fantasy sim group

This page will list all of the different positions on a Startrek Simulation, and their tasks as well as responsibilities. Please make sure to look over your chosen field carefully. As well, it would not hurt to take a look at other positions... future command officers will need to have a good grasp of all positions.

Navigation Officer (CONN)

Helm, also known as "Conn", is responsible for the actual piloting and navigation of the ship allowing it to boldly go where no one has gone before. =)

Although this station is heavily automated, it critically demands an officer there at all times to oversee its operation. Helm covers 5 major flight operations:

Navigational Reference/course plotting.
Monitoring automatic flight operation.
Manual flight operation.
Position verification.
And this position acts as a liaison to Engineering.

Helm is responsible for keep a Starship clear of all dangers encountered in space and for bringing the ship to combat effectiveness at all times.

Helm is also responsible for initiating evasive maneuvers and for bring the ship into position so that Tactical can effectively target the enemy.

The Navigation Officer must monitor various ship systems including inertial dampeners and warp field generators at all times.

Operations Manager (OPS)

The Operations Manager is an integral part of the bridge command staff. This officer coordinates ship activities and systems.

They do this by ensuring department heads meet schedules (giving them a sturdy kick in the rear if needed =)) while they also monitor the allocation of resources properly.

Some duties of the Operations Manager include the handling of communications (both ship-to-ship and with away teams as well as incoming communiques), coordination of multiple away teams, operating the transporter systems, power allocation, and utilizing non-combat sensor systems.

Other duties of an ops officer include coordinating data from non-combat sensor scans and cooperating with engineering to best allocate ship's power and equipment usage. For example, the distribution of time for the ship's main sensor array between the science and engineering staff.

Operation Managers are also responsible for distributing all information from internal sensors. This includes declaring internal sensor readings that engineering would not pick up, i.e. minor drops in sensor efficiency.

Ops will also monitor the ship's internal damage status in battle and pass that information to the bridge and engineering staff.

However, once the ship moves into combat, the tactical officer will then take over that role.

Note: If specific damages or sensor readings are needed, the CO/XO will normally give those to the ops officer outside of the listserver.

Mission Ops (MOps)

Note: This position is usually found on ships with larger crew complements only. Ask your CO if the position is available on their ship if it is not listed.

Mission Ops is normally an assistant to the Ops officer.

The Mission Operations officer acts as a support and liaison officer between Ops, Tac and the Marine Detachment (MARDET) (if applicable).

Mission Ops is responsible for monitoring the status of secondary missions and resolving conflicts between those and the primary mission. This may include diverting a rescue team to allow a boarding party to land, or recalling an away team if the ship is called into combat.

Secondary missions are mini-missions that relate to the primary mission. Such as the primary mission is to secure a space station. Once on the station you find a group of civilians that were hiding from the enemy that had taken control. A secondary mission may be to rescue them off the station, and making sure their medical and physical needs were taken care of.

This officer also deploys and monitors away teams, coordinates data transfer between away teams and shipboard crew, and handles requests for data, personnel or material from the away teams.

For example: the captain says: "Engineering tells me we've run ourselves low on dilithium, and science sensors show this planet has a large deposit of it. Put together an away team to extract it and ship it back up here." Mission Ops would then select the team roster and requisition the equipment they would need.

Tactical Officer (TAC)

The duties of the Tactical Officer are often confused with those of Ops. While the two are similar in some aspects, such as dealing with sensor systems and reporting damage, tac is responsible for the ship's armament and internal security.

Tac is responsible for both defensive and offensive measures of the ship, including but not limited to phaser banks, torpedo tubes, shields, and the like.

Tac is overall in charge of the ship's security. This means that the chief of security would report to the tactical officer for assignment. The chief of security would then execute the orders given by organizing his or her security teams.

The Tac officer also handles some internal sensor functions and takes over external sensors in battle. This means that the tac officer must continually update the bridge staff on the combat readiness and damage status of both his own ship and that of the enemy's.

A good tac officer should be well versed in combat systems and their ship/station's capabilities. For example, when in combat against a romulan warbird, the tac officer should know that this vessel is extraordinarily maneuverable and well armed, and plan their attack pattern accordingly.

Lastly, Tac works closely with helm in monitoring the status of any navigational hazards and potential dangers. Tac also handles long and short-range combat sensors, probe deployment, tractor beam usage, etc. Tac also routes any information obtained to the bridge staff.

Security (SEC)

The Security Officer works with Tac in ensuring the internal security of the ship, its crew and civilian passengers. Since duty on a Starfleet vessel is by definition a hazardous service, the security officers are trained to prevent injury or harm to the ship's company from either internal or external threats.

The security officer is responsible for the ship's armory and all onboard personal weapons. Ensuring that these remain in safe storage and good working order until distributed to authorized personnel.

Security also serves as the ship's internal police force. Neutralizing dangerous situations such as enemy boarding parties or mentally unstable crewpersons. They would be the ones to confining these individuals according to Starfleet regulations.

The Chief of Security is also responsible for maintaining the readiness of his staff and onboard systems to meet any contingency.

These duties include but are not limited to securing decks in an emergency and monitoring the ready status of emergency blast doors and forcefield systems, dealing with biohazard containment, conducting drills for Security staff and general crew, and maintaining emergency evacuation systems.

Note: Security should not just stand around and wait for a horde of angry Jem' Hadar to storm the ship. Keep active; you can do this by checking weapons lockers, scheduling and running maintenance of the security systems, patrolling decks, guarding any prisoners in the ship's brig, and ordering security drills.

Marine

On ships that may be expected to see a higher proportion of field combat situations or deployments into hostile territory, a Marine battalion may be stationed. These officers are part of the Starfleet Marine Corps, and as such remain somewhat outside the naval chain of command. They do, however, report to and take orders from the ship's naval CO.

The Commanding Officer of the Marines acts as liaison between his troops and the naval crew, and may be expected to handle other combat duties at the CO's discretion. Marines receive specialized training in handling of heavy weapons, hand-to-hand combat, covert operations, boarding and seizure operations, and planetside military operations. They may also assist Security staff in some situations.

Again, note that these positions may not be found on all ships; check with your CO for availability.

Science (SCI)

The science officer handles many duties, and as such this position could be said to be a bit nebulous. =) Spatial anomalies, stellar masses, planetary data, and stellar cartography all fall under the science officer's purview.

Science is responsible for conducting planetary scans and determining factors, such as atmospheric content, bio-diversity and the presence of intelligent life, that may have a bearing on the ship's operations. The gathering and interpretation of this data forms the cornerstone of the science officer's role.

Though a given ship may have a number of specialists in any number of scientific fields, such as quantum mechanics, temporal theory, Xenobiology and the like, the chief science officer typically has a broader base of knowledge covering several of these fields.

The larger the information base, the better. Since a well-informed science officer can combine knowledge from many fields to come up with truly interesting theories to explain anomalous findings.

Science is also responsible for handling first contact situations, gathering cultural and biological data on new races and species and using that information to assist the command staff in diplomatic tasks.

Medical (MED)

The chief medical officer oversees the general health and well being of all personnel on board ship, as well as the ability of sickbay to deal with multi-trauma cases or infectious disease.

The chief medical officer must be a physician (M.D. or D.O.). Other medical officer's do not have to be doctors. They may work in any medical specialty. Some examples include nursing, field medic, physical therapist, etc.

In case anyone asks..or if you want to know: D.O. = Doctor of Osteopathy. Another type of doctor, as opposed to an M.D. D.O.s are typically primary-care physicians, pediatricians, and so on, though a very few of them may be surgeons.

The chief medical officer's duties, like those of the science officer, encompass those of several medical specialties.

He or she acts as a primary care physician. Some duties they would do in this capacity would be; to order routine physical exams of the crew and treat injury or illness.

He/she can act as an infectious-disease specialist. In this capacity they would: study new pathogens and devise treatments and vaccinations against new diseases.

He/she could also act as an emergency-room physician and trauma surgeon. Here they would treat casualties due to battle or ship's system failure.

Of course, he/she may have to cover any other medical specialty on short notice, such as counseling. The chief medical officer will always act as the counselor if one is not posted aboard their ship or station.

Counselor

The Counselor assists the CMO in maintaining the mental well being of crew and civilians aboard ship. Not all COs use this role, as it is somewhat controversial. As we stated before, in ships or stations without a counselor, the CMO takes over this role.

This officer provides counseling and mental health evaluation services for the crew, and coordinates this information with the CO and CMO. He/she can provide specialized insight and guidance to Command staff in diplomatic negotiations, and plays a major role in first contact procedures.

Note that one need not be a telepath to be a counselor. Though we are all familiar with Betazoids in this role from TNG, this ability confers only slight advantages. Far more important is the ability to listen well and provide effective solutions to emotional and mental difficulties and disturbances.

Good counselors can be a very effective tool to help various crewmen (or women =)) develop their characters, in character.

For instance, performance evaluations may be given through the counselor to the CMO or CO. Or perhaps a crewman may discuss a particular problem with a counselor. All the while providing valuable insight into the personality of the crewman, that can be worked into the sim and made to be a part of their character's development.

Engineering (ENG)

The Chief Engineer is responsible for the ship's operation at its most basic level.

This officer's most visible function is operating the ship's impulse and warp drive systems. Although he/she is also responsible for keeping nearly every other mechanical, electronic or cybernetic aspect of the ship running smoothly. This includes but is not limited to inertial damping and structural integrity systems, computer cores, EPS systems, and the like.

The Chief Engineer also deploys and supervises damage control parties, schedules and conducts maintenance of ship's systems, and must have a good working knowledge of everyday miracles.

Engineering officers, regardless of rank, should have a solid knowledge base of ST technology and ship's capabilities. Read your ship's technical manual thoroughly, and refer to any of the ST Technical Manuals for more generalized information.

Keep in mind that the job is not always repairing damage caused by well-aimed phaser or photon torpedo fire. Day in and day out, the engineering staff is tasked with job of performing routine maintenance, diagnostics, and minor adjustments.

As a chief engineer, or any other chief position as well, your responsibilities will also include the training and managing of your staff.

Note that the Chief Engineer, next to the command staff, has one of the most visible positions on the ship.

This role can be very exciting, but keep in mind that it also calls for a great deal of ingenuity on the simmer's part, since the CO will often demand the near-impossible of this department. Miracles are the specialty in this department. And one should always follow the "Scotty" rule. Give the CO a time that is 4 times greater than it will actually take. This will ensure your "miracle worker" title stays with you forever. =)

================
Captain Dennis Belam
Commanding Officer
USS Splendor
Stardate: 50007.19
Location: Bridge
"Awaiting Crew"
=================

Captain Belam sat in the command chair on the bridge looking over his crew roster and nodding at each name and their assignment. He was eager to meet these new cadets and felt he had a lot of knowledge to pass on to them. Up to now, they've had book learning, but from now on, here was their practical, hands on instructions.

Beside him sat his Executive Officer, Commander Victor Kemp, who was glancing over the roster himself. "Looks like we have a good group coming aboard this time." he mused.

"I agree, why don't we go to the transporter room and meet them. They can then store their gear in their quarters and report for duty." Belam suggested.

They both rose and made their way to the turbo lift, when Victor looked at Dennis. "You're not planning anything I should know about this trip, are you?"

Dennis chuckled as the lift sped them on their way. Stepping out of it he put a hand on Victor's shoulder. "I assure you anything you need to know about we will discuss before it happens." Together they walked into the transporter room to await the first of their cadets to arrive.

For the next hour or so they greeted Cadets, handed out quarter assignments and told the Cadets to report to the bridge at their respective stations. The Medical Officer they told to report to sickbay to prepare for departure. They let the Cadets know that they should be prepared to leave space dock within two hours.

---

Your next assignment will be to write a responding post to the one above. This will teach you to bring your character aboard the ship, via transporter, and teach you how to react to those around you. Eventually you should end up at your station and ready to depart.

When this Lesson is complete, please send it to trainingfacility@yahoogroups.com and an instructor will look it over and get back with you on it.

Please do not continue with the next part of the lesson until you have been given the okay to move on.

Lesson A || Lesson B || Lesson C || Lesson D