SFC has always structured it’s internal reward and recognition system on the command structure of Starfleet on screen. Newbies are cadets. When they become full members, they become Ensigns. And those eager to take on a leadership role can rank up to Commander or Captain. Even the board of directors are mirrored within the theme as Commodores and Admirals! It’s always been the way, but the path of an officer isn’t for everyone…
Despite the original idea of all star ship personnel being highly trained astronauts, therefore nullifying the need for enlisted crew, the enlisted ranks have existed in some form since the original series. More defined in the film era, particularly under the revision of style and structure in The Wrath of Khan, they have been slightly more prominent since. Most notable of the enlisted members of Starfleet was Chief O’Brien and his engineering staff, all role-specific crew trained as specialists in their field without the comprehensive and varied training structure of the Academy.
Within SFC, traditionally the title of crewman has been reserved for members who were under 16 or 18 (era and location dependant). However, for a variety of factors – including the evolving legislation that covers out online activities – we’ve had a bit of an age gate for a while now and recently updated Captains on new directives going forward.
With that change, it inspired us to wonder… if we’re not using it as shorthand any more, why not use it across the fleet itself?
Over the past little while, we’ve been trialling a new way of thinking within our application process by adding a career track option. Since it’s addition, new members have been able to select whether they’d choose to join as Officer or Enlisted. We didn’t think there’d be much of a reaction to be completely honest, but over an eighteen month period, it did seem to make a difference. Around 26% of new membership applications chose the Enlisted track.
Between out under-16/18 policy change and over a quarter of applicants showing us that there is interest, we’re officially adapted and added Enlisted ranks to our Fleet Database!
Our new enlisted structure is a blend of the various enlisted structures used both on screen and from production materials with a little tweaking to mirror the Officers ranks in structure. And doesn’t change our membership process by much. If you prefer officer? You come in as a Cadet, then after your provisional welcome term, become an ensign. If you prefer enlisted? Just swap that out with Crewman and Specialist!
There is a bit more to it overall; officer membership can move into leadership roles, while Enlisted membership is designed for those who never want to take the big chair. That aside, the reward and recognition structure stays exactly the same.
Our membership handbook will be updated to reflect the changes in the coming weeks. Until then you can learn more at the Fleet Database.
About the author
New Unit Application Guide
Account Academy Database Fleet Updates Calendar Latest Entries Explore Database Index Starfleet Academy Help & Support ⯇ DATABASE INDEX ACCOUNT HUB NEw Unit Application Guide Clarification This section is both for information and for making formal applications for creating or importing a new unit into SFCQ2. Applications can also be made directly to Fleet Administration. All applications are considered for review. × JOIN THE CAPTAINS TABLE Every Star Trek fans dreams of being the captain of their own Starship. Although running an SFC Quadrant 2 Unit is (probably) easier than commanding a starship, both roles require commitment and dedication.Unit’s are, and always will be, the core of SFC. It is within them that members can indulge in their shared interests for Star Trek and science fiction while enjoying the company of fellow fans and like minded people. At their best, […]
[Q2&A] Membership Handbook: Revised & Updated for 2026
With over fifty years (and counting) of history, joining SFC can sometimes be a whirlwind and while we're always focused on a more casual experience, tit can sometimes be overwhelming knowing where to start. While we offer our Academy as an induction tour of Quadrant 2's organisation and structure, and are always open to expanding more information in the Fleet Database, our Officers Pack gives you a one stop resource to highlight our core policies, membership information and more; The Membership Handbook/ Membership within Q2 is fairly laid back. But since it's inception - both overall as Starfleet Command as well as the administrative split for Quadrant 2 - out handbook has outlined who we are, how we operate and as a resource for members to be able to understand what membership entails from our core mission statement, to our […]
[Retro Review] The Galileo Seven
Pulled in two directions, the Enterprise has to deliver critical medical supplies to avert a plague and conduct vital research at the same time. Unable to turn down the order, Kirk thinks on his feet by carrying forward to save the planet, while sending Spock to lead a research team on the Galileo shuttle to carry out their mission until the Enterprise has finished it's mission of mercy. It's a good idea. Until it isn't. Isolated form the Enterprise, the Galileo runs into a bit of bother. Thrown off course by plot, the shuttle crash lands on a primitive planet. Alone with a broken ship and a people who are as barbaric as they are terrified by the shuttles sudden arrival, Spock has to lead his own team through fear and frustration with cool and calming logic. On the first […]
A Fistful of O’Brien
Entering the Star Trek world as an unnamed extra with a few bits of dialogue, O'Brien soon became a fixture on the Enterprise D as it's transporter chief before moving to Deep Space Nine to head up engineering and operations on what was thought to be a backwater outpost before it became one of the most strategically important stations in the quadrant!As the only enlisted or non commissioned officer to feature in the main cast of any Star Trek show to date, O'Brien stands as the only working class hero in the Star Trek universe with a vast and varied career taking from the front lines of the Cardassian war as a soldier, to the front lines of the Dominion War as an engineer, retrofitting DS9, keeping the Defiant from blowing itself apart, and even sniping Dominion troops. All in […]
[Q2&A] Career Track
SFC has always structured it's internal reward and recognition system on the command structure of Starfleet on screen. Newbies are cadets. When they become full members, they become Ensigns. And those eager to take on a leadership role can rank up to Commander or Captain. Even the board of directors are mirrored within the theme as Commodores and Admirals! It's always been the way, but the path of an officer isn't for everyone... Despite the original idea of all star ship personnel being highly trained astronauts, therefore nullifying the need for enlisted crew, the enlisted ranks have existed in some form since the original series. More defined in the film era, particularly under the revision of style and structure in The Wrath of Khan, they have been slightly more prominent since. Most notable of the enlisted members of Starfleet was […]
[Retro Review] Space Seed
By chance, the Enterprise comes across an ancient Earth ship drifting through space. On board they find a whole bunch of people held in suspended animation, wake up the leader of the gang and accidentally unleash one of the most iconic villains of the franchise. Being coy with his identity at first, ship historian Marla McGivers becomes fascinated with a glimpse at the past while Kirk and the rest of the non-historians figure out that he just happens to be one of the most notorious war lords in Earths history... Star Trek, Season 1 , Episode 22 For all the action and adventure of deep space and the idea of using alien make up to mask more down to earth stories, Space Seed gives the first real glimpse of Star Trek's history. Khan is a relic of Earth from long […]
Related
[Q2&A] Membership Handbook: Revised & Updated for 2026
With over fifty years (and counting) of history, joining SFC can sometimes be a whirlwind and while we're always focused on a more casual experience, tit can sometimes be overwhelming knowing where to start. While we offer our Academy as an induction tour of Quadrant 2's organisation and structure, and are always open to expanding more information in the Fleet Database, our Officers Pack gives you a one stop resource to highlight our core policies, membership information and more; The Membership Handbook/ Membership within Q2 is fairly laid back. But since it's inception - both overall as Starfleet Command as well as the administrative split for Quadrant 2 - out handbook has outlined who we are, how we operate and as a resource for members to be able to understand what membership entails from our core mission statement, to our […]
[Q2&A] Fleet Recognition
While SFC's rank system is one of the most obvious form of rewards within Quadrant 2, with members informally given the rank and title for each grade, rank is just one level of recognition within the fleet for out Captains and Fleet Support to highlight a members contributions. While SFC's rank system is one of the most obvious form of rewards within Quadrant 2, with members informally given the rank and title for each grade, rank is just one level of recognition within the fleet for out Captains and Fleet Support to highlight a members contributions. A more common form of recognition are our Commendations and Citations. Having taken various forms over the years, our commendations are the more open of all with four categories – Service, Departmental, Leadership or Special Commendations. Commendations and Special Commendations are the most common […]
[Q2&A] Orientation: The Officers Hub
In the past ten years we've tried to make a conscious effort to make things easier for members to manage and consult the admin side of Q2. Before the days of the internet, any guides, documents or forms were issued by request and a little harder to come by but now things tend to be found within our online membership portal that's constantly changing and growing based on feedback from across the fleet. Now we try to make things as easy add adaptable as possible, utilising our online home for as many member needs as we can with our key resource online being our Officers Hub. In it's current form the Officers Hub is a catch all place for fleet updates and membership administration, allowing you to make changes, updates or get information about Q2 and it's processes without having […]
[Q2&A] Celebrating Ten Years of the USS Churchill
Commissioned in February 2016 to oversee operations in Southern England and Wales, the USS Churchil is one of two online-centric units created by merging several localised units into one larger region. Throughout 2015-16, SFC was experiencing some fatigue and, to cut it short, needed a bit of a reboot. While there was activity and things were ticking along, the fleet as a whole was in a bit of a rough patch. After a huge fleet wide consultation, we went full Voyager and hit the reset button. Keeping Sovereign active as the 'catch all' unit with a heavy base in the North of England and Ireland, there was enough spark in the South to keep things alive with a new combined 'super-unit', a second online base from which to grow. Using the Sovereign as a template, the USS Churchill was created […]
[Q2&A] Positively Positive.
Last week Starfleet Academy debuted and something odd happened. If you're a regular to any Trek news or discussion site, you noticed a spike. Even our usually sleepy Facebook profile went from a handful of likes to over 2,000, am good chunk of which got deleted. It wasn't a normal spike, certainly not normal for a debut show, not normal to be everywhere and – to be frank – not normal in terms of comments. It was a mix of disturbing and sad. Disturbing for the high amount of bigoted and sexist memes and commentary that seemed to mock murdered US citizens. For a subculture of fandom that grew up praising – to the point of gloating – that Star Trek was about intellectualism and inclusion, it certainly showed that as a fandom, and a united international culture, we've taken more […]
[Meet The Fleet] Academy Interim Commandant
Joining SFC can sometimes be a whirlwind. As part of our Q2&A Updates, we've decided it's time to Meet The Fleet! After introducing our Director of Administration, we're heading to the Academy to meet the person in charge of the new restructure and developments in progress for the fleets training program! Jovak (Jo) Interim Academy Commandant, SFCHQ Service ID: SC-785884-DVP Current Rank: Senior Specialist Enlisted: 78612.63 (August 2024) A relatively new addition to Q2's Fleet Support, Jo joined as part of the Devonport Reserve for inactive members due to having a personal dislike for social media groups but a big fan of the Universe. Working in training in development in the real world they joined the team in a background role to specifically work on new ideas for Academy on a short-term basis to give it a stronger presence heading […]
