So it recently dawned on me that I have never read or seen anything that explains how Kirk got from Iowa to Tarsus IV. At least, I don’t recall anything off the top of my head. Anyone else know?
Tarsus IV
- Thread starter VSAFaculty
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Dad was in Starfleet. I assume he was transferred there and Jim went with him. As an Air Force Brat I went to Japan twice.
I guess the next question is where were Winonna and Sam?
That, too!
And I guess I should have added that I never saw anything in TOS that gave an explanation. Mind you, I seem to find something new every time I watch an episode.
If Sam is say 5+ years older than James (~13 years old), then he'd be at Starfleet Academy. Mom? If she was at Tarsus IV and survived, then she'd have to be dead before TOS**. If Mom was serving in Starfleet and on a spaceship with Dad, then James was staying with someone else* (who is also dead before TOS**).I guess the next question is where were Winonna and Sam?
* <edit. Kirk seems good friends, perhaps a childhood friend, with Thomas Leighton, so, maybe he was living with them at the time. Not with the Rileys since Kirk didn't know Kevin Riley was even there.>
**<edit. correction: they would only have to be dead if they were witnesses, but I assumed that if child Kirk was a witness, then his parent/guardian would also be a witness.>
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Never explained in canon, in Shatner’s books he was there on summer holidays at some family friends place. Not canon but works for me.
What a ridiculous assumption in this Star Trek show.Spaceship, I’m guessing?
Clearly they hitchhiked across the galaxy. Using some sort of guide.
In a prior version of the script(not included in the final version, so it's not canon, but still) Kirk had said he was a Midshipman at the time. To those not in the know, 'Midshipman' was essentially a trainee program for boys, around the 12-16 year age, and such positions could be found on actual naval vessels during the age of sail and wood. Given that this was meant to be 'Hornblower in Space', such a position as Midshipman was probably intended to be dug up and reused, only for such details to never survive rewriting and polishing, hence it was dropped.
Trek does actually have MIdshipmen, though. Peter Preston, for example.
There could have been any number of reasons why Kirk was living on Tarsus IV. Perhaps his father was stationed there? (Or his mom...Winona could also have been in Starfleet)
'Midshipman' is also used to refer to cadets at the present-day US Naval Academy, upon which Starfleet Academy was very loosely based.
I'm not sure to which episode you're referring here, but the term 'Midshipman' did make it into dialogue at least once during the series' run.
WESLEY [on viewscreen]: Our compliments to the M-5 unit, and regards to Captain Dunsel. Wesley out.
MCCOY: Dunsel? Who the blazes is Captain Dunsel? (everyone else knows) What does it mean, Jim? (Kirk leaves the bridge) Spock? What does it mean?
SPOCK: Dunsel, Doctor, is a term used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part which serves no useful purpose.
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/53.htm
MCCOY: Dunsel? Who the blazes is Captain Dunsel? (everyone else knows) What does it mean, Jim? (Kirk leaves the bridge) Spock? What does it mean?
SPOCK: Dunsel, Doctor, is a term used by midshipmen at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part which serves no useful purpose.
http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/53.htm
Also:
STONE: Let us begin with your relationship with Commander Finney. You knew him for a long time, didn't you?
KIRK: Yes. He was an instructor at the Academy when I was a midshipman, but that didn't stand in the way of our beginning a close friendship. His daughter Jamie, who was here last night, was named after me.
KIRK: Yes. He was an instructor at the Academy when I was a midshipman, but that didn't stand in the way of our beginning a close friendship. His daughter Jamie, who was here last night, was named after me.
Does Starfleet Academy have its own/recruit from other prep schools? I gather SA also accepts certain experiences onboard ships as equivalency for their various courses, so that some students can graduate faster.
I think you can be a Captain of an U.S. capital ship or an Admiral, and never attend the U.S. Naval Academy.
The Navy says every Naval officer needs a college degree, along with graduating from officer training school. If you attend the Naval Academy, you graduate with both a four-year degree and an ensign's commission.
So, there are other officer training schools besides the Naval Academy such as attending Officer Candidate School at Officer Training Command Newport. Maybe the same for Starfleet, or attending other training schools on Federation member worlds, but maybe not. 
The US used the British term “midshipman” in this way until the establishment of the Naval Academy in 1845. To differentiate these schooled midshipmen from their sailing counterparts, they were termed “cadet midshipmen”. That rank was used until the early 20th century by which time all midshipmen were attending Annapolis. USNA officers became simply “midshipmen”, as did NROTC reservists after 1924.
Since the navy basis includes both cadet and midshipman, and TOS-TWoK uses midshipman but TWoK onward uses cadet, it might be that a student is a cadet for the first two years of training exclusively on campus, after which they are promoted to midshipman for their first training assignments.
Kirk then, per the excised scene, might have been on a training assignment during his third or fourth year at the academy.
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Yes. Up through WW2 all admirals and major ship commanders were academy graduates, but with the increased demands of the larger Cold War navy it became more common for officers with NROTC, OCS or aviation cadet backgrounds to reach the top levels. In 1992 Mike Boorda, a former enlisted sailor, reached the pinnacle position of Chief of Naval Operations.
One would think so. McCoy pretty clearly didn't attend the academy, and The Making of Star Trek's character bio says that Scotty came up from the ranks and served in the merchant service. In TOS's day, a large segment of the audience would know that officers could come from a variety of sources, not just service academies. But later Trek tends to make it seem like SA is the only source.
Well, not exactly. What the officer aspirants were called changed a few times in the 1800s. There was a strong feeling within the old school navy that classroom instruction could never replace "learning the ropes" at sea. Eventually a six-year course was established: four years at the academy and two in the fleet before commissioning. In 1870 the academy students were titled "cadet midshipmen" while those at sea were "midshipmen." In 1882 the academy title became "naval cadet," and after a one-year experiment with the rank of "ensign (j.g.)," "naval cadet" became the title for both. Pre-commission graduates after 1870 were often called "passed midshipmen" (or naval cadet) but this was never official. Starting in 1912 USNA graduates were commissioned upon graduation, as army and marine officers always had been.
That's probably as good a guess as any, though Kirk specifically says he was both a midshipman (Court Martial) and cadet (Whom Gods Destroy) while at the academy. We know that Starfleet Academy training lasts at least five years, maybe midshipman is the title for the fifth year?
Whatever the titles mean, though, I don't think that audiences of the 1960s or today would really accept human Starfleet personnel serving below 18 years of age.
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