STARSHIP WATCH AND STATION GUIDE
SECTION ONE
STARSHIP PERSONNEL
QUALIFICATIONS
Service onboard a Starfleet space vessel is considered one of the more challenging assignments available to Starfleet personnel. Starfleet members performing starship service are required to meet a basic set of qualifications for consideration for in-space-service, following by additional criteria depending upon their rank, career field, and position.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
Any Starfleet member applying for starship duty must possess at a minimum:
* Airlock Control Operator qualification
* Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) certification
Starfleet Crewman are further required to hold all subsequent training, certification, and qualifications specific to their Crewman rating.
OFFICER QUALIFICATIONS
FIRST PUBLISHED
AUGUST 2146
Starfleet officers serving on starships must hold additional certifications specific to their designator as follows.
Command Officers
All command officers of a starship must hold the designator 1100 (Flight Officer) and possess a valid Warp Craft Pilot Certification
In addition, any officer holding the position of either Commanding Officer or First Officer must possess an equivalent certification to a Warp Engineer's License. All other junior command officers must have completed either the Starfleet Warp Engineer Course or possess equivalent certification and training through either UESPA or the Earth Cargo Service.
Tactical Officers
Starship tactical officer must hold the designator 2500 (Security Officer) and must have completed the Starfleet Gunnery Course.
Communications Officers
Any communication officer of a Starfleet space vessel must hold the designator 3000 (Science Officer) and possess the scientific specialist code L66 (Linguistic Specialist). In addition, all communications officers should hold a Class A computer rating and possess training and certifications appropriate to the operation of interstellar radios onboard spacecraft.
Engineering Officers
All officer engineers onboard Starfleet space vessels must hold the designator 2000 (Engineering Officer) and must have completed the Starfleet Warp Engineer Course. In addition, any officer service as Chief Engineer must possess training and an equivalent certification to a Warp Engineer's License.
STARSHIP STATUS DESIGNATORS
SECTION TWO
The status of a Starfleet space vessel shall determine its required manning as well as appropriate duties and station keeping requirements by onboard personnel.
Construction Stages
Under Construction
Vessels under construction are not crewed and are under the authority of the shipyard overseeing vessel assembling
Pre-Commissioning
A pre-commissioning vessel has been assigned a crew but has not yet been launched from a shipyard. The crew operates on a regular work schedule as set by the Commanding Officer (or Officer-in-Charge, if the Captain has not yet been assigned). Duty sections may be formed but the crew does not stand regular watches
Commissioned Vessel
A commissioned vessel has been launched from a shipyard and is under the authority of the Commanding Officer. Full duty sections are maintained with regular watches
Operating Conditions
Underway Operations
Standard operating condition of a starship in space under its own power. Full underway watches are maintained
Cold Iron (CI) Status
The starship is docked at a space installation with power and other services provided from external sources. Minimal watches are required under a duty section, and the crew are permitted to depart the ship. A modified version of this status, informally known as "Mothball Status", applies to vessels with no crew which are essentially in storage, but still retain minimal power and life support for periodic inspection
Tactical
Alert
An enhanced readiness condition of a starship with weapons and defense systems fully activated. Additional watches are activated to include damage control teams
SECTION THREE
Duty Sections and Watches
During underway operations, a starship maintains a continuous watch schedule. Additional watches may be activated during a tactical alert. When a ship is docked at a space facility most watches are stood down and a duty section manned while the remainder of the crew is permitted to depart the ship. A special condition (informally known as "hot iron") occurs if a ship is docked but the engines are still active - this most often occurs if the ship is unable to receive power and life support from the docking facility. In this case, certain engineering watches continue as normal while the remainder of the ship operates under a duty section.
WATCH SCHEDULE
A ship's watch schedule is under the authority of the Senior Watch Officer, which is a collateral duty appointed by the Commanding Officer and normally held by the First Officer. Watch standers are drawn from the ship's compliment (per the vessel manning document) with watches intended to be held by rated Crewman or officers of a certain designator. Watch rotations operate on a twenty-four basis and may be divided into either three or four section watches.
Three and four shift watch rotation schedules
DUTY STATIONS
Duty stations are specific watches which must be manned at all times while a starship is underway. Watch standers are required to hold a qualification to perform the watch as well as an appointment by the Commanding Officer in order to serve as a formal watch-stander.
Bridge Watches
Bridge watches are considered the highest level of qualification onboard a Starfleet vessel and normally are held by virtue of formal training and certification. The Bridge Duty Officer is the command authority for ship operations when the Captain is not present - in most cases both the Captain and First Officer will themselves stand this watch and may temporarily delegate the position should they depart the bridge. A requirement for the Bridge Duty Officer is that the watchstander must hold qualification in every other bridge duty station.
Additional prerequisite qualifications include:
* A Duty Helmsman must hold (at a minimum) a Warp Craft Operator’s License or an appropriate equivalent
* The Bridge Tactical Officer must have completed the Starfleet Gunnery Course and hold qualification in all tactical watches
* The Bridge Communications Officer must hold qualification as a Duty Sensor Operator
* The Bridge Engineering Officer must hold qualification in all engineering and damage control stations
Engineering Watches
The Engineering Watch Officer (EWO) is considered the senior most engineer on duty; in many case the Chief Engineer will stand either this watch or direct engineering watch operations from the Bridge Engineering duty station. The EWO must in turn hold qualification in every other engineering watch. The position of Master Systems Monitor is generally considered "second in command" of the engineering watch and is normally held by personnel already qualified in the subordinate watch stations. All watches are stood in the engineering section, with the exception of the bridge engineering station, as well as the Engineering Sounder who tours the ship's engineering spaces and physically inspects systems for abnormalities or damage.
Tactical Alert Watches
When a tactical alert is sounded, additional watches are immediately activated. Any medical personal onboard will report to the ship's sickbay. while the ship's Captain will assume station on the bridge. The First Officer, to avoid "simultaneous loss", will report to an alternate location, usually the ship's armory or engineering, and provide additional leadership and supervision during the alert.
DAMAGE CONTROL
The ships' damage control team is headed by the ship's Chief Engineer who is normally appointed by the Commanding Officer to the collateral duty of Damage Control Officer (DCA). When a Tactical Alert is sounded, the Chief Engineer assumes station as the Bridge Engineering Officer while a separate damage control watch is activated with the following positions:
DAMAGE CONTROL ASSISTANT (DCA)
DAMAGE CONTROL REPAIR OFFICER (DCRO)
DAMAGE CONTROL LEADER (DCL)
Supervises all shipboard damage control teams from the engineering section
A commissioned officer who assumes duty at one of several repair stations and directs local damage control efforts
A Senior Crewman who directs on-scene damage control efforts
DAMAGE CONTROL TEAM MEMBER (DCTM)
Crewman not assigned a specific watch are grouped into damage control teams
TACTICAL WATCHES
During a tactical alert, the ship's Tactical Officer assumes station on the bridge while additional watches are activated in the ship's armory as follows
WEAPONS CONTROL MONITOR (WCM)
SECURITY TEAM OFFICER (STO)
SECURITY TEAM LEADER (STL)
SECURITY TEAM MEMBER (STM)
Responsible for local control of weapons and directing specific repairs to damaged weapons systems
A commissioned security officer overseeing all security teams on the ship
A Senior Crewman directing a specific security team
Crewman holding the rate of Security Guard are assigned to this position while Crewmen with an expert qualification on sidearm weapons augment the security team.
Starship Duty Sections
Duty sections onboard a starship may be activated when a ship is docked at a facility, and the ship has been placed into Cold Iron (CI) status. In this case, the starship duty section generally conforms to Chapter 4 of the Starfleet Administration Manual with the exception that the position of Quarterdeck Officer is replaced with the rotating watch station of Anchorage Officer, which mans the ship's bridge and monitors routine operations and any incoming communications. Likewise, a Duty Engineer oversees all routine engineering systems but is not required to be physically present at all times in the engineering section, although a twenty-four hour Engineering Sounder watch must be active on a rotating watch schedule.
SECTION FOUR
Shipboard Qualification Procedures
The Commanding Officer is ultimately responsible for the conduct and training of all watch standers onboard a Starfleet vessel and is the authority to which all watch qualifications are issued. The Commanding Officer is assisted in this duty by the Senior Watch Officer and may receive advice and recommendations from the shipboard department heads. The Commanding Officer however may never delegate approval of watch certification to another.
Implied Qualifications
In situations where senior personnel hold pre-requisite qualifications or equivalent certifications, it shall be unnecessary to qualify on all subordinate watches, provided the following criteria are met:
* By virtue of their position, the Commanding Officer is considered qualified in every shipboard watch station. The ship's Captain is not required to qualify themselves nor have individual watch stations entered as qualified into their service record.
* The First Officer of a Starfleet vessel is likewise considered qualified in all duty stations but must receive a formal appointment as a Bridge Duty Officer.
* The ship's Chief Engineer is considered to be qualified in every engineering watch; however, the Commanding Officer must formally appoint the Chief Engineer as both a Bridge Engineering Officer and Engineering Officer of the Watch before formal watches may be stood.
* The Commanding Officer may not grant qualification as a Duty Helmsman to any personnel who do not hold either a Warp Craft Operator's License or a
Warp Craft Pilot's Certification. In extreme cases, the position of Acting Helmsman may be issued if no qualified personnel are available.
* The ship's Tactical Officer must be appointed to the position as Bridge Tactical Officer but does not require appointment to all lesser tactical duty stations.
Under Instruction Watches
Shipboard personnel wishing to qualify for duty positions may do so utilizing the "Under Instruction" system of watch standing. Under Instruction watches are stood in tandem with a qualified watch stander who acts as an instructor. In most cases, the student watch stander (known as the "U/I") may be removed from their regular watch duties in order to focus on learning the new duty station. At the conclusion of the designated period of instruction, the U/I watch stander may be required to complete a shipboard written examination (as approved by the Training Officer) and further attend a "qualification board" attended by the Captain, First Officer, and one other commissioned officer, usually from the section where the watch applies. Qualification boards are typically only required for senior watch standers.
In situations where a watch station also requires formal training, which may be impractical to obtain while underway in space, the Commanding Officer may authorize an "Acting Qualification" until such time as the Starfleet member may be assigned to a formal Starfleet training course. The qualification may then be made permanent upon completion of the required course or expire at the end of this ship's space deployment.
Re-Qualifications
Personnel transferring between starships who have previously qualified to stand watch stations on different vessels are not required to repeat the qualification process in its entirety on the new starship. In such cases, the Training Officer may administer a "re-qualification examination" and, for senior positions, the watch stander may be required to attend a re-qualification board with the ship's Commanding Officer. Failing to obtain a re-qualification is not considered a revocation of the original watch qualification (which may only be as the result of a disciplinary action) but rather an indication that the current command does not hold enough confidence for the watch stander to perform the particular qualification on the current starship.
Collateral Duty Positions
Collateral duty appointments must be made in all cases for the position of Senior Watch Officer and Damage Control Officer. The Commanding Officer may appoint at a Ship's Safety Officer (requires completion of the Safety Officer correspondence course). The ship's Tactical Officer is normally also appointed as the Training Officer, and supervises under-instruction watch personnel, qualification examinations, and the scheduling of qualification boards.
SECTION FIVE
Starship Life Cycle
During the course of its operational life, a Starfleet vessel undergoes three distinct phases: Pre-Commissioning, Post-Commissioning, and Operational Deployment. Following deployment, the starship may further undergo additional phases of training as well as a refit period to update equipment and systems to more modern designs.
PHASE ONE: CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING
Ships in the construction and commissioning phase are concerned with assignment of the initial pre-commissioning crew, certifying initial qualifications for all watch standers, and passing the ship's warp engineering certification. A starship may be retained in the pre-commissioning phase until the warp engine has been deemed within 94% efficiency. Although rare to suffer a warp engine failure during pre-commissioning testing, a starship with a defective or faulty warp engine may be disestablished and the commissioning of the vessel canceled.
PHASE TWO: SHAKEDOWN CRUISE
The Shakedown Cruise of a Starfleet vessel is an opportunity to test all onboard systems in a controlled environment and correct any minor discrepancies and flaws while underway in space. It should be extremely rare for a starship to fail a Shakedown Cruise, which would normally only occur due to a major system failure while underway. In such an occurrence, the starship may return to a shipyard facility for upgrades and maintenance. If the Shakedown Cruise discovers a critical flaw making the ship un-spaceworthy, the vessel may be "dis-continued" where the ship is formally removed from the starship vessel registry.
PHASE THREE: OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT PHASE
Following all certifications of space-worthiness, a Starfleet vessel receives an operational certification to deploy into deep space. The ship's crew then enters into a self-assessment training cycle of several months, divided into both an evaluation and exercise period. A formal deployment typically lasts between three to five years, after which the ship spends several months in a post deployment phase where the ship is repaired and upgraded.
Following a re-certification of the ship's engines, the starship reenters the deployment cycle with a new operational certification. Older vessels may be designated instead as either training or reserve ships, meaning they do not enter a new deployment cycle but remain as commissioned vessels. Training and reserve ships may be called back into active service (and reenter the deployment cycle) or eventually be decommissioned.