Operations Division
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Operations Chain of Command

Fleet Operations Chief: Commodore Madadh Windrunner

Ship or Station Operations:

  • Starbase 248:
  • Starbase Valhalla:
  • U.S.S. Agamemnon:
  • U.S.S. Garibaldi:
  • U.S.S. Starfalcon:
  • U.S.S. Leviathan:
  • U.S.S. Apache:

Operations officer

Background Information
Much of the information about the writer's intentions for this new position, which described the term "operations manager", established at the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation, comes from the writer's bible of that series, which later was adapted into data for the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual.

The Star Trek Roleplaying Game Player's Guide describes the operations officer as a consummate master of technology.

The operations officer, also referred to as the ops officer or operations management officer, was a Starfleet position within the operations division which was common in the 24th century. Operations officers manned the ops station on a bridge. (TNG: "Conundrum"; VOY: "Caretaker", "Eye of the Needle").

On the starship USS Enterprise-D, Lieutenant Commander Data served as the operations management officer and doubled as Second Officer, the most senior member of the ship's crew after the Captain and First Officer. (TNG: "Conundrum") On the starship USS Voyager, Operations Officer Ensign Harry Kim was the most junior bridge officer. (VOY: "Caretaker")

In a 2371 holodeck simulation of Deep Space 9's operations center, Nog was the operations officer on duty as part of his Starfleet Academy entrance exam. (DS9: "Facets")

In an alternate timeline, Daniel Byrd was the operations officer on Voyager instead of Harry Kim, who had remained on Earth. (VOY: "Non Sequitur")

Duties

  • Communications
  • Sensors - all forms of sensor sweeps, including planetary reconnaissance scans.
  • Environmental Systems
  • Hangar Deck Operations
  • Analytical operations relied upon knowledge of science and engineering disciplines, operations officers often performed the additional duties of a science officer, especially when a dedicated science officer was absent. (TNG: "Conundrum"; VOY: "Caretaker", etc.)

Functions
The Operations Department monitored and controlled the use of all ship systems not ostensibly involved with propulsion, navigation, or combat. The chief operations officer coordinated directly with the chief engineering officer to ensure that all of the ship's systems were maintained at optimal performance. The operations manager is the one who oversees engineering problems when there is not an engineer aboard the starship or space station. Although the transporter systems were Engineering Department assets, it was the Operations Department that put them to use. With regards to special environmental conditions required for alien crewmembers or visitors, the chief operations officer coordinated with the ship's chief medical officer. The Ops Department head position was in charge of the recreation areas of the starship or station as well, such as the various recreation rooms, gymnasiums, and holodecks. The operations manager also worked closely with the ship's helmsman with respect to the use of the ship's hangar bays, since the chief control officer was responsible for flying the shuttles and training shuttle pilots.

Ranks
The operations manager was an important position was normally filled by junior officers.

  • Lieutenants and below for minor starships.
  • Lieutenant commander and sometimes a Commander for major starships and space stations.
  • They usually served as either the second or third officer

See also

  • Chief of operations
  • Operations division
  • Operations officer's log
  • Operations officer's log, USS Voyager
  • Strategic operations officer

Operations station

Galaxy Class Starship

  • The two forward stations on the bridge of a Galaxy-class starship. Ops was on the left, with conn on the right.
  • The operations station (also known as "ops") was a console station on Starfleet bridges of the 24th century that was manned by the operations officer. (TNG: "Conundrum"; VOY: "Caretaker")
  • The ops station included internal systems control, communications and sensor system usage as part of its purview. (TNG: "Cause and Effect")
  • On a Galaxy-class starship such as the USS Enterprise-D, the ops station and the conn station were situated immediately before the viewscreen, ops on the left and conn on the right. Together ops and conn constitute the forward stations. (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Intrepid-Class Starship
On an Intrepid-class starship such as the USS Voyager, the ops station was located at the rear of the bridge. (Star Trek: Voyager)


Operations officer's log

The operations officer's log was a record of events kept by the operations officer of a starship.

Ensign Harry Kim kept an operations officer's log during his time on the USS Voyager. (VOY: "Future's End")

Positional logs

  • Captain's log/personal log
  • Commander's log
  • First officer's log/mission journal/personal log
  • Second officer's log/personal log/science log
  • Ambassador's log
  • Bridge officer's log
  • Chief engineer's log/personal log
  • Helmsman's log
  • Medical officer's log/personal log
  • Operations officer's log
  • Science officer's log
  • Security chief's log
  • Tactical officer's log