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A military review of ST:TNG
A Military Review of "Peak Performance"
The following is merely an evaluation of the military
procedures shown is "Peak Performance." It is not a review
of acting caliber, character consistency or any other matter
(save those offshoots I might happen to bring in)!
The episode concerns itself with a field exercise.
Having been on 3 Reforgers and numerous other real
exercises, I should have a slight understanding of the
issues involved.
PP does not present as bad an image for StarFleet as
"Vivisection", "Kill the JCS", "Destroy the Wailing Wall",
"Carriers in Murmansk" or "Crusher in Charge", my favorite
examples of military oddities in TNG. Again, I will be
dealing mainly with evaluating the demonstrated failings of
StarFleet as shown in the episode; the execution of PP was
adequate.
Hathaway - StarFleet leaves perfectly good starships in
orbit around distant systems, in near functional states. Any
pirate could acquire an official Federation vessel with
working computers systems and easily repaired WarpDrive. (It
would be like leaving the Oriskany in Camh Ranh Bay!)
Borg - Officially, this was to prepare for the Borg.
Note the one-sided nature of the exercise, Riker could not
win with the rules of engagement. In exercises of this type,
the opposition is supposed to be equal of StarFleet. This
surewin syndrome has appeared before in TNG. (Read a history
of the Battle of Midway to see the effects such behavior had
on the Japanese.)
Riker - No XO ever fights his commander. If Riker won,
he would have to replace Picard. Lose, and Riker would seem
to be fawning. It does not work.
Judge - The arrogant alien whose name I forgot was
doing his job right. He tires to goad Riker into attempting
to beat him, instead of Picard. His mistake was setting the
exercise with such imbalanced forces, so far from the rest
of the fleet. (The Borg should require fleet operations to
stop one vessel.)
Ferengi - I might have been the only one happy to see
them back. However, they were doing a time honored practise
of offering asylum to fugitives. Remember the effects of the
Picard Purge in the first season, clearly Picard was hunting
down another rebel faction in StarFleet. (The intelligence
value of Riker's anti-socialists should help the Ferengi to
link with Federation fifth column capitalists. They might
not expect William Riker von Stauffenberg, but it would be
nice.) Remember, this is the Ferengi viewpoint, slightly
colored by wishful thinking. [Recall our viewpoint of the
last Soviet shakeup.] I have always thought of the Ferengi
as the Dutch under Tromp and DeRuyter, brilliant traders and
warriors.
Worf's gimmick - No way! If 1701-D had such a major
flaw, Worf should have corrected it. It certainly could not
be applied to the Ferengi; Ferengi must use different
systems. (If it could work, the Ferengi have gained a major
military secret!) [Consider the other ramifications of
external control over sensors: move asteroids slightly and
watch ships run into them. The Soviets would love to able to
reprogram F-111 low-level flight radars. Hit them
Carpathians, fool!]
Wesley - Stealing anti-matter. Come on. Even at NTC, we
give fuel to opfor, carried in tankers for safety measure.
"Ooops, I dropped it," and away goes engineering. Such lack
of care should have resulted in a loss of commision (or
acting status). Oterwise, the crew will either transfer or
frag Wesley.
Away team - The officer can use any crew he wants on a
mission? Even if they are wrong for the job, strip the
vessel of important support, or are needed somewhere else
simultaneously? Next to "I want it now;" this is Picard's
most dangerous trait. (Further, choosing the same handful
for every task limits the ability to train the other 750
people, who must pull the away team fat out of the fire.)
Fraternization - Geordi/Sonya, Picard/Crusher,
Riker/Troi, Data/Yar, Worf/Pulaski. What's left
O'Brien/Crusher? Seriously, this is getting a tad out of
hand. Senior officers should not be dating their
subordinates; it is hard to accurately evaluate a lover for
promotion. But half of the regulars would be courtmartialed
for this offence in the current military. (We have
civillians; use one of them to fill in a regular love
interest.)
The episode was announced as a training session to
fight Mike Tyson. Instead, we fought a kindergardener whose
hands were tied together. Glorious defenders of humanity we
are.
The episodes reffered to in the beginning are:
Vivisection = The Measure of a Man
Kill the JCS = Conspiracy
Destroy the Wailing Wall = Justice
Carriers in Murmansk = Contagion
Crusher in Charge = Novel Masks
Any comments, corrections or blood feuds should be
directed to me. I am R. William Wells (73500,771)
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