Starfleet Enlisted Training Command
Starfleet Enlisted Training Command is the division of Starfleet Training Command responsible for basic and advanced training for enlisted members of Starfleet. This department includes hundreds of separate Enlisted Training Centers across the Federation, as well as several Technical Service Academies for advanced training. All enlisted members of Starfleet go through basic training, but training beyond that is highly variable based on the individual's skills and prior experience.
Starfleet Enlisted Training Centers
Every recruit starts their Starfleet career at an Enlisted Training Center (ETC), which are found on most major starbases throughout the Federation as well as many member worlds and developed colonies. These centers guide new recruits through basic training and their apprenticeships, with the total time spent there ranging from six months to one year.
These centers vary in size based on the population of the planet or station they are attached to, and can be found shoreside and in space. Crewmen Recruit and Crewmen Apprentice are housed in bunkrooms sleeping anywhere from 20 to 40 trainees, where they are quickly acclimatized to the routine and discipline expected for life in Starfleet.
Enlistment
Federation citizens wishing to enter Starfleet as an enlisted member can do so at any Enlisted Training Center. After a physical examination certifying that they are clear for interstellar service and a criminal background check, potential recruits swear or affirm an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets, the Federation Charter, and Starfleet Regulations, as well as to follow the lawful orders of their superiors. After completing this process, they are assigned a training officer who will make sure they are placed into the appropriate programs to prepare them for service.
This process is slightly different for non-Federation citizens, who must also either receive an endorsement from a command-grade officer before applying, or go before a board of several line officers after applying to ensure their fitness for Starfleet service. If their application is accepted, they proceed through the rest of the process.
Starfleet Basic Training
Basic Training is a six-month course designed to prepare trainees for the rigors of space travel and the discipline and decorum required of all members of Starfleet. Physical training, classroom learning, and simulations are all a part of this experience, with a particular emphasis on safety and emergency procedures. Topics covered include zero-gravity training, starship and station emergency procedures, fitness and nutrition, first aid, and basic small arms use.
While some trainees refer to this as "boot camp," that is a term that is not favored officially by Starfleet. With that being said, it bears similarities to various enlisted training and indoctrination programs that have been used historically by the various defense forces and exploratory organizations of the Federation's member worlds. It is an intensive, demanding experience but not one where shame is used as a teaching tool.
Trainees hold the grade of crewman recruit for the duration of this program, being promoted to crewman apprentice or crewman at its conclusion, depending on their need for an apprenticeship.
Enlistment and Basic Training In-Play
- Not everyone who joins Starfleet wants to spend four years (or more) at Starfleet Academy, especially if they're eager to get out there to see the stars. Still, as Gene Roddenberry noted, even the cooks on a starship would be trained astronauts, and so you'd need some training first. Modern day basic training for the US Navy is 7 weeks, and 10 weeks for the Royal Navy. Since space travel is an order of magnitude more dangerous and complex, we're imagining basic training for Starfleet would take 6 months.
- People entering Starfleet with a degree could choose to go to Officer Candidate School through Starfleet Academy instead, but this wouldn't really be necessary for everyone, especially scientists who wouldn't need that leadership training to get started.
- Going through basic training would prepare a crewman for survival situations, zero-G operations, and spacewalks--as well as the other basic, practical things Starfleet cadets would get, but without the additional academic experience.
Starfleet Career Apprenticeships
For trainees entering the fleet with no applicable career or academic experience, Career Apprenticeships are the next stage in the enlisted training program, and are a combination of classroom learning and job shadowing meant to prepare crewmen apprentices through a six-month course to become crewmen with a specialty in one of six basic areas of starship or station service:
- Engineering Technician Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of basic maintenance and damage control
- Science Technician Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of tricorder use, laboratory safety, and sample preparation
- Medical Technician Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of medical tricorder use, patient repositioning, and advanced first aid
- Operations Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of load balancing, cargo bay operations, and supply operations
- Security Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship
- Yeoman Apprenticeship - Fundamentals of data security, report preparation, and protocol
Often, on training centers attached to starbases, apprentices will spend a lot of time actually learning from more senior enlisted members and officers in addition to more structured academic learning. Some ETCs on more isolated worlds use holodeck training to replicate this experience. Sometimes, deployment schedules and staffing needs will mean that crewmen recruits are posted directly to starships, where they finish their apprenticeships truly in the field. Upon finishing the apprenticeship stage, a crewman apprentice is promoted to crewman and is qualified for starship or space station service.
Often professionals with university degrees or other prior experience will enlist in Starfleet with no immediate desire to become an officer. While Basic Training is required for everyone, someone with significant experience as a civilian technician, medic, etc. may be allowed to skip the apprenticeship at the discretion of their training officer, advancing directly to Crewman from Crewman Apprentice.
Apprenticeships In-Play
- As with basic training, modern militaries have apprenticeships and service schools that take between 6 and 16 weeks, but we're imagining apprenticeships taking six months--which also makes a service history easier to write.
- If someone had experience in a trade or an academic degree, they might skip this step entirely.
- This would be a lot of on-the-job learning, and it's possible that it would be done on a starship, but rare. It would be unusual for a crewman apprentice to be on a starship, and if they were they would definitely be going through this training process.
Starfleet Technical Services Academy
Structured in parallel to Starfleet Academy, the Starfleet Technical Services Academy is a series of facilities around the Federation that provide enlisted personnel with opportunities to gain more education in a wide variety of specialty areas, both directly connected to the six apprenticeship programs and in areas like diplomatic and legal support, tactical, intelligence, and mentorship through several schools. Six-month and one-year programs exist and can be taken at multiple stages within an enlisted member's career. Many of these facilities share resources and personnel with a Starfleet Academy campus, but they do not award academic degrees.
Unlike at Starfleet Academy, training programs are laid out strictly by department, not by academic field (though in the sciences these are one and the same). Also unlike Starfleet Academy, these positions are designed to prepare an individual for a specific role within a department rather than as generalists. Six-month programs prepare enlisted members to become technicians (who are closely supervised by specialists and officers) while twelve-month programs prepare enlisted members to become specialists. For Engineering, Operations, Science, Medical, and Counseling, members need to have completed the relevant six-month program before completing the twelve-month program.
Not all enlisted members take programs through this academy, as it is possible to qualify for more advanced roles via on-the-job training in most cases, or to join the fleet with experience in another service (Such as the Starfleet Auxiliary) or possess a relevant academic degree that would make this training redundant. It is also possible to take programs from these schools via the holodeck and other distance learning techniques, which is often preferred by members who have enlisted in the first place to avoid spending years in a classroom setting before making it out into the field.
Technical Services Academy In Play
- A college degree isn't the be-all, end-all for a successful career in the modern day or in the 25th century, but many of the jobs on a starship would need advanced training for someone to be able to do them well--and some would need this training to be done at all, especially operating a transporter or other sensitive system. That's what these programs are for.
- These programs would generally be for petty officers and could be done at an actual training facility or through distance learning.
- Starfleet Academy prepares generalists, while these programs prepare specialists.
Technical Services School
The Technical Services School provides foundational and intermediate training in engineering and operations occupations, which allow enlisted members to gain critical technical knowledge in things like transporter operations, engine maintenance, and computer operation. It is the largest of the schools within the Technical Services Academy. This school has six-month programs qualifying individuals as technicians, who work under the very close supervision of officers and specialists, and one-year programs qualifying individuals as specialists who have more autonomy and experience.
| Department | Six-Month Programs | One-Year Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering |
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| Operations |
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| Flight Control |
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1Computer Operations refers to the protocols for operating standard starship and space station computer systems, especially with regard to things like access rights, data security, and other software-related things, while Computer Systems Engineering refers to the physical installation, maintenance, and repair of computer systems and networks, but there is overlap here.
Scientific Services School
The Scientific Services School provides foundational and intermediate training in core scientific disciplines, allowing enlisted members of the fleet to handle advanced laboratory work, or to move beyond lab technician duties to become scientists in their own right. The six-month programs qualify an individual as a technician within one of the major scientific sections aboard a station or starbase, where they assist in any or all of the fields within that section, while the twelve-month programs qualify an individual as a specialist within an individual scientific area. While eighteen months of training is insufficient time to get a full and complete sense of the discipline, it sets enlisted members up with a strong foundation to allow them to learn and develop on the job.
| Department | Six-Month Programs | One-Year Programs |
|---|---|---|
| General Science & Archival Services |
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| Space Sciences | Space Sciences Technician |
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| Planetary Sciences | Planetary Sciences Technician |
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| Social Sciences | Social Sciences Technician |
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| Biological Sciences | Biological Sciences Technician |
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2This program covers similar topics to those covered in the Science Technician Apprenticeship, but focuses specifically on laboratory work, especially operating and maintaining standard lab equipment, while the apprenticeship also includes field training components.
Medical Services School
The Medical Services School has programs designed for specific vocations within medicine and counseling, which allow for enlisted members to become certified in a number of specialties, including nursing assistants, counselor's assistants, and field medics. While it is not possible to become a nurse, counselor, or physician through this school, it is possible to become well-trained as an assistant to these roles reserved for officers. Nursing assistants are often referred to in short-hand as 'nurses' especially by laymen, but their role is to support nurses and carry out care decisions made by nurses and physicians.
| Department | Six-Month Programs | One-Year Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Medical |
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| Counseling |
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3Nursing Technicians and Nursing Specialists assist Registered Nurses (who are officers) and perform many basic care functions such as checking vitals, delivering meals, administering routine medications and vaccinations, collecting samples and taking scans, and other things under the direction of the patient's nurse and physician. The 21st Century Equivalent would be a Licensed Practical Nurse or a Nursing Assistant.
4Generally, Field Medical Technicians and Field Medical Specialists are just called Medics or Field Medics in practice.
Security Services School
The Security Services School includes training programs for security, tactical, intelligence, and strategic operations, conceptualizing security broadly in terms of Starfleet's defensive mandate rather than limiting that to just shipboard security departments. This school consists entirely of one-year programs which are meant for security officers who have had several years of experience in active service, as training in things like hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and shipboard or stationboard safety occurs as part of their normal duties. From there, an enlisted member could transition into tactical, intelligence, or strategic operations.
| Department | Six-Month Programs | One-Year Programs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security | N/A |
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| Tactical | N/A |
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| Intelligence | N/A |
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| Strategic Operations | N/A | Strategy Specialist |
Clerical, Diplomatic, and Legal Services School
The Clerical, Diplomatic, and Legal Services School is a catch-all for training programs to prepare enlisted members to serve in support functions. As with the Security Services School, there are only one-year programs, as the vocations associated with this school require moderate to high clearance levels and are more suited to individuals with several years of service. A common career path is to spend a few years as a yeoman before specializing into one of these three areas.
| Department | Six-Month Programs | One-Year Programs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative Support | N/A |
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| Diplomatic Support | N/A |
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| Judge-Advocate General's Corps | N/A |
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