Poll of the Week: Ready for Command

[Laria Herren]

The command department is a very important department to the ship, but most people don’t start there. Captains and first officers all start somewhere. Everyone was an ensign once. With time and experience officers climb up the ranks and may one day find themselves sitting in the center chair. You can never know which department your commanding officer worked in before they were in command. Perhaps they were an engineer, or maybe a medical officer. Maybe they bounced between multiple duty posts before going into a command role.

There are several skills that someone commanding a starship requires. Of course, good leadership skills are required. A commanding officer will have to take care of overseeing the ship’s mission as well as delegate tasks to different departments and officers. Each department head acts a specialist in their field while the command division oversees everything and keeps the ship running smoothly. It also helps to have at least a basic familiarity with the different departments under your command so that you can delegate work effectively to the right specialized group of officers.

There are captains who have come from every Starfleet background imaginable. Captain Picard was originally the flight controller aboard his first command, the Stargazer. Before serving on the Enterprise Captain Kirk worked on a phaser crew. Captain Janeway was a science officer during her early Starfleet career. This week’s poll asks for your opinion on which duty post you think would best prepare a person for a command role. Is there a specific duty post that provides unique experience that would be useful to a member of the command department? Maybe experience with multiple departments is better and makes for a more well-rounded skill set? Do you think that no department holds the advantage? Let us know which duty post you think best prepares officers for command below!

[+ Ferier]

HCO for me is the obvious choice.  Let's face it on graduation it is immediate bridge crew.  Ops is the backbone of a ship and is a great way to prepare for command

[Jo Marshall]

1 hour ago, Ferier said:

Ops is the backbone of a ship

Every department is Ops.

[+ Ferier]

1 hour ago, Jo Marshall said:

Every department is Ops.

true fact

[CoryCodeRed]

I agree with the HCO post. It has the most bridge time and is exposed to the workings of command frequently. 

[+ German Galven]

My answer to everything. SCIENCE!

[+ Saveron]

It has been my experience in Starbase 118 that a great many Commanding Officers come from a Medical background.