Starship and Space Station Positions

Starships and starbases have multiple positions for officers and crew. This article gives several of the most common positions, listed by department. The word 'unit' is used as short-hand to refer to either a starship or space station. While there are similarities across all units, individual commanding officers have wide latitude in developing a command structure that best suits their particular unit, so individual differences are common.

Command Division

The Command Division is denoted by the color red, and includes the unit-level departments of Command, Flight Control, and Strategic Operations.

Command Department

The Command Department includes both the senior-most officers of the unit, as well as administrative support personnel. On the largest units (such as starbases) there can be dozens of people in the command department, while on smaller units it may just be the senior officers and a yeoman or two. Smaller units also often combine command-related departments such as Intelligence or Diplomacy, if officers in those specialties are present.

Standard Command Positions

Commanding Officer

• The Commanding Officer is the senior-most officer in charge of a unit. They have ultimate responsibility for the safety of their crew and for carrying out Starfleet's instructions.
• Aboard a starship, the commanding officer is always addressed as 'captain' even if they have a lower rank, but this custom does not apply to space stations.
• Being the commanding officer of a starship is an extremely prestigious assignment, and due to the difficulties of communicating in real time with Starfleet Command even within the Federation, starship CO's are empowered to act as ambassadors speaking with the voice of the Federation Council and able to conduct negotiations on behalf of the Federation. They also have significant authority over Federation citizens and the commanders of lesser vessels in emergency situations.
• Starbase commanding officers are often also the senior-most Starfleet officers in a particular sector, and so exercise authority of starships within their jurisdiction.
• Starships are rarely commanded directly by flag officers more senior than commodores. For the flagships of more senior officers, it is very common for the ship to have its own captain, who handles the day-to-day running of the ship. Historically, this officer would be called a Flag Captain, but the use of this term varies based on officers' preferences. Typically, a Flag Captain is relatively junior in seniority, given that they are closely supervised by their flag officer.
• The commanding officers of lesser vessels (Starfleet Auxiliary ships such as transports, tankers, freighters, etc.) do not have the same wide latitude that starship captains do.