2024 marks fifty years since the creation of Starfleet Command as a whole. In it’s early years SFC was a fully immersive fan organisation and still carries a lot of those elements in the 21st century. Even with the split between Quadrant’s 1 & 2 decades ago, we still retain some of the legacy ideologies and policies baked into our “Starfleet Handbook” for new and existing members.
We’ve spoken about promotions and rank structures in SFC, but when it comes to how things work we like to keep things as simple and clear as possible when it comes to leadership structure.
As much as the rank and rewards system mirrors the fictionalised naval structure of Starfleet, so so does the Chain of Command. On screen each crew is led by it’s Captain while back home they answer to Admirals sending out the assignments and supervising the exploration into the unknown. Our unknown is a little less space adventure, but the logic remains the same and has remained one of the most consistent elements of how Q2 operates to this day.
At it’s core, Q2’s leadership is split into three distinct categories.
Fleet Operations & The Admiralty Board
Led by the Director of Operations, the Admiralty Board is a group selected by function to serve the fleet as a whole. These functions and titles can vary based on needs and demand, as can the number of people on the board itself based on the needs of the organisation.
The two core branches in recent years have been Administration and Communications. Administration handled incoming members, membership services and information handling. Communications can range from a newsletter to social media as long as the mission is to keep the fleet involved. At the top the Director of Operations is the guardian of all things Q2, in charge of overall policies, vision and structure.
Any subject that effects the fleet or overall membership is handled by Fleet Operations/the board.
The Captains Table
Commanding officers are the leaders on the ground and perhaps the most valued of all. Captains are the face of the fleet and the most visible leaders, helping to manage, coordinate and shape each unit with their owns styles and autonomy. Each Captain represents an area – mostly by geographical location – and handles any events, plans or issues within that location.
Each Captain ‘reports’ to the board, which doesn’t mean they’re given orders or told what to do, but any issues that effect the fleet or need to be raised get fed to Admin by the Captains, which can include stepping down or expulsion of a member to recommending people for larger fleet support roles or fleet wide recognition.
Anything related to your local group is for your Captain and delegates.
Fleet Support
An element of the fleet that varies over time is Fleet Support. Primary roles would traditionally include Starbase Europa CO; a role designed to be the voice of the fleet and head up social media moderation or fleet wide online shenanigans, and Academy which was once a bustling part of the fleet that has been reduced in scope over time. Roles come and go depending on era and need, which has even included JAG officer for disputes and complaints in the past.
Fleet Support has currently been recruiting, with news on assignments coming soon, however each role in Fleet Support is a defined and usually obvious purpose from the new Internal Affairs role designed to handle complaints within the fleet or record any issues or incidents at events to Development Officer who’s role will be to aid Admin in new unit interests.
The overall goal is to make sure you know where to go if you need to get in touch with someone. Unit matters such as arranging meet ups or helping out? Straight to the Captain. Need help with membership or the fleet? That’s all Admin. Something more specific? Fleet Support will have a contact for that!
To simplify:
- Fleet Ops are the Admin, handling membership services and fleet wide concerns and media
- Captains are the leaders of the fleet managing localised events and activities
- Fleet Support roles are specific and recognisable needs to help members on all levels.
To amplify simplicity, the membership tiers of officer (confirmed active member) and Cadet (new member) mirrors the ease of what we aim for; visual simplicity. The same threads carry over in unit recognition – such as a small starship class for a small group or large for a larger unit – just as it does on screen for figuring out who’s in command based on the colour of their shirt.
If you see a Captain, they’re the leader. If you see Admiral, they’re admin and if you see a Romulan? Well… shields up, red alert?
About the author
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