DS9 Valiant

[GodAtum]

I just have a few comments about this ep:

• Why didnt Nog take charge as he was the senior officer (a Leiutenant as opposed to cadets)?
• I think the writers missed a great scene of Sisko seeing Nog's rank! And Bashir having to address Nog as sir!
• Its a shame the captain died as i would of loved to of seen his smug face after a dressing down from Sisko!

[jelgate]

Nog was a ensign not a lieutenant and the cadets would never have obeyed him

[SaberBlade]

Plus Nog had his head in the clouds when the douchebag of a Captain made him chief engineer like O'Brien and gave him the temporary rank increase.

As for Nog not taking command, the previous Captain gave them orders and Nog as an Ensign would not be able to countermand those orders.

[DigiFluid]

Nog was a ensign not a lieutenant and the cadets would never have obeyed him

This is the unfortunate answer. I bet things would have gone infinitely better if Nog had been able to take command--as he should have been able to do.

[GodAtum]

So an ensign is higher than a cadet?

[DigiFluid]

So an ensign is higher than a cadet?

Er....obviously.

[Jeffala]

Cadet>Crewman>Ensign>Lieutenant, j.g.>Lieutenant>Lieutenant Commander>Commander>Captain>Vice Admiral>Rear Admiral>Admiral>Fleet Admiral

[GodAtum]

An ok. I think they could of made some funny scenes with Bashir having to address Nog as Sir!

[jelgate]

An ok. I think they could of made some funny scenes with Bashir having to address Nog as Sir!

Bashir has always been an higher rank then Nog.

[GodAtum]

But when Nog was a LC would Bashir have to address him as Sir or do field promotions work differently?

[jelgate]

Despite what those cadets thought the Valiant ranks were not valid.

[DigiFluid]

But when Nog was a LC would Bashir have to address him as Sir or do field promotions work differently?

Despite what those cadets thought the Valiant ranks were not valid.

Jelly's right. Whoever is senior officer in the field is senior officer. Cadet ranks and field promotion ranks are irrelevant. They're made by an officer (in this case the dead captain) with an incomplete picture of events to come. It's all well and good to make someone acting captain, but as soon as someone with actual rank comes along, that trumps said acting rank.

[jsonitsac]

According to Ronald D. Moore, who wrote the episode:

That's the way it would've worked in the USN. I decided to go with a somwhat older idea that a lawfully designated commanding officer cannot be removed from command except by someone of flag rank. (I'm over-simplifying this idea, but this is roughly the way that things worked in the 18th-19th century Royal Navy.) Captain Watters was given a valid commission and had held his command for eight months. It didn't seem like I was stretching things too far to allow him to continue in that role when Nog arrived -- and remember that Nog was also commissioned as a young cadet who hadn't even been at the Academy for as long as Watters.

[DigiFluid]

Oversimplifying indeed. I'm sure the designation would stand if it were a commander who'd been granted captaincy, but in the case of cadets vs. fully commissioned officers I think it's pretty clear who should have had command authority.

Valiant is an episode I have a very hard time sitting through because of how monumentally stupid I find the premise.

[GodAtum]

I never thought I'd miss Wesley Crusher

And luckily Jake's escape pod was coated with Plot Armor!