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Commander

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Commander is a commissioned rank in many militaries.

In the United Federation Starfleet, the rank name is derived from English-speaking naval tradition.

Due to the growth of the British Royal Navy, senior captains who were outraged at the idea of promoting deserving but far less experienced lieutenants to the rank of captain demanded that the Admiralty create a new office for these inexperienced commanding officers that did not impinge on their rank or dignity. The Admiralty and the Crown appointed these senior lieutenants to the post of "Master and Commander" of the vessels they were given command of, denoting a senior British naval officer's dual role as not only the sailing master of the vessel, but as the bearer of the rightful office of command. In the years that followed, this rank name was simply renamed "commander."

Commanders in the United Federation Starfleet server as either operations officers or executive officers of large commands (heavy cruiser or larger) or as the commanding officers of medium-sized capital vessels (cruiser or smaller). Like the Lieutenant Commanders beneath them, they have been trained in a post-graduate command-track environment that allows them to take command of any Starfleet vessel, should the need arise. Commander is also the lowest rank permitted of a Starfleet starbase commanding officer where the base is a major hub of strategic importance.

The equivalent rank in other services is as follows:

Romulan Imperial Navy: Subcommander

Vulcan Defense Force: Subcommander

Klingon Defense Force: la' in Klingonese (ST reference: The Klingon Dictionary)

"Commander" is a translation of the rank in the Romulan Imperial Navy equivalent to "Captain" in Starfleet. Like their counterparts in Starfleet, Commanders of the Romulan Imperial Navy preside over some of the Empire's most prestigious commands. Unlike a Starfleet officer, however, a Romulan commander is often also tasked with specific political powers since ascent to this rank also implies the ability to have a certain level of political charisma. Individual Romulan commanders, such as Keras, have often been tasked directly by the Romulan Praetor to engage in acts of acquisition, directly extending the Romulan sphere of influence on those star systems or areas of space absorbed into the Empire. Imperial commanders are often given the authority to act as military governors, enacting laws and regulations as need be until suitable civilian governors can be appointed through the political machinations of the Romulan Senate.

The same can be said of Commanders of the Klingon Empire who are given the authority to extend the dominions of their Empire or individual House. However, these officers sit at the same level of their Starfleet counterparts at the rank of the Lieutenant Commander and Commander. Commanders of the Klingon Defense Force, or those in the service of individual Houses of The Empire command, perhaps, the widest array of vessels within the Empire and are often judged on their command prestige before being considered for advancement to the rank of Captain. That prestige can take the form of the kind of vessel under their command (as small as a B'Rel class frigate to as large as a Vor'Cha attack cruiser/subdreadnought) as well as the perceived respect afforded to that commander by his crew (often reported as a lack of assassination attempts on the commanding officer's life). Weak commanders do not keep their commands long, at any level, in the Klingon Empire.

Enlisted ranks Commissioned ranks Flag ranks
Earth SF CREW PO CPO

SCPO

MCPO

ENS LT CMDR CAPT

FCAPT

VICE CDORE

CDORE RADM/2ADM VADM/3ADM 4ADM FADM/5ADM

GADM

Starfleet & SFMC LT JG LT LT CMDR CDR CDORE

1ADM

PVT CPL SGT

MASTER SGT

2ND LT 1ST LT CAPT MAJOR LT COL COL BRIG GEN
Klingon Defense Force
naval & marine 		ENL (bekk) PO/LDR (DevwI')

CPO/TROOP LDR (QaS-DevwI')

ENS (lagh) LT JG LT (Sogh) LT CMDR CMDR (la') CAPT (HoD) CDORE (totlh) ADM ('aj) FADM
ENL (mang)

LCPL

CPL (Da') SGT (bu')

SGT MAJ

LT JG LT (Sogh) CAPT MAJ LT COL COL BRIG ('ech) MAJ GEN GEN (Sa')
Romulan naval
&
Tal Shiar
(where known) 		UHLAN DECURION ANTE CENTURION (erein) SUBLT SUBCMDR (erei'riov) CMDR (rh'iov) CMDR GEN (khre'riov) GENERAL (Enriov)
LT MAJOR TRIBUNE COLONEL
SR CENTURION (enarrain) ADMIRAL
EQUITORIAM SECONDAM TRINAM CENTURION (Arrain) LEGATE FIELD PRIMUS PRIMUS GRAND PRIMUS

Contents

[edit] Positions and Lists

Grades are noted where known.

[edit] Starfleet

The Starfleet rank is above Lieutenant Commander and below Captain.

[edit] Romulan Star Empire

The Romulan rank is above Subcommander and below General. It is equivalent to a Starfleet Captain.

[edit] Chronology

Dates listed are first appearence or mention at that rank except as noted. Personnel are Starfleet except as noted.

[edit] 2263

[edit] 2265

[edit] 2268

[edit] 2303

[edit] 2311

[edit] 2357

[edit] 2355

[edit] 2361

[edit] 2362

[edit] 2364

  • William T. Riker promoted to Commander
  • Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi

[edit] 2366

[edit] 2369

[edit] 2370

[edit] 2372

[edit] 2373

[edit] 2375

[edit] 2376

[edit] 2379

  • Tuvok promoted to Commander

[edit] 2379

[edit] Connections

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