Talk:StarBase 118 Station Operations Department

The Node = StarBase 118 Command Center? --Wolf /^{talk page} 15:57, 6 September 2008 (EDT)

I believe they are different; as it was explained to me, the Node is located in the main structure of the base itself, whereas the Hub is in the Command Tower. The Node is not a command post for the Starbase; instead is is manned by officers who basically have the task of making sure that the massive structure runs efficiently, leaving those up in the Hub to deal with matters on a grander scale. --Quinn /^{talk page} 16:41, 6 September 2008 (EDT)

That doesn't really jive, to me -- at least, that's not how we've seen it set up previously. The command center is the central hub for all the main departments, and is the location where the Ops crew would come together for strategy and so-forth. Some departments then have their own headquarters elsewhere in the base. For example, Fleet Operations would have their own, large "office" area in the Administration Section of the base. Similarly, Medical has a command station in the SB118 Command Center, but then also has the hospital on the base. Security has a command station in the CC, but also has a main security operations center elsewhere in the base, with numerous security substations. Flight Control has a command station in the CC, but has their main operations within the drydock where they can monitor and control incoming/outgoing vessels.

In short: it doesn't make sense to have both the "Command Center" and then "The Node" -- that's redundant. However, things like "turbolift priorities, scheduling dockings and managing utility use within and without the station" mentioned in the article sound more like Station Operations. (However, "scheduling dockings" is actually the responsibility of Flight Control, and would take place in the Flight Control office.) If "The Node" is what the office for the Station Operations department is, that's fine, but that needs to be made more clear within the article. As of right now, it reads like a duplicate Command Center. Moreover, Operations would actually have their office in the Administrative Section, and not in the drydock. --Wolf /^{talk page} 00:42, 8 September 2008 (EDT)

Hub/ Node

Obviously the senior Operations Officers would have stations within the command hub. Remember, the command hub is not like the bridge of a Starship. It spans three decks within the command tower and every department has a section of it at units around the central area (from which the command staff for the base can address everyone). A good few officers could and would man each departmental area.

Beyond this, the rest of the command tower contains offices for the department heads of each department. So, whilst the CMO might treat patients in sickbay, she would also coordinate major medical activities (e.g. getting vaccines to a plagued planet/ coordinating emergency rescues) from her section of the command tower. There would, therefore, be an Operations Department command office within the command tower (in addition to her units within the hub [command centre within the tower]. Presumably, however, that is not what you are calling the node?

In all of this, remember that the Starbase is a massive facility. It is a big city in space. I thought there was a picture of new york and SB118 sizes being compared but I can't find it anywhere. For that reason, all departments give command direction from within the command tower… rather than being spread out throughout the base.

Anyway, whilst the Operations Officers would dictate policy from within the command tower the node would ensures that those policies are carried out. Hence, lower ranked officers and non-com officers doing more menial tasks… i.e. turbolift priorities, assisting other departments and managing utilities within and without the station, etc. Thus, the node is presumably more like a harbour master’s office/house. Whether there is just one or several around the base I dunno… up to you.

Remember, scheduling dockings, and generally managing the traffic to and from/ in and out of the Starbase would not be managed by SB-Ops (Starbase Operations) but by Fly-Con (Flight Control). This would also be coordinated with Flt-Ops (Fleet Operations) and External Communications (Ext-Com). Hence the need for their command offices to be located near each other. Moreover, remember a large part of SB-Ops’ duties is coordinating different departments and coordinating/allocating resources fairly across departments [eg so that everyone gets a fair share of the sensors etc].

That said, we don’t currently have a Chief Helm Officer [Fly-Con], a Strategic Operations officer [Flt-Ops] or a Chief Communications officer [Ext-Com] so I’m happy for Ops to sim taking care of those duties until such positions are filled.

"Fleet Captain Rocar Drawoh | Talk" 04:24, 8 September 2008 (EDT)

I disagree slightly just with your thinking on the location of the offices. I don't think that, say, Chief Medical Officer would have an office in the command tower. I think his or her office would be in the hospital. Similarly, the Chief Operations Officer would have their office in the Operations Office (or whatever technical term you want for it). Reason being: there's no logical purpose for separating the Chief Medical Officer, or the Chief Operations Officer (and so-on) from their crew for the majority of the time. I'd assume the CMO would still participate, just as they would on a starship, in surgeries and medical emergencies, and as such, you wouldn't want them to have to take a turbolift to get down to the hospital when crisis arises.

I think the Command Center does operate, in a sense, like the bridge of a starship as it is the central nervous system for the base. The departments coordinate at this location and plan strategy in emergencies. But beyond that, each department has a much more decentralized set of locations than you would have on a ship.

In all, it seems to me like "the Node" is simply the Operations office. If you want to call it that, fine by me  :) As long as we recognize what it is. I'd suggest the page be moved to a more specifically named page, and then "The Node" point to that page.

BTW, that NYC/SB118 comparison is here. Seems it was removed from the SB118 pages, but I'm not sure why. --Wolf /^{talk page} 19:48, 8 September 2008 (EDT)

Original Intention

Given that I was the bloke who first coined this idea and has even since been trying to foist it off on the rest of you fine folks... I thought I should try to explain it a little!

The Node is meant to be the colloquial name for the Operations Management Center (similar to "The Hub" being the name for the "Command Center"). The OMC is intended to be the Operations Office, for all intents and purposes. I have always presumed that there has to be somebody out there to carry out the orders that the Hub gives out. Even if there is FlyCon in the Hub, FLyCon is not (in my mind) going to be keeping track of every single Work Bee, EVA crewman, tug-shuttle, and anything else. I see FlyCon as setting the master priority list, speaking to ship captains, and generally acting as an airport's control tower. Once a vessel has been cleared for entry into the Docking Bay and given a berth assignment, control of that vessel's wanderings would be passed down to OMC and the network of Work Bees, signal lights, and crewmen who will then handle the minutae of docking, similar to an airport's ground crew.

Somebody has to be able to give those minions on the ground their marching orders and it made sense that there would be a sub-Hub for those orders to issue from. And, since such a locale would already be in existence, it made similar sense to lump other Operations-specific purviews into the same room: turbolift monitoring & control, power management, life support monitoring, etc. Everything that falls under the heading of "Necessary for a Smooth-Running Starbase". Seemed like having all of those Operations sub-departments in one room to talk to one another in a crisis was a good idea.

After all, a Bridge or Command Center is a good idea, so why not follow its example. A Starbase is a dinosaur.. it's body is so large that it needs multiple 'sub-brains' to function efficiently. Thus, a Hospital with the CMO... a Security Annex with the CSO... Main Engineering with the CEO... Marine Country with the Chief of Marines... A vast array of Science Labs (and, I presume, a Science Complex) with the other CSO :P ... and the Operations Management Center with the COO.

I originally envisioned the OMC being in the Docking Bay itself, but that was a bit of a pipe dream and I'll readily admit how unreasonable it is. Positioning it in the 'ceiling' of the Docking Bay does not seem to be unreasonable, however, for a number of reasons. It puts the OMC very close to what is arguably the most critical of its duties (managing the minutae of docking vessels). In the event of a sensor blackout, observation ports may allow the OMC to continue to direct traffic, just using the ol' Mod 1 Mark 1 eyeball. (I think in terms of redundancy and I certainly hope that whoever is building an entire city in space does the same. I wouldn't want to live or work in said city that did not embrace redundancy nigh unto a ridiculous degree.) This position also allows it to maintain a position slightly more centralized than if it were at the top of a very long station. Given the number of personnel who must work in Ops, this may alleviate a great deal of traffic congestion. Such a position would also be well-buried in the event of shield failure. Should the base suffer so much damage that evacuations are necessary, I would want the folks in charge of routing turbolifts, managing the remaining power, and shoving shuttles about in an orderly fashion to be the least likely ones to go down from an errant torpedo. And, lastly, us hard-working Ops folks deserve that little perk of being able to look out a window and down at the ships in their berths. ^_~

So, those are a few of my thoughts...

RogueGypsy47 18:39, 12 September 2008 (EDT)

I think your commentary clarifies much of the ambiguity, and indeed it seems like I was on-target with my assumption that the Node is simply the Operations Management Center, as it has been officially named :) However, I disagree, as I mentioned in my own commentary above, that Operations has anything to do with the movement of vessels in and around the base. I would continue to assert that FLY-CON has sole purview of that duty, for this simple reason: with upwards of 100+ full-sized vessels in and around the base, and potentially hundreds of worker-bees, shuttles, runabouts, and fighter-craft, I can't see any way that Ops (which already has it's hands full with the other duties that have been mentioned) would have time for it, let-alone the motivation and desire for such a thing.

Similarly, I agree that the positioning of the OMC is more romantic than practical ;) FLY-CON would have one of probably two major command centers within the docking bay, taking up at least a few decks of the central core within the bay. Their other office would likely be a command tower, where they would have full view of the upper part of the base. Perhaps a third, smaller sub-command area for FLY-CON might also be appropriate near the bottom of the base, if not in their own, small "satellite" of the base where they would have a unique and appropriate viewpoint to watch the movement of vessels. Nonetheless, taking this into consideration, I don't see a reason why the OMC would be anywhere within the bay.

To continue that line of logic, I don't think that anything OMC is doing would necessarily require line-of-site. Power and resource management, as well as transportation safety and regulation can all be taken care-of via monitor and so-forth, while the high security needs make it a perfect candidate for the "low-rent," interior areas of the administrative section. I imagine that the outward areas of the base, and all areas within the docking bay, are in extremely high demand for both workspace and living space, while the inward areas of the base are less desirable, but also the best places for StarFleet bureaucracy and "command," which don't need a "window office" to be happy :)

Which is not to say that you can't still have your cake and eat it too. You seem to enjoy the idea of FLY-CON, as much as OPS, and I don't know that we've ever really discussed this in the SB118 Ops Development threads, but why wouldn't FLY-CON and EXT-COM be under the oversight of SB-OPS? Meaning that while FLY-CON and EXT-COM have their own departments (with their own chief officers), and their own administrative areas, both FLY-CON and EXT-COM could (and perhaps should?) report to the Chief Ops officer, and be considered as part of the Operations department for command and budgetary purposes? If this is the case, then you would have the pleasure of developing any/all of these three areas, even though they are somewhat detached and separate. --Wolf /^{talk page} 20:15, 12 September 2008 (EDT)