On the Nature of Flag Officers
There's been a lot of discussion about the appropriateness or advisability of playing a flag officer IC in STO. I'm going to outline the points and facts that I've gathered both from personal research and from discussion with fleet members, some of which have real world military experience. And for every point made for or against, I present the most relevant counterpoint.
Part of the confusion stems from not fully understanding what the role of a flag officer actually is. Where a captain commands a single ship, a flag officer commands a battlegroup, fleet, or other group of vessels. They do NOT specifically command any one ship. A 'flagship' is merely the vessel within a group from aboard which the flag officer issues orders to the group. The flagship has it's own captain.
There have been canon examples where a flag officer takes command away from a Captain and commanding a vessel themselves, but it happened only under extremely unusual circumstances, for a very short period of time, is generally viewed by said Captain as a slap in the face, and can be a huge black mark on said Captain's record, therefore is not something one would do lightly.
Keeping in mind that the rank structure of Starfleet was based on US/NATO rank structure by Roddenberry himself, we take from that structure the following:
The Ranks
Rear Admiral: The rank of
Rear Admiral is split into two halves,
as of 1985 in the real world, and as of 2364 in Star Trek canon: Rear Admiral, Lower Half (RDML)(formerly
Commodore), a one-star rank; and Rear Admiral, Upper Half (RADM), a two-star rank. Rear Admirals are given command of a battlegroup or other group of vessels. When the rear admiral gives orders to the group, all of the captains – including the captain of the flagship – command their vessels in a manner consistent with following the admiral's orders, but the captain is the commanding officer of the flagship. It should be noted that the
youngest Navy Officer ever promoted to rear admiral was 44 years old. (Another note, this rear admiral was only 5 months away from being 45.)
Vice Admiral: The rank of
Vice Admiral (VADM), a three-star rank, is even higher up on the scale of command. In US/NATO structure (and mirrored in Star Trek; see
Admiral William J. Ross, who commanded all Starfleet military operations in the Dominion war and led the allied forces). Vice Admirals commanded entire numbered fleets of vessels, like the US 7th fleet, or our own 146th fleet. In the real world, Vice Admirals also take on administrative positions that require the rank, such as the
US and Navy Surgeons General, and the US Navy JAG. In Starfleet, this would also apply as well to divisions at Starfleet Headquarters.
Note: In Starfleet,
fleet admiral exists as a separate rank, but has also been used as a title awarded and referring to officers wearing insignia of vice admiral or admiral, such as Fleet Admirals
Nechayev,
Brackett, and
Shanthi.
Four-Star Admirals (Admiral): In Starfleet, there are minor differences in how ranks are utilized, but similar to today's US/NATO structure, there is perhaps a dozen
four-star Admirals (ADM) in Starfleet at any given time. All have desks in their offices at Starfleet HQ. They do NOT stop by Quark's for a drink, This stretches any boundaries of willing suspension of disbelief. They would be considered 'high value' targets for enemies of the Federation, and Starfleet will not allow them to risk themselves in a combat-based command. The consequences for Starfleet of a captured four-star Admiral are unthinkable.
This is one of only two ranks that the fleet does not allow IC. (IC rank only; OOC game mechanic rank is not prohibited). There is no realistic way to support an IC rank of a four-star fleet Admiral.
Five-Star Admiral (Admiral of the Fleet, Admiral of the Navy, The Fleet Admiral, etc.): This is a singular, exceedingly rare post, (FADM) which is second only to the Commander-in-Chief. It has not been shown in canon since the era of James T. Kirk. In the real world and in NATO command structure, the rank is held by the most senior admiral of an entire naval service.
In the US, the fleet admiral rank was created by Congress to be granted to four people during the era of World War II. There has been no authorization to use the rank since. Many believe that the rank is still in existence but 'reserved for wartime use' (this error even appears on some official rank charts), though no legal provisions ever existed for its use other than for the four officers appointed to it.
It is also worth noting that five star ranks across ALL of the US military branches existed only during WWII, and
there have only been ten five-star promotions in all of US history. (Nine officers; one was given five-star rank in two branches, Army and Air Force.)
This is the second of only two ranks that the fleet does not allow IC (IC rank only; OOC game mechanic rank is not prohibited). There is no conceivable way to support an IC rank of a five-star fleet Admiral.
The Arguments in Favor
There have been some interesting rationalizations for some people to play a flag officer. Not all of them really pan out if you compare them to Star Trek canon or the US/NATO model it was based on. I'll cover the more common ones here:
“...entrusted with a front-line command of a single ship, no desk job for me!” Um...Starfleet calls these “captains”
“...given admiral's rank as a reward for exemplary service...” The highest commendation the US has ever given someone for their service is the Medal of Honor, about 60% of which are awarded posthumously. Of the seventy-nine living recipients of the medal today, not one was promoted to flag rank. Furthermore, in the history of the medal,
19 people have earned them TWICE. And NONE of those 19 people were given a flag rank, official, honorary, or posthumously.
“...in recognition of extreme/unique/extensive/astounding possession or display of talent/skill/achievements...” In Starfleet, the best of the best is the norm. You don't even get into the Academy without
proving you're the cream of the crop. Such levels of talent and skill are the norm in Starfleet, and by themselves would not be reason for a flag rank.
The Arguments Against
There have been several opinions voiced in opposition to the idea of playing a flag officer. I'll address the more common ones here:
“It's very difficult to roleplay in a social situation with a flag officer. Ranks of captain or lower just don't hang out with flag officers under normal circumstances.” This is actually a valid issue. Your average lower rank officer is unlikely to walk up to someone in a flag officer's uniform and talk about sports. And we've seen examples of players having difficulty involving their flag officer characters in roleplay generally. Certainly one should be mindful of this added difficulty when considering a flag-rank character.
“There are too many people playing flag officers. There aren't that many flag officers in the fleet.” It would be valid to say flag officers are a very, very small percentage of Starfleet. But again, using the US/NATO model that Roddenberry used for the model for Starfleet:
U.S. Code of law explicitly limits the total number of flag officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty flag officers is capped at 162 for the navy. For the army, navy, and air force, no more than about 25% of the service's active duty general or flag officers may have more than two stars, and statute sets the total number of four-star officers allowed in each service. This is set at 6 four-star navy admirals.
Now, that cap of 162 is for a navy that has 500,000 active members. And that is one nation's navy, from one world. Factor in all the nations of a world, all the worlds of the federation (which according to Memory Alpha, was more than 1,000)...yeah. Starfleet is HUGE. And 162 flag officers, or 500, or even 1,000 would not be too many for an organization of Starfleet's scale. Which isn't to say that everyone should make all of their characters into admirals. But numbers alone fail as an argument against.
“People who make flag officers can/will/usually do abuse the authority.” Yes, it's possible, and it's happened. But remember, all RP is by consent. A flag officer can't arbitrarily strip you of command of your vessel on the grounds you didn't kiss enough butt if you don't agree with it. Furthermore, an admiral's actual authority is limited by Starfleet's code of conduct and chain of command. An admiral can not come aboard a starbase and begin arbitrarily ordering the personnel around. The starbase captain runs the base. Even admirals have to ask permission to come aboard. So this concern is addressed simply by roleplaying the chain of command and code of conduct properly.
“People make their characters flag officers while doing nothing more than a captain would, which means they should just play a captain and be done with it.” Well...yes. This is commonplace, mainly because people aren't aware of what a flag officer does. And in the movies, Kirk provides a very atypical, poor example, partly because he never wanted the rank to begin with, and partly because...well, he's Kirk.
Why Play a Flag Officer?
There's a good number of reasons put forward as to why people like the idea of playing a flag officer. One I hear all too often:
“I don't want to have to take orders from anyone else.” Being part of Starfleet, the highest rank we have ICly is Vice Admiral, which means you're taking orders from someone. But as mentioned previously, the rule of mutual consent applies. If it takes you in a direction with your character that you didn't want and didn't consent to, you do not have to participate in it. This is not a strong reason from a roleplaying standpoint.
A variation on this theme:
“I feel I need to be a flag officer, because it's the only way I can protect my character.” Sad, but true: I've been given that reason by somebody. But again, rule of consent: NOBODY can force harmful or detrimental consequences on your character without your consent. This is not a strong reason from a roleplaying standpoint....and it's not a particularly healthy reflection on roleplaying. If this kind of issue is cropping up in roleplaying, a Mediator should be brought into the discussion.
So is there a good reason to play a flag officer? Yes. There are ways to play flag officers in a manner consistent with the ranks, and which can create believable characters and stories.
Example: a Rear Admiral who commands a battlegroup, which may or may not consist of fellow players filling the roles of crew and captains, even using their own IC ships to fill out the battlegroup itself. This gives the opportunity for other players to find niches for characters or IC purpose for their own vessels.
Example: a Vice Admiral assigned to an administrative post similar in scope or importance to a Surgeon General or the JAG, and posted in the vicinity of the fleet base, if not assigned an office on the base itself. Again, it gives others an RP hook opportunity if the Vice Admiral's staff is open to the characters of fellow players.
Having discussed how one could play a flag officer, though, it should be stressed that in the end Star Trek is culturally focused on the center seat. Many an officer will prefer “the chair over the desk”, refusing promotions or even taking reductions in rank (like Kirk) in order to remain a ship captain instead of a desk pilot.