Life of a...

[Arrun Dihsar]

Here I present the "Life of a..." series. Where officers, crewmen, and civilians aboard the Starships and Starbases of Starfleet tell you what they do, what their jobs are like, and who they are as individuals. In this way I hope to invite any and all members of Shadowfleet to speak "In-Character" about what their characters do and what they think of their job. Of course, roles will double up, such as the Department Head of Flight; however, I invite you to still tell the story of what your character thinks of the job, what they may have experienced unique in their career, or if the way things done on their ship is different. In this way, I hope to have a snapshot of many characters and to give a rough guideline of how things work here in the Shadowfleet.

Primary sources that I have also used are: Memory Alpha http://memory-alpha.wikia.com & HELP: Departmental Duties https://www.shadowfleet.org/forum/index.php?topic=6310.0. I also watched and read a bit about Real Life counterparts of the job and made some assumptions from there. Some of it I am just making up as makes sense to me. I am, of course, also open to amendments or corrections if I stray too far from ShadowFleet standard or expectation.

***

Life of a Department Head: Chief of Flight Control

Hello, I am Lieutenant Dihsar Arrun, I am a Bajoran born on the colony of E'Toria, I am the Chief of Flight Control otherwise known as Flight Controller, Chief Flight Officer, or head of Flight. I serve aboard the Federation Starship USS Athena. My primary role is to be the primary helmsman and navigator for the ship. In addition to that, I supervise three sub-departments.

The first department is Shuttlebay Control. Any shuttlecraft or equivalent leaving the Athena is watched over from the Flight Control Center. Think of the air traffic or space traffic controllers you may have heard of from holo-novel programs or during flight you may have taken. Any ship leaving or docking with the Athena is given clearances, flight guidance, and so on to ensure safe flying and avoiding accidents and collisions.

The second department is Navigation. They are responsible for making sure we do not get lost in space and plotting safe courses for the ship to take to where it is going. They review weather advisories, strategic advisories, and generally making sure any known hazard is brought to the attention of myself, the XO, and the CO. Their goal isn't to warn a crew in the moment but to brief everyone and anyone who wants to know what might be out there.

The third department is Flight. They are the pilots and general maintenance technicians of the ship's propulsion systems and shuttlecraft. The first half most are aware of, the most visible part of the whole Flight Control Department. The second half are the crewmen who ensure what is supposed to fly can fly. For major repairs, refits, overhauls, and so on: we defer to the Engineering staff for their more advanced expertise and tools.

In all, the Chief of Flight has to be familiar with all three sub-departments, if only to know how to direct them and know they are doing their jobs correctly. Most department heads traditionally come from the Flight department. It is a rare captain that advances a navigator or shuttlebay tower controller, but it does happen. At any point, I need to be able to sit on the bridge, fly an aerowing for the Captain, check safeties on all shuttle aboard, or even direct space and air traffic in my area. To get this job, you need to learn as much as you ever did in the Academy.

I started as an ensign and have had the fortune to be on the same ship for my career until now. This has let me be mentored by the same senior officers and the petty officers aboard to be better at my job; and its easier on them since they get to know me and how I work. Though I have heard it is very common for members of Flight Control be transferred as needed; so I would always suggest reading up or taking correspondance courses as needed. If nothing else, consult with your Chief of Flight: they will know what the best resources aboard are for you.

As for my day to day, every working day: I do my morning briefings of all sub-department heads, checking the status of the ship, addressing any of the previous day's issues, and briefing them on any new mission requirement I am made aware of. After morning briefing, I usually go to Flight Control, go in my office and review various reports, review charts, maintaince logs, and so on. At some point in every day, I have bridge duty. Usually the Alpha shift, but not always. From the bridge, I move the ship as ordered and advise the bridge staff of navigational and flight concerns. Sometimes, I am called upon to determine solutions to strange problems, as all officers on a starship do. But, in my case, sometimes flying where you need to go is not quite so simple as a straight line.

After bridge duty, I will goto my office again, typically to prepare for a general meeting with the XO for a department-wide report. Sometimes I perform a navigation report on courses the ship is taking or might take and discuss the details. This might involve a follow-up meeting with the CO if there is a special diversion or amendment required; but generally the XO is briefed on what needs to be done on a day-to-day.

At the end of a duty shift, I usually hit he holo-deck or the shuttlebay and perform flight drills; to keep my flight skills sharp. I might spend some time reviewing flight regulations, both Federation and Non-Federation. If I have time, I try to get in some personal development; like writing articles on better flight procedure or learning more about the uniform code of justice. After all that, I do my nightly prayers and get some sleep.

Now, you may have noticed I did not mention mess hall time. That comes as I can manage it. As required, I do get my morning, midday, and nightly meals: but, as a Department Head I usually have a working lunch or breakfast. This job keeps you very busy and it can be hard to find time to unwind. But I will always suggest to find time to sit down with the rest of the crew and relax and eat. Pushing yourself is admirable right up until you collapse from exhaustion. I have been there, and you do not want to hear a lecture on better living habits for an hour.

As a Bajoran, a recent Federation member, there are unique challenges. Before Starfleet, I was a priest on Bajor. I was leading the people on matters of faith, settling disputes, and aiding my fellow brothers and sisters with their duties. For many Bajorans, our faith is a center point, a defining pillar of who we are. Some are very devout, like myself, and some do not belief at all. But, in the end, it is a cultural cornerstone for all Bajorans. Our art, culture, laws, ethics, so on. So, when you have a very religious society integrating with a much more secular one like the Federation: there can be cultural shocks that many Bajorans struggle with. Unlike the Vulcans, we have not been part of Federation culture as a people, as a world. So, there can be growing pains and adjustments, even these days. But, I can tell you, that most Starfleet crewmen and officers are very understanding and sometimes even curious about Bajoran ways. So, I advise anyone considering Starfleet to not be discouraged, no matter how different you may be; how unique your people and culture: Starfleet accepts anyone willing to work hard, serve virtously, and stand up for those who can't.

***

I should note: no-one should feel they need to write quite as much as I did. Even a brief snapshot is good. The idea I has was a sort of "So You're Interesting In Joining Starfleet" thing. The sort of recruitment style video where people read/watch about the job to see if it is right or interesting for them. Most videos I have seen (for CanForce or the US military) have videos or testimonals of people doing that job. Though I have never served, I find such things interesting. So, on a lark, I thought it might be interesting for us to do here.

Anyway, thank you for reading, hope this is enjoyable or helpful for people!

[Kirok]

Arrun,

Thanks for starting this thread!

--

Kirok, like many others here, started off as an Crewman Recruit here in 2012.  I took the OTC.  Then I worked my way up the ladder.

I have served as CO of more ships than I can recall.  I really enjoy having a one to one connection with the people I RP with.  I enjoy creating fun and interesting missions that everyone on the ship enjoys.

My best, most memorable, mission was Ra's Sacrifice.  It created 36 mission pages in 30 days.

That mission was quickly followed by Defined by Opportunity.  A mission created that 41 mission pages in 30 days.  It was so fun working on a collaborative story that broke all previous records and still remains the longest mission in our history.

In 2014 I was finally promoted to Admiral and was put in charge of the Academy.  I loved running the Academy, but eventually was moved over to head of Advertising and recruitment.  That was something I excelled at!

I left Shadow Fleet for awhile.  I returned in 2016.  I jumped right back into advertising and recruitment and was bumped back up to Admiral.

Over the past two years, we together have increased our numbers and opened three new SIMMS.  The 2014 admin group were never able to run more the 3 ships at a time successfully, but we together broke that curse!!!

Now that I am the Fleet Admiral, I don't get to spend as much time to RP with each of you individually.  That is something I really miss sometimes.  But I try to visit the various SIMMS and I participate in the Featured SiMMS to help me RP with you all!

But I do get to see you guys log in each day and create stories of your own.   I get to see you visit new worlds.  I get to see you encounter new species and new cultures.  I get to see you enjoy SF like I did when I first joined and that in and of itself makes me content!

Kirok

[Judith Eastman]

My headcanon is that they told Judy to make a positive promotional video, but she did this instead. Arrogant kvetching follows from here down.

Life of a Department Head: Chief Science Officer

Hello, hello. I'm Lieutenant Judy Eastman, PhD, D.A, D.H.S, M.S. I'm a proud native of the greatest city in the galaxy - New York, New York, on Earth. I serve as the Chief Science Officer of the USS Tempest, overseeing 200 personnel, most of whom are officers and active researchers. My compound role is to ensure that the ship's scientific survey and exploration missions are carried out perfectly, as well as to facilitate the research projects of my subordinates. In between, I also provide support when other departments hit a roadblock that requires the scientific expertise of my department. It's not an easy job.

The first component of my role is overseeing scientific missions sent from the higher-ups. 90% of these are mundane, like cataloguing gaseous anomalies, and require little active involvement on your end. The other 10% involve exploring or examining more unusual phenomena. For these, I have to make sure that the most competent and qualified officers are assigned to the job, and that the other departments play nice. I also have to placate the morons under my command, who inevitably grumble about not getting any of the interesting action. Oh, that beautiful naïveté. If only they knew the stresses of having a hard job that puts them in the spotlight, like mine...

The second component of my job is supporting the self-initiated research projects of my subordinates. With so many scientists, the Tempest's science department is a full-fledged research institute, with some unfortunate twists. First of all, every Starfleet scientist thinks they should lead their own projects, and we don't have students to hire as assistants. Furthermore, we have limited lab space, and restrictions on how many unmanned probes we can use (unfortunately for Ensign Allen's project to make probes run on vole power) that must not only be allocated between these projects, but must be prioritized for our assigned missions. This has forced me to adopt some rules, listed in the order in which I wrote them:
#1: a newly-assigned science officer must act as an assistant on one project, or assist with assigned missions for two months, before being eligible to apply for their own research
#2: any projects for which officers have committed to serve as research assistants will be prioritized over any project for which none have
#3: projects that require less resources will be prioritized over those that require more
#4: projects with external support (equipment grants from the Vulcan Science Academy are oddly popular) will be prioritized
#5: projects that are shorter in duration will be prioritized
#6: projects involving live Cardassian Voles will be rejected on principle. If I see another vole in my coffee, I will murder someone
Usually, my system works. My subordinates crank out research papers like voles crank out more voles, and most of the officers are happy. If they aren't, I beat them.

The third piece of my job, which more often than not falls to me, is to advise the Captain, First Officer, and other departments when everything goes wrong. When the anomaly of the month threatens to kill us all, they turn to me for salvation. Usually, I deliver, and no one dies. When I can't fix it alone, I delegate to my best and brightest underlings, and we work to save the ship and crew. It's very stressful, and definitely part of the reason I'm aging like a President (as if I wasn't old and wrinkled enough), but it pays off in knowing that, while I can kill the bad guys just like a security officer can, they'd be lost if they had to do my job.

As you can see, I have a busy job. I usually eat breakfast at my desk, and schedule power lunches to be productive while I eat. To help me keep later hours, I've become fond of taking 15-minute naps in my office. This way, I can keep at full steam until I get to my quarters at the end of the day, and fix myself a healthy dinner instead of collapsing into my bed immediately. I also depend on coffee to make it through the day. Coffee is God's greatest gift to the galaxy.
Sometimes, I socialize with my friends among the crew. That usually happens on the weekends, when I don't work unless I absolutely must.

So there you have it: my job! It's not easy, but it's rewarding. It also comes with some nice perks, which maybe explains why everyone wants this.

[Djann Tempest]

Life of a....Chief Science Officer!

From the Desk of Dr. Djann Tempest; Chief Science Officer USS Shran; Daystrom Fellow

Hello Cadets!

Mr. Dihsar asked us in the fleet to give you a snapshot of a typical day and who we are to better prepare yourself for what your future might hold in Starfleet. I think it should be said up front that you may have some very atypical days ahead of you as well! But it would take 10 padds to write up the strange, so let's keep to the standard!

On top of being CSO for the Shran I'm also our Second Officer! Luckily the rest of our Command team in Commander Garrison and Captain Ferdinand handle the majority of those duties, I am called on to do some things outside of what a standard Science Officer may do. I am pretty new to the role so I'm still learning as I go, as any good officer should!

Now, to my day. Like most department heads I am on alpha shift so I generally wake anywhere from 0500 and 0530. Unlike someone with pure Vulcan ancestry, I know the value of a good snooze! From there I check for an urgent communiques and spend a good 30 minutes or so meditating.

With watch beginning at 0730 or 0800 (depending on our rotation!) for Alpha, I'm usually left with an hour to an hour and half of time to either prepare anything in the labs for the rest of our staff or catch up on some Command duties. Those duties for me might consist of project oversight and approval or gearing up for our annual Crew Performance Review! On our ship, Commander Garrison (our XO) and myself interview and have a one on one conversation with all of the crew about their performance and any areas in which they would like to grow. We've recently gotten a counselor aboard so I may just get out of that duty this year though!

Since all of you have taken basic Starship operations at this point I don't feel the need to walk you through every single step of my day but I'll give you the broad strokes! At 0800 I'm ready on the bridge for the arrival of the Captain. I usually spend the first hour of my shift tending the bridge station and reviewing assignments for our department for the remaining shifts of the day. Just checking to make sure all of our research is progressing and we're staffed with trained people at every station.

Ah, the research! I forgot to mention that the Shran is an active research vessel. We either take on Science Officer's with research fitting for our facility or take on sponsored projects that we're suited to perform. Before my promotion we didn't actively participate in as many projects but my fellowship with the Daystrom Institute has garnered us some new contacts and resources. I'm privileged and grateful to be able to serve Starfleet and explore while still doing active research in my fields. I am a Temporal and Quantum specialist but have dabbled in just about every field out there. I was afforded some unique study experience right out of the Academy with some...eccentric research divisions.

But anyway! By now it's nearly 0930 or 1000 and I'll be roaming from lab to lab checking on experiments and providing what guidance or support I can. Our staff is top notch and rarely calls me in for anything but an opinion. I have no doubt you'll see each Ensign under our command publish something great in the next few years.

The last third or quarter of my day is usually spent checking logs on equipment and doing briefings! Making sure we have all the supplies needed for our work is an ongoing process with the varied work we're called on for. Another great thing about the Shran is we have no interdepartmental rivalry. On a ship our size, with a crew as well trained as ours we tend to seek out more ways to help each other than to get ahead.

I started as a cadet as green as anyone (except our Orion friends perhaps!) and put in my due diligence to keep serving and studying to get where I am. I see myself serving Starfleet until they can't pin anymore medals on me! But seriously, if Sciences are your game than you're in the right organization.

Feel free to send subspace messages with any questions you may have on the full range of my duties or the nature of what it's like to serve on an exploratory ship!

Ex Astris Scientia
Dr. Djann Tempest