Is there a list of all the minor/obscure starship crewmember positions?

[RookieBatman]

I'm working on a little fan creative project, and I want to have canonical-sounding jobs for various crewmembers who aren't on the bridge. I'm looking for less obvious stuff like "hydroponics" or "xenobiology," roles that wouldn't necessarily factor into resolving major conflicts. The longer the list, the better, but I'm mainly looking for ones that have been depicted or mentioned on the shows, not just random fans making stuff up (like this list that has an IT engineer, a dentist, and a Human Resources Manager).

 

[Greg Cox]

Well, there was as a ship's historian in "Space Seed."

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Barber, for one. "Secretary" seems to have gone extinct on-board starships.

I doubt every ship had the same departments, depending on what type of ship it was.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

I'm working on a little fan creative project, and I want to have canonical-sounding jobs for various crewmembers who aren't on the bridge. I'm looking for less obvious stuff like "hydroponics" or "xenobiology," roles that wouldn't necessarily factor into resolving major conflicts. The longer the list, the better, but I'm mainly looking for ones that have been depicted or mentioned on the shows, not just random fans making stuff up (like this list that has an IT engineer, a dentist, and a Human Resources Manager).

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Occupations

is probably a reasonable place to start as far as "canonical-sounding" goes, though it does have the problem that it includes all occupations, not just the relevant ones. Relevance is likely to be partially influence by the total pool of crew available, size of the ship and mission profile/intended duration... a Galaxy-class/Sovereign/Vesta-class* crew would be very different from an Intrepid-class crew, which would be very different from the crew of an Oberth/Nova* or a Defiant-class*.

Another thing that is going to determine the size and make-up of the crew is whether you follow a modern officers and enlisted/specialists model or go with Roddenberry's "original intent" of an "all officers cadre" mostly made up of generalists. Personally, I favour a composite "navalised police model" where there is a single rank scheme, but where you join it depends on whether you prefer "on-the-job" training (and therefore start at crewman/"patrol officer") or follow the "graduate fast track" and spend some time as temporary crewman on "field training" but commission as a cadet and your first permenant posting is as an ensign (or even a lieutenant depending on training).

* Example only, substitute era-appropriate equivalents as needed.

 

[Delta Geminorum]

Every Department has a chief as well as assistant officers, specialists, technicians, crewmen, etc.

Some of the crew who may not always be on the bridge include:

Engineer's Assistant, Geologist, Transporter Technician, Quartermaster, Sensor Technician, Armory Officer, Security Officer, Medical Technician, Nurse, Doctor

 

[RookieBatman]

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Occupations

is probably a reasonable place to start as far as "canonical-sounding" goes, though it does have the problem that it includes all occupations, not just the relevant ones.

Yeah, that was the first thing I noticed. I did find Category: Starfleet Positions in a Google search, but it was on Memory Gamma, and that site isn't really well-developed, so the list is pretty anemic aside from the obvious ones. I can't find any comparable category on Memory Alpha.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Do you have particular size of crew in mind? What sort of ship is it?

 

[scotpens]

"Secretary" seems to have gone extinct on-board starships.

I assume secretarial and administrative duties in Starfleet are performed by yeomen, as in today's U.S. Navy.

 

[Vger23]

TOS featured a "Records Officer" (Ben Finney) and a Personnel Officer ("Court Martial").

 

[RookieBatman]

Do you have particular size of crew in mind? What sort of ship is it?

It wouldn't necessarily be just one specific type or size of ship, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be the TOS Enterprise. I've always been kinda curious about what the other 400+ crewmembers do on a ship where all the important stuff seems to be handled by the bridge officers.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

*Nods*

Gives us a reasonable starting point anyway.

I've sometimes thought that Pike's ~200 would be relatively similar to the crew complement on a modern Frigate and the increase in Kirk's crew was mostly the extra "blue shirts" and their staffs that modern navies don't have (plus an expanded security company?).

 

[F. King Daniel]

Well, there was as a ship's historian in "Space Seed."

And I'm pretty sure she gained her post by collecting cereal box tokens.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

For example a 2000s era Oliver Hazard Perry class Frigate might have a crew of around 176 (though it's closest replacement in tonnage the USCG Legend-class National Security Cutter makes do with 113 (with accommodations for an "up to 35 person mission team").

 

[Tim Thomason]

*Nods*

Gives us a reasonable starting point anyway.

I've sometimes thought that Pike's ~200 would be relatively similar to the crew complement on a modern Frigate and the increase in Kirk's crew was mostly the extra "blue shirts" and their staffs that modern navies don't have (plus an expanded security company?).

I assume different mission parameters determined different crew complements. Kirk was on a five-year exploration mission, requiring an increased need for self-sufficiency and investigating the weird Lovecraftian space stuff they kept running across. Pike, in "The Cage" at least, was on a rescue mission and then hightailing it back home. Probably not well out of Federation territory (and apparently only a few light-years from a Starbase).

Although, we later learn that he did go on a five-year mission, with a crew of 203, in Star Trek: Discovery. So, my theory doesn't really add up.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

The OHPs "Goat Locker", which probably gives us a reasonable idea of the ratings carried on the ship:

CMC = Command Master Chief [Chief of Operations?]
ITSC = Information Systems Senior Chief [Communications]
HTC + DCC = External/Internal Damage Control [inc EVA Repair, Engineering]
EMC/ENC = Electricians Mate/Engineman [IMPULSE/EPS Engineering]
GSC = Gas Turbine System Tech [Environmental Engineering]
STGC = Sonar Technician [Sensors/Navigation/Astrometrics]
LSC = Logistics Specialist [Supply Officer/Quartermaster]
ATC/ETC = Electronics Technician [WARP/Data Systems Engineering]
GMC/FCC = Gunner's Mate/Fire Controlman [Armory/Phaser Room/Torpedo Room]
HMC = Hospital Corpsman [Medical Technican, "Medic"]
MA1* = Master-at-Arms [Security Officer]
IC1* = Interior Communications Electrician [Communications]
CT1* = Cryptologic Technician [Communications/Electronic Warfare]
BM1* = Boatswain's Mate [General Duties, Security Officer, Pilot]

* = Presumably these are nominally Chiefs billets, but the Leading PO is "acting up" (and up for promotion) on the exemplar ship.

Additional ratings without Chiefs or better include OS (Operations Specialist, [essentially Bridge Watch/Relief]), MR (Machinery Repairman, fabricators for the HT/DC team and Enviromental), MS (Mess Specialist, Cook/Steward), SH (Ship's Serviceman, barber/uniform control/clerk), PS (Personnel Specialist, "HR"), AG (Aerographer's Mate, Weather Forecaster [Astrometrics/Navigation]), YN (Yeoman, Adminstrator/PA), QM (Quartermaster, Bridge Navigator/Pilot). Some aviation specific ratings are also mentioned but as I did for the "Goat Locker" I would expect these to be seperated more by billet than qualification in Starfleet.

 

[MAGolding]

I assume different mission parameters determined different crew complements. Kirk was on a five-year exploration mission, requiring an increased need for self-sufficiency and investigating the weird Lovecraftian space stuff they kept running across. Pike, in "The Cage" at least, was on a rescue mission and then hightailing it back home. Probably not well out of Federation territory (and apparently only a few light-years from a Starbase).

Although, we later learn that he did go on a five-year mission, with a crew of 203, in Star Trek: Discovery. So, my theory doesn't really add up.

In "The Menagerie Part 1":

SPOCK: This is thirteen years ago. The Enterprise and its commander, Captain Christopher Pike.
SPOCK [on screen]: Definitely something out there, Captain, headed this way.
KIRK: Screen off. Chris, was that really you on the screen? (flash) That's impossible. Mister Spock, no vessel makes record tapes in that detail, that perfect. What were we watching?
SPOCK: I cannot tell you at this time, sir.
MENDEZ: Captain Pike, were any record tapes of this nature made during your voyage? (flash, flash) The court is not obliged to view evidence without knowing its source.
SPOCK: Unless the court asks a prisoner why, Commodore. You did ask that question.
MENDEZ: You mean I was maneuvered into asking. Your evidence is out of order.
KIRK: I am forced to contest that, Commodore. I want to see more.
MENDEZ: You have that right, Captain, but just because the prisoner is your First Officer and your personal friend
KIRK: That has nothing to do with it.
MENDEZ: Very well, continue.
KIRK: Screen on, Mister Scott.
NUMBER ONE [on screen]: No. It's something else. There's still something out there.
SPOCK: As I stated, gentlemen, this was thirteen years ago. We were on routine patrol when the ship's sensors detected something ahead. At first we were not certain what it was.
TYLER [on screen]: It's coming at the speed of light. Collision course.

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/16.htm

So Spock says that the Enterprise was "on routine patrol" when the signal from Talos IV was discovered.

Later it is learned where the Enterprise was before and where it was headed to:

BOYCE: I understand we picked up a distress signal.
PIKE: That's right. Unless we get anything more positive on it, it seems to me the condition of our own crew takes precedent. I'd like to log the ship's doctor's opinion, too.
BOYCE: Oh, I concur with yours, definitely.
PIKE: Good. I'm glad you do, because we're going to stop first at the Vega Colony and replace anybody who needs hospitalisation and also. What the devil are you putting in there, ice?

And:

BOYCE: Sometimes a man'll tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor. What's been on your mind, Chris, the fight on Rigel Seven?
PIKE: Shouldn't it be? My only yeoman and two others dead, seven injured.
BOYCE: Was there anything you personally could have done to prevent it?
PIKE: Oh, I should have smelled trouble when I saw the swords and the armour. Instead of that, I let myself get trapped in that deserted fortress and attacked by one of their warriors.
BOYCE: Chris, you set standards for yourself no one could meet. You treat everyone on board like a human being except yourself, and now you're tired and you

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/1.htm

So apparently during the "routine patrol" of the Enterprise, they became involved in some event on Rigel VII that resulted in a trap and an attack by a warrior, with three crew persons killed and seven injured. And then the Enterprise apparently continued the routine patrol while planning to drop off any badly injured crew members at the Vega Colony when they reached it, instead of changing their itinerary and heading straight to the Vega Colony at full speed.

Since Vega is less than 1,000 light years from Rigel, it is possible that the scheduled itinerary of the Enterprise involved a very roundabout route from Rigel to Vega. When captured by Talosians, Pike said:

PIKE: Can you hear me? My name is Christopher Pike, commander of the space vehicle Enterprise from a stellar group at the other end of this galaxy. Our intentions are peaceful. Can you understand me?

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/16b.htm

Since Vega and Rigel are both less than 1,000 light years from Earth, and the "other end of this galaxy" from Earth has to be beyond the center of this galaxy, which is about 26,000 light years from Earth, the route from Rigel to Vega would seem to have been very roundabout if Pike was telling the truth to his captors!

But when a message from survivors on Talos IV is received, Pike decides to go to Talos IV to pick up the survivors before resuming Spock's "routine patrol". That is the "rescue mission" Tim Tomason mentioned. But Pike's Enterprise was definitely not manned, provisioned, and sent from Earth or some starbase for the purpose of rescuing the survivors of the Columbia, but was on some other type of mission when it received the distress message. The Enterprise was already in deep space when the message from Talos IV was received at the beginning of "The Cage", and so had to be on some other type of mission, a mission type that according to Spock included a "routine patrol".

 

[Greg Cox]

And I'm pretty sure she gained her post by collecting cereal box tokens.

Give her credit. She recognized Khan Noonien Singh before anyone else did. What she did with that knowledge is a whole other story.

 

[Delta Geminorum]

Most Star Trek RPG's have positions that aren't technically canon.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Maybe it's just my inner Stargate fan talking, but I kinda wish that we saw more of the "Archeology and Anthropology" department.

 

[Shamrock Holmes]

Unfortunately, most of the background characters' exact roles weren't given on screen in TOS, there are still a few options beyond the obvious:

- Archaeology and Anthropology officer
- Astrobiologist
- Astrophysicist
- Chemist
- Geologist/Geological Technican
- Endocrinologist
- Historian
- Medical Assistant/Medical Technician
- Mess Officer
- Meteorologist
- Personnel Officer/Records Officer
- Phaser Specialist
- Radiation Specialist
- Sociologist