User:Aine Sherlock/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

Ensigns being the junior most officers are essentially in training to lead a platoon sized unit. Generally, outside of their specialty, they'll work alongside a Lieutenant to learn the ropes. Largely this is administrative. What does this mean in the context of Star Trek? Off-screen, your character would have duties such as task and work scheduling. It is beneficial to the reader to occasionally hear about these tasks and how they may affect your PC whether it is a stressful thing for them, or a positive learning experience, can give the reader more background on the personality of your character.

A Lieutenant Junior Grade would be a platoon level officer. Now directly in command and responsible for between 20 and 50 enlisted personnel. Duties would include task and work scheduling and even discipline on the platoon level for non-judicial infractions.

It is often difficult for people to understand what a Warrant Officer is. One way they are often described is: The respect of an officer, the responsibilities of an enlistedman. Warrant Officers come from the enlisted ranks and go through additional training to become a Warrant Officer. It is not a "next step" for enlisted personnel. Warrant Officers usually have a specialty such as being a pilot. Concerning this example, pilots are Warrant Officers or Officers trained in that specialty because of the responsibility related to the profession. They can also be assigned to similar positions as officers such as platoon leaders. Another example would be a non-commissioned officer who trains to be a Warrant Officer in Intelligence. In this case, they may not have command over anyone, similar to a pilot, but have other responsibilities of an officer.

The enlisted ranks are often the most misunderstood despite the fact that they would be the largest contingent in Starfleet. Much like today, college is not for everyone. This does not mean, however, they are incapable. Promotions in the lower enlisted ranks most often come with time in service. Essentially, if you can do your job and do it well, you get promoted. Once you move into the non-commisioned ranks (E-4, Petty Officer 3rd Class, Corporal), you are given more responsibility such as team leader in which you will be responsible for a handful of personnel. Moving beyond this rank, you are often considered a career enlistedman. At this point in ones career, they'd often choose which direction to go in either becoming a Warrant Officer and learning a specialty or even looking to attend the Academy and become a commissioned officer. Most will stay and follow the enlisted career path.

If one chooses to stay in the enlisted career path and they become an E-5/Petty Officer 2nd Class/Marine Sergeant, they will be given a squad. This is a leadership position and requires training in leadership. Beyond this rank, promotions are given less often. A yearly review, the persons desire to progress, and availability of positions will all factor into promotions from here on out. It is not uncommon to see an E-8/Senior Chief Petty Officer/Master Gunnery Sergeant retire with 20 years of service, just to give an idea of the time often involved. E-6 to E-7 is often a platoon level position working side by side with the platoon leader (see Lieutenant Junior Grade/2nd Lieutenant above). While all officers do outrank all enlisted, at this point, enlisted personnel are given a high amount of respect by good officers given the enlistedman's experience and training up to this point. When given orders by an officer, it is often done in the same manner an officer would give another officer of the same rank. E-8 and E-9 move up in commensurate positions within the battalion as do the officers. Similar to the platoons NCO, these positions work side by side with their company and battlion leaders, respectively.