XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv   
   From: YourName@YourISP.com   
      
   On 2026-02-11 07:29:11 +0000, Lawrence D´Oliveiro said:   
   > On Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:58:45 +1300, Your Name wrote:   
   >> On 2026-02-11 02:57:50 +0000, Lawrence D´Oliveiro said:   
   >>> On Wed, 11 Feb 2026 14:26:44 +1300, Your Name wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> Except Starfleet is not actually a military organisation ...   
   >>>   
   >>> What a load of codswallop.   
   >>   
   >> "Starfleet is a paramilitary organisation. That is to say a civilian   
   >> peacekeeping, exploration and science organisation that uses military   
   >> structure. They are not a purely military force, though they have some   
   >> military duties."   
   >>   
   >> "Starfleet is neither wholly civilian, nor a military in the   
   >> conventional sense. They are in fact best described as a peace keeping   
   >> force."   
   >   
   > An organization where everybody is an officer, and there are no   
   > enlisted personnel!   
      
   There areplenty of enlisted personnel ... they were original the   
   expendable "red shirts" (until some fool in charge of the shows decied   
   to swap the shirt colours around).   
      
      
      
      
   > “Not a purely military force”, yet they go around in fully-armed   
   > warships. If that’s the kind of deadly force they have access to, I   
   > wonder what the *actual* “military force” in that universe is like?   
      
   Klingons, Romulans, ...  ;-)   
      
      
      
   > What about all those times they went into battle against Romulans and   
   > Klingons and the Borg and who-knows-what-else? Did they ever get backup   
   > from a separate “proper” military force?   
      
   That's the "peacekeeping" part.   
      
   The real Star Trek military were "Military Assault Command Operations"   
   (disbanded in 2161), and perhaps smaller parts like Section 31 and   
   Sector Patrol.   
      
      
      
   > Nope. They were it. They *are* the “proper” military force. No ifs or   
   > buts, no more hemming and hawing about it.   
      
   Military do not do usually do exploration (other then for   
   reconnaissance purposes) nor diplomacy.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)