is third-in-command on the ship. (I was thinking of using the Fantasy Name site and pull from the Hunger Games list, but I didn't see anything I liked yet.) I'm not looking for you to simply hand me a list of names, although I might "borrow" a couple mentioned above.

Okay, until later ... I need to go to the DMV. Wish me luck.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Zamboni (Szamboni) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 05:23 pm: Edit

I have a draft of a story with a race that includes the family history as part of their full name. And not just "Bob, son of John, son of Frank" - each step of the way includes where each person is from, what ranks they held, what campaigns they were in, distinguishing traits and honorable enemies.

A seasoned veteran from a long line of Second Lieutenants could easily have a name that would take an hour or more to recite. (Recite. Written languages lack nuance, so they avoid them for anything important.)

The crew manifest on a large troop carrier comes with its own set of rackmounted servers to store and index the thousands of audio files. (And the fate of this server is where the story starts...)

By John Sickels (Johnsickels) on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 06:03 pm: Edit

Two known Alpha Centaurian names (both female) in established fiction are Anola Barak and Teloma Monora. So AC names do "sound" human.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 - 12:33 am: Edit

Thanks for that info, John. Makes things a little easier for me.


Garth L. Getgen

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Friday, September 28, 2018 - 11:07 am: Edit

Real-life got in the way a bit, but my crew roster project is still coming along nicely. I did a sort by rank and discovered that all of my Crewmen E-3 junior enlisted are Humans.

Roster #	Duty Title	Ramk	Name	Service	Species	Gender	Home	Heritage / Ethnicity
1	Commander / Ship's Captain	Cmdr	Robert James Patrick Weatherford	Police	Human	Male	Earth	English
2	Exec Officer / First Officer	LtCmdr	Dennis Albert Hammerstrom	Police	Human	Male	Earth	African-American
3	Operations Officer	LT		Police	Alpha	Female	Alpha
17	Intel Officer	LT	Yvonne Elsa Christensen	Police	Human	Female	Earth	Swedish
51	Chief Engineer	LT	Brenda Sinclair	Police	Human	Female	Earth	Canadian
99	Doctor	LT	Preston James Winslow, III	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Earth	American / Boston
29	Science Officer	LT-jg	Thane	Star Fleet	Andorian	Male	Andor
52	Assistant Engineer	LT-jg	Kyle Luke Miller	Police	Human	Male	Luna	Caucasian
82	Tactical Officer (BP)	LT-jg	Theodore "Ted" Alexander Flynn	Police	Human	Male	Earth	American / Texas
100	Nurse	LT-jg	Linda May Holiday	Star Fleet	Human	Female	Earth	American / Mid-West
101	Nurse	LT-jg	David Scott Young	Police	Human	Male	Luna	American
109	Chief Shuttle Pilot	LT-jg	Steven Eichenlaub	Police	Human	Male	Earth	American / Central Penn.
37	Weapons Officer	Ensign	Stanley Christov	Police	Human	Male	Colony	Russian-American
69	Engineer (DamCon)	Ensign	Jason Littleton	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Colony	Caucasian
110	Shuttle Pilot	Ensign	Taavrov	Police	Andorian	Male	Andor
30	Scientist -- Astrophysics	Civilian	Dr. Timothy Paul Hoffman	Civilian	Human	Male	Earth	Jewish-American
31	Scientist -- Planatary Studies	Civilian	Dr. Laci Tran (Hoffman)	Civilian	Human	Female	Earth	Asian-American
83	Master at Arms (BP)	Sr. Chief	Stoan	Police	Vulcan	Male	Vulcan
18	Signalman/Linguist	Chief	Ethan Springer	Police	Human	Male	Many	Caucasian
38	Chief Gunner's Mate	Chief		Police	Human	Male	Earth	Australian
53	Warpdrive Reactor Chief	Chief	Ivan Blazek	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Russian-American
70	Boatswain's Mate (DamCon)	Chief	Grun Morgoon	Police	Tellarite	Male	Tellar
111	Shuttle Maintenance Chief	Chief	Robert "Bob" David Carpenter	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Luna	Multi-ethnic
4	Quartermaster (Helm)	PO1	Otis David Gunderson, Sr	Police	Human	Male	Colony	Caucasian
7	Quartermaster (Nav)	PO1	Amanda Carr	Police	Human	Female	Mars	Caucasian
10	Transporter Tech	PO1	Ariya Raja	Police	Human	Female	Colony	Hindi Indian
21	Sensor/Scanner operator	PO1	Sheelan	Police	Andorian	Female	Andor
26	Legalman	PO1		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
32	Forensics Tech	PO1	Shannon Kennedy	Police	Human	Female	Luna	Multi-ethnic
39	Gunner's Mate - Phaser	PO1	Susan Tanaka	Police	Human	Female	Colony	Japanese-American
43	Weapon Systems Tech (Phaser)	PO1	Darrell Jefferson, Jr.	Police	Human	Male	Earth	African-American
54	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO1		Police	Human	Female	Earth	German
60	Impulse Drive Tech	PO1		Police	Human	Female	Space	Caucasian
62	Auxiliary Reactor Tech	PO1	Jack Henry Nunez	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Multi-ethnic
71	Machinist Mate (DamCon)	PO1	LaToya Robinson	Police	Human	Female	Earth	African-American
84	Master at Arms (BP)	PO1	Rose Calhoun	Police	Human	Female	Earth	English
102	Corpsman (BP)	PO1		Police	Human	Male	Colony	African-British
112	Shuttle Engine Tech / Flight Engineer	PO1	Kent Wicks	Police	Rigelian	Male	Rigel
5	Quartermaster (Helm)	PO2	Caroline Wiggins	Police	Human	Female	Space	Multi-ethnic
8	Quartermaster (Nav)	PO2		Police	Alpha	Female	Alpha
11	Transporter Tech	PO2	Jeffery Adam "Jazz" Zhou	Police	Human	Male	Earth	1/2 Chinese 1/2 British
13	Tractor Tech	PO2	Olivia Swanson	Police	Human	Female	Luna
19	Signalman/Crypto Tech	PO2	Vanessa Sue Taylor	Police	Human	Female	Earth	American / New York City
22	Sensor/Scanner operator	PO2	John Anuniaq	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Mars	Inuit / Eskimo
28	Storekeeper	PO2	Gorg Bundi	Police	Prellarian	Male	Prellar
33	Lab Tech	PO2		Police	Arcturian	Male
34	Computer Operations Tech	PO2	Azuki'Rohr	Police	Cygnan	Female	Cygnus
42	Gunner's Mate - Torpedo	PO2	Tao Chen	Police	Human	Male	Mars	Chinese
46	Weapon Systems Tech (Photon)	PO2		Police	Human	Female	Earth	Canadian
55	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO2	Richard "Ricky" Pak	Police	Human	Male	Luna	Korean
56	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO2	Jacob Freeman *	Police	Orion	Male	Colony
57	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO2	Kevin Paul Fitzpatrick	Police	Human	Male	Earth	British
58	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO2	Daisy Xiang	Police	Human	Female	Luna	Chinese
61	Impulse Drive Tech	PO2	Tetsuno'Kerr	Star Fleet	Cygnan	Male	Cygnus
63	Auxiliary Reactor Tech	PO2	Phillip Argyros	Police	Human	Male	Mars	Greek
72	Data Systems Tech (DamCon)	PO2	Geovanni Raphael DeLuca	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Earth	Italian
73	Hull Maintenance Tech (DamCon)	PO2	Sovan	Security	Vulcan	Male	Vulcan
74	Electrician (DamCon)	PO2	Felix Tawny	Police	Senji	Male	Senja
75	Boatswain's Mate (DamCon)	PO2	Michael Gilbert Olsen	Police	Human	Male	Earth	American / Utah
85	Master at Arms (BP)	PO2	William "Bill" Grimm	Police	Human	Male	Colony
86	Personal Equipment Tech (BP)	PO2		Police	Alpha	Female	Alpha
88	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO2		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
103	Corpsman (BP)	PO2	Bambi Welch	Police	Rigelian	Female	Rigel
106	Messmate	PO2	Debora Lovejoy	Star Fleet	Human	Female	Colony	Caucasian
113	Shuttle Engine Tech / Flight Engineer	PO2	Dianne Booker	Police	Human	Female	Luna	African-American
114	Shuttle Electrician	PO2		Police	Deian	Male	Paktar
6	Quartermaster (Helm)	PO3		Police	Arcturian	Male
9	Quartermaster (Nav)	PO3	Katchi'Dral	Police	Cygnan	Male	Colony
12	Transporter Tech	PO3	Daal Farlinn	Star Fleet	Prellarian	Male	Prellar
14	Tractor Tech	PO3	Juan Vasquez	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Mexican
20	Signalman	PO3	Danel Levinstein	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Sol-Sys	Caucasian
23	Sensor/Scanner operator	PO3	Jenna	Police	Vulcan	Female	Earth
27	Yeoman	PO3	Suzette Clarabelle DuBois (DeLuca)	Star Fleet	Human	Female	Earth	French
40	Gunner's Mate - Phaser	PO3	Sunal	Star Fleet	Vulcan	Male	Colony
41	Gunner's Mate - Phaser	PO3	Trenor	Security	Andorian	Male	Colony
44	Weapon Systems Tech (Phaser)	PO3	Moki'Jott	Star Fleet	Cygnan	Male	Cygnus
45	Weapon Systems Tech (Phaser)	PO3	James Smith	Police	Human	Male	Alpha	Caucasian
47	Weapon Systems Tech (Photon)	PO3		Star Fleet	Alpha	Female	Alpha
48	Ordnanceman (T-Bomb)	PO3	Gov Ckrinn	Police	Tellarite	Male	Tellar
59	Warpdrive Reactor Tech	PO3	Jon Pace	Star Fleet	Human	Male	Earth	African-American
64	Boatswain's Mate (Engine Room)	PO3		Police	Arcturian	Male
65	Boatswain's Mate (Engine Room)	PO3	Eric Mosley	Police	Human	Male	Colony	African-American
76	Boatswain's Mate (DamCon)	PO3	Mir Nassar	Police	Tellarite	Female	Tellar
77	Boatswain's Mate (DamCon)	PO3	Joseph Michael “Mike” Martinez	Police	Human	Male	Colony	Hispanic / Multi-ethnic
78	Impulse Drive Tech (DamCon)	PO3	Nazif Kobal	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Turkish
79	Auxiliary Reactor Tech (DamCon)	PO3		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
89	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO3	Nathaniel "Nate" James Wright	Police	Human	Male	Earth	American / Maryland **
90	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO3	Lek jav Dren	Police	Tellarite	Male	Tellar
91	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO3	Lisa Kingsman	Police	Human	Female	Luna	African-British
92	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO3		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
93	Boatswain's Mate (BP)	PO3	Mick Wenz	Police	Rigelian	Male	Rigel
104	Med-Tech	PO3		Police	Human	Male	Luna
105	Med-Tech	PO3	Sarah Jane Winters	Police	Human	Female	Colony	Caucasian
107	Messmate	PO3	Pierre Lambert	Police	Human	Male	Earth	French-Canadian
108	Messmate	PO3		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
115	Shuttle Ordnanceman	PO3		Police	Alpha	Male	Alpha
116	Shuttle Systems Tech	PO3	Amy-Lynn Szczr	Police	Human	Female	Colony	Czech
117	Shuttle Structural Tech	PO3		Police	Deian	Male	Paktar
118	Shuttle Fuels Specialist	PO3	Sasha Sparrow *	Police	Orion	Female	Colony	Mint green, not jade
15	Crewman - Operations	E-3	Lorelei Everhart	Star Fleet	Human	Female	Colony	Caucasian & 1/4-Japanese
16	Crewman - Operations	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Sol-Sys	Multi-ethnic
24	Crewman - Intel (BP)	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Luna
25	Crewman - Intel (BP)	E-3		Police	Human	Female	Mars
35	Crewman - Science	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony
36	Crewman - Science	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony
49	Crewman - Weapons (Photon)	E-3	Ryan Ochoa	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Chile
50	Crewman - Weapons (T-Bomb)	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Sol-Sys	Multi-ethnic
66	Crewman - Engine Room	E-3		Police	Human	Female	Sol-Sys
67	Crewman - Engine Room	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony
68	Crewman - Engine Room	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Space
80	Crewman - Maintenance (DamCon)	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony	African / Angolan
81	Crewman - Maintenance (DamCon)	E-3	Kim Leonani Alohilani	Police	Human	Female	Earth	Hawaiian
95	Crewman - Tactical (BP)	E-3	Marcus John Nagbe	Police	Human	Male	Earth	African / Liberian
96	Crewman - Tactical (BP)	E-3	Christopher Juan Rios	Police	Human	Male	Earth	Hispanic / Florida
119	Crewman - Shuttle Deckcrew	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony	Caucasian
120	Crewman - Shuttle Deckcrew	E-3		Police	Human	Male	Colony	Multi-ethnic
87	Armorer (BP)	SGT	Ross Quinn *	Marine	Orion	Male	Colony
94	Military Police / K-9 Handler (BP)	CPL	Melissa Jane Black (K-9 = Vixen)	Marine	Human	Female	Colony	Multi-ethnic
97	Marine Infantry Rifleman (BP)	PFC	Ann Kolinski	Marine	Human	Female	Earth	American / Tennessee
98	Marine Infantry Rifleman (BP)	PFC	Zoe Kolinski	Marine	Human	Female	Earth	American / Tennessee

As you can see, I still have a bunch of names to come up with, including all the Alpha Centarians, Arcturians, Deians, and most of the junior crewmen.

I didn't list it here, but I do have age/height/weight/time-in-service/time-in-grade columns on the spreadsheet. I have background bio sheets for a few of the crew.

In case you're wondering, no, I do not plan on including the entire cast in any give story. Indeed, most won't ever get mentioned at all. It's like they taught us in leadership school: 20% of the people take up 80% of your time. With a crew of 120, probably about two dozen will get more than a "walk on role" in a story.

()


Garth L. Getgen

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Friday, August 09, 2019 - 06:33 pm: Edit

Something I sent via e-mail to someone asking my advice; I figure it was worth posting here:

When I drafted the FFG crew roster published in a CL-43, I had to follow previously published data which included three officers listed as "Navigators".

So, what I did was make the Navigators the Bridge Watch duty officers. On an FFG or larger warship, they are the ones who sit in the center seat while the captain & first officer are out doing what they normally do: stacks of mind-numbing paperwork and never-ending staff meetings. Some captains / first officers write themselves into the duty rotation; most do not.

The POL crew is too small to allow the luxury of a dedicated watch officer. Ergo, all officers from the commander down to the shuttle pilots pull bridge watch. Only the doctor/nurse and maybe engineering officers get out of it. It makes perfect sense that the lowest-racking officer, one of the two shuttle pilots, might have center-seat duty when stuff hits the fan.

Also, the next steps up the ladder from Pilot are Weapons and Tac-Team leader. Shuttle pilots will often spend time learning a fair bit about those jobs when they can.

The top four officer on a POL are: captain/commander, exec/first officer, operations officer, and intelligence officer, although the science officer is close to on-par with the intel officer and depending on rank / training might be fourth-in-command. Ditto for Weapons / Tac-Team for 6th & 7th. Shuttle pilots come in as 8th & 9th.

If the Chief Engineer is command-rated (most are not), he/she could slip in between Exec and Ops as third-in-command or below Ops as fourth-in-command. The assistant engineer, if command rated, is on-par with the shuttle pilots.

As doctors/nurses are almost never command-rated, you'd have to bump off eleven other people before the doctor would assume command. It's more likely that one of the chief petty officers would take over.


Garth L. Getgen

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 10:15 pm: Edit

As mentioned, there are typically thirteen officers assigned to a police cutter. What are their duties? Who reports to whom in the chain of command, that is to say, who writes their annual performance evaluations?


Commander / Ship's Captain: Position normally held by a Lieutenant Commander (LtCmdr / O-4), but about 20% of cutters are the "flight leader" and have a full Commander (Cmdr / O-5) in charge. This person is responsible for everything that happens on the ship, good or bad. Reports to the Precinct Commander.

Executive Officer (Exec Officer, Exec, or X.O.) / First Officer / old titles = Vice Commander or Deputy Commander: Position normally held by a senior Lieutenant (LT / O-3) but sometimes by a junior LtCmdr. It’s said that the Captain runs the mission while the Exec runs the ship. Reports to the Captain.

Operations Officer (Ops Officer): Position filled by an experienced Lieutenant, this person "runs the front of the boat" and is considered the Second Officer / third in command. Supervises bridge crew, transporter and tractor-beam techs, and support personnel (Yeoman/Legalman/Storekeeper); oversees Intel, Science, and Weapons departments. Stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Reports to the Exec Officer.

Intelligence Officer (Intel Officer): Position held by a less-experience Lieutenant or a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LT-jg / O-2). Supervises the communications and sensor technicians; catalogs and analyzes intelligence reports received from higher headquarters; writes reports to send up to headquarters; advises Captain the threat assessments. Stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Reports to the Ops Officer.

Science Officer: Position normally held by LT or LT-jg, often filled by Star Fleet officer or even a government-services civilian scientist. Well-versed in general science and advises Captain on such matters; primary duty is to oversee the forensics laboratory; supervises lab technicians and any specialists that may be temporarily assigned to the ship. Stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols, if certified (civilians typically aren't). Reports to the Ops Officer.

Weapons Officer: Position is rated for a LT-jg but is often filled by an Ensign (O-1). Supervises weapons crew; responsible for photon, phasers, and T-bomb; stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Reports to the Ops Officer.

Chief Engineer: Position held by LT or by LtCmdr. This person "runs the back of the boat". Oversees the engine room and general maintenance of the ship; supervises all engineering and damage control personnel; manages Tac-Team personnel performing maintenance duties. Normally reports to the Exec but may report directly to the Captain depending on relative ranks.

Assistant Engineer: Position rated for a LT-jg, may be filled by LT or Ensign. Typically oversees damage control teams and general maintenance of the ship. Reports to the Chief Engineer.

Tactical Officer: Position rated for a LT-jg, may be filled by LT or Ensign. Supervises Tac-Team operations; leads boarding party mission; oversees security of the ship; stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Reports to the Exec.

Doctor / Ship’s Surgeon / Chief Medical Officer: Position held by LT (minimum rank for a medical doctor) but may be filled by LtCmdr. Supervises all medical personnel and also the Messmates, as food service is important to the crew’s health. Reports directly to the Captain.

Nurse or Physician’s Assistance: Position rated for a LT-jg (minimum rank for Registered Nurse) but may be filled by LT. Assists doctor with patient treatment. Reports to Doctor.

Chief Shuttle Pilot: Position rated for a LT-jg, may be filled by LT. Supervises shuttle bay deck crew; flies shuttlecraft; stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Typically reports to either the Ops Officer or Tactical Officer, but could fall directly under the Exec, depending on relative ranks.

Shuttle Pilot: Position rated for a LT-jg, often filled by Ensign. Flies shuttlecraft; stands Bridge Watch during routine patrols. Reports to Chief Shuttle Pilot.


Garth L. Getgen

By John Sickels (Johnsickels) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 11:26 am: Edit

Looks good to me. Maybe add a note that some Chief Engineers, if command-certified, sometimes stand a bridge watch.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 12:38 pm: Edit

I agree.

you might provide an example of the duty assignments/ watch rotation list for a short period of time.

I imagine there are a number of options. ("port and starboard" might mean every one works during daytime hours (call it 08:00 to 16:00 hours.) then alternate port and starboard watch standers every 4 hours from 16:00 hours to 24:00, and from "00:00" to 08:00 hours the next morning.

or you might try a three or four watch system. hard with only 8 or 9 officers certified to stand as senior watch officer, but possible.

you might also make a note on "harbor watch" when the ship is docked to a base. iirc that would make the senior watch stander a CPO or other senior enlisted NCO.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 04:07 pm: Edit

John, good point. I'll add that.

Jeff, yes, I had that planned, too. I wrote the roster with the thought that the crew would work straight shift, staying on days/swings/mids without swapping around. They would work a schedule of 5x12 + 2x8 per week. Monday-Friday, they work eight hours at their primary duty station plus another four hours of training, drills, KP duty, and/or additional duties. They can use some of this time to hit the gym. On the weekends, they just pull eight hours duty at their primary station.

However, the ship's captain / exec has the option to put the bridge crew & engine room on a standard dog-watch schedule (5x4-hr + 2x2-hr shifts per day) or a six hours on / twelve hours off rotation. There are other options, of course. I've worked twelve-hour shifts: four days on, two off, flip, four nights on, two off, flip, four days on, rinse, repeat.


Garth L. Getgen

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 05:55 pm: Edit

?
(5*12=60)+(2*8=16)=76 hours per week?

there are 168 hours in a standard earth week. (168-76=92)

lets say for arguments sake that a human needs 8 hours of uninterupted sleep a night. (yes, I know you can get by with less, but not for extended time periods without losing effectiveness or suffering effects of sleep deprivation.)

thats 7*8=56 hours per week.

92-56=36 hours. thats an average of a little more than 5 hours a day for off duty time. say meals take an hour... thats 3 meals a day or 21 hours out of the 36 hours of off duty time.

seems a little harsh.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, August 12, 2019 - 07:33 pm: Edit

Harsh? Welcome to the military! Be glad it's not a Klingon ship. They don't get the short days on weekends.

Also, that schedule is only for the enlisted. Officers are considered to be On Duty 24/7.

I suppose the crew could be allowed a 20-minute meal break in the middle of the 8-hour shift, and a 40-minute break during their extended shift. I'm not totally heartless.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few enlisted ratings (job titles) and their civilian equivalents:

Quartermaster = Navigator / Helmsman (also works in Stellar Cartography)
Signalman = Communications Technician
Yeoman = Administrative Clerk / Secretary
Master-at-Arms = Military Policeman
Boatswain's Mate = General deckhand sailor (Jack of all Trades, often used on Tac-Teams)
Storekeeper = Supply Clerk
Messmate = Cook / Chef
Corpsman = Medic / EMT (Combat rated to work with Tac-Teams)
Med-Tech / Medical Technician = Medic / Orderly (not combat rated)


Garth L. Getgen

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 - 12:22 am: Edit

Might have a Senior/Master Chief, especially a Quartermaster qualified to be OOD and have a command watch.