Kira on Defiant

[Teaos]

I'm watching DS9 at the moment and the question of Kiras competence.

It's already been said that her command should end on DS9 and she shouldn't be allowed to command the Defiant as we see her do Multiple times.

My though is she wouldn't even know what to do with Federation tech. She was a gorrila fighter using slapped together weapons. She joined the resistance at 13. She would be missing huge areas of knowledge needed to be a federation officer.

[McAvoy]

I'm watching DS9 at the moment and the question of Kiras competence.

It's already been said that her command should end on DS9 and she shouldn't be allowed to command the Defiant as we see her do Multiple times.

My though is she wouldn't even know what to do with Federation tech. She was a gorrila fighter using slapped together weapons. She joined the resistance at 13. She would be missing huge areas of knowledge needed to be a federation officer.

My thoughts exactly. Any knowledge she may have probably was the bare basics and common knowledge of how things operate. Kinda like how people have a basic knowledge of how an engine in a car works but not the technical or even how to troubleshoot it when it's not working properly.

While I have no doubt Kira did recieve some off screen training on Federation methods and even technology I just don't see how she can command a ship. My theory is that she is commanding the Defiant in a leadership role and but as far as how to operate Federation technology she relies on Starfleet personnel.

It is also possible she recieved a training in how to operate the Defiant just like the other officers did since the Defiant is much different than other Starfleet ships. They may have had an easier time understanding it while she may have struggled with it.

That would have made for an interesting small B plot for some episode though.

[Jim]

So.... are you saying that the commander of an aircraft carrier could fix the reactor if it goes down?

[McAvoy]

So.... are you saying that the commander of an aircraft carrier could fix the reactor if it goes down?

No. What I am saying is that even a commanding officer of a aircraft carrier would have some knowledge of how it works. Look at it this way: put a Canadian naval officer in charge of an aircraft carrier. How well would he do?

[Deepcrush]

If he has some understanding of logistics, use of airpower and force projection... should be just fine.

[McAvoy]

If he has some understanding of logistics, use of airpower and force projection... should be just fine.

Oversimplification of of but yes.

[Teaos]

Well Kira shouldn't be on Defiant period due to it having nothing to do with federation administration of ds9.

But a commander still needs knowledge of the systems on ship. Not perfect knowledge of how they run and how to fix them. But enough to know that if the ship is losing power to shields what systems can she take power from and how fast it can be done.

Also everything else starflower officers learn over years of training in the most technologically advanced fleet in the quadrant.

[Tsukiyumi]

starflower officers

[McAvoy]

Don't get me wrong, Kira should have been on the Defiant in a command position ever.

But in Season 3, I can sort of see the problem of who to give the command to. I mean, technically speaking Sisko should hardly ever leave the station to command the Defiant as DS9 is his command. Kira should never leave DS9 to command the Defiant because she isn't Starfleet. I guess that role could go to Jadzia, I just find it odd that officers not in the line of command (brain farting the actual term) are giving command of ships. Something you would never ever see in navy ships unless all the command staff are already dead.

Obviously, Worf filled this role nicely but still Kira is on the freaking bridge during the war where she would be better suited to commanding DS9 while Sisko is bitch slapping Jem'Hadar ships.

[Graham Kennedy]

I always thought Worf should have come to DS9 as the Defiant's permanent captain. It's such an obvious job for him to have... especially compared to the bullshit "Strategic Operations Officer", a job so obviously bogus that they once even had Worf himself joke about how he basically just sat around reading reports.

But of course that would mean giving Worf a lot of "hero" time on screen, and there's no way they were going to take that away from Sisko.

[Deepcrush]

That and if Worf had his way we'd lose the Defiant in the following ep where he races it against the whole Dominion fleet just to see how many that tough little ship can kill before going boom.

[Deepcrush]

If he has some understanding of logistics, use of airpower and force projection... should be just fine.

Oversimplification of of but yes.

A carrier's CO job is to manage the resources given and apply them as needed or ordered. It's hardly simple, being that controlling the logistics of a floating city isn't a small task, but in short it remains the absolute truth.

The problem with Kira isn't that she doesnt know how to command, because she does. It's not that she shouldn't be on the Defiant, because that's attached to DS9 which is her post. The real problem is the question, why shouldn't she at times command the Defiant?

Bajor is sharing it's station, why couldn't the UFP share a starship? She's second in command so if Sisko isn't there then the job falls to her, that's just how joint operations work.

[Mikey]

Teaos, you really have to get your phone in check. Kira never fought any gorillas, nor did she command any units of starflowers.

I do agree, however, that knowledge of UFP tech had NOTHING to do with whether Kira should have been allowed to command the Defiant. Unless and until the Definat was gifted to Bajor, she had no authority aboard that ship and no place save as a guest. DS9? Fine, it was a Bajoran station being administered by SF. The Defiant was a Federation vessel. An analogy will help illustrate how ridiculous the situation is: imagine a USN Tico-class - staffed and crewed by USN personnel - being skippered by a former mujahaddin with zero experience of naval warfare.

[Deepcrush]

Mujahaddin that was the only person on the crew experienced in the region and its details? Mujahaddin that was second in command, learning under a USN officer for two years. That was part of an exchange between services.

[Mikey]

Mujahaddin that was the only person on the crew experienced in the region and its details?

Yes, even with that qualifier. In that case, she should have been a strategic attache, guide, or whatever you want to call her - not part of the chain of command. When the Special Forces dropped into Dien Bien Phu, the used an awful lot of local help - but that didn't mean that any local South Vietnamese guerilla with a knowledge of the lay of the land was given an erstwhile lieutenancy, did it?

Mujahaddin that was second in command, learning under a USN officer for two years. That was part of an exchange between services.

See above. The fact that she was 2iC isn't a reason, it's a symptom - and one that shouldn't have happened. 2iC of the station? Sure, one could even make the argument that a Bajoran should have been in command. Of the Defiant? No way.