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We know there is indeed a night shift, we've heard it called that.

As for low staffing, I seem to recall the occasions on which we've seen the night shift there are fewer people around. I couldn't say for sure without checking, though.

Why do they do it? I suspect it's to maintain as near-normal a day/night cycle as possible so as to make life easier on everyone.

On Earth, real life, we have night shifts that are lower manned than the day shift because of various outside companies that you would use (shipping, recieving, ordering) would not operate or operate at a lower capacity. Also for example, like my profession, aircraft mechanic, you could operate at the same level as day shift but why would you if the airport doesn't need the aircraft that very night? Many small time airports don't operate late at night. You would rather operate at full strength during the times when it would matter.

Also operating at night is more difficult than at days.

Thay being said, there is technically no night or day on a ship in the middle of space. You would assume that they operate with equal strength for each shift.

I would assume there would be a mixture of veteran officers of equal capabilites for each shift as opposed to them working all on one shift.

Really, Riker for example shouldn't be working at the same time as Picard for example.

Also you would wonder who is in the chair on the graveyard shift. It shouldn't be some Lt.. But some Lt. Commander who is being groomed for an XO position on another ship. I guess that could be Data.

Data does command the night shift, at least some of the time. But we've also seen that Beverly takes a night shift command on occasion. On Voyager, Kim did it a couple of times a week.

Graham Kennedy wrote:Data does command the night shift, at least some of the time. But we've also seen that Beverly takes a night shift command on occasion. On Voyager, Kim did it a couple of times a week.

And that's the problem... we don't really get much consistency within the series. I get we need all of our senior officers on "Alpha" shift based on the need to get them in exciting situations as far as the story goes - I don't know how practical that is, especially if we see people picking up "extra" shifts. If that's the "regular" then a 40-hour work week seems out of the question... (Especially when things always seem to get real exciting every year around Stardate 4x999 through 4(x+1)000 )

Well it's fine with Data, since he can work 24 hour days if needs be. Not so much with Kim, though. But then he only did it twice a week. The important stuff always happened on the other days, when he wasn't on nights!

Data doing it isn't an issue. He doesn't require much off time. I assume he does do some diagnostics/upkeep on himself every once in awhile that may require him to be off his shift(s).

You would assume there would be other officers other than the main crew to supervise/command the other shifts.

Then again Kim was an Ensign and was a 'senior' officer when extras even had a higher rank then him.

Well, we know in 'Trek there has long been a disconnect between actual rank and de facto standing as a bridge (a/o favorite a/o story-important) officer. That said, the practice of having all the most senior officers/dept heads on the same bridge shift is quite contrived, even by Star Trek standards.

I can see Kim taking the occasional night shift. After all, Voyager probably lost more crew then gained in her time in the Gamma Quadrant, so everyone had to chip in with extra shifts a couple of times per week.

As I recall, Troi started taking night shifts after the incident that put her in charge of the bridge with Ro and O'Brien. She said she kind of liked it and thought about rising in rank to a full commander and needed the command time.

Perhaps it is just Starfleet regulations that everyone has to pull a night shift one or more times a month for "keep in practice" reasons, or something like that.

As a manager, I would be quite curious to see a staffing breakdown.

A ship of exploration or not, I would have to imagine your actual science crew is either limited in size or EXTREMELY well cross-trained in a variety of mission profiles and disciplines. It seems hugely inefficient to keep X-number of whatever specialists on hand at any given time if those missions constantly change - I'd think that crew would rotate pretty damn frequently and we'd have people like Nella Darren in and out on a near constant basis. I'm sure your basic stellar cartographers, a handful of exobiologists, physicists, etc., are constantly on hand, but for a "ship of exploration," I'm guessing the proportion of these personnel are relatively low.

I'd think the engineering, maintenance, and weapons teams alone would have to make up a huge proportion of the ship, as there are power relays, phasers, torpedoes, deflectors, and a mess of other things that would likely need consistent maintenance.

Your command section could probably relatively limited, unless there is a lot of administrative functions that we do not necessarily see - even then, I'd think it would fall to department heads like LaForge, Worf, etc., as seen in "The Lower Decks."

Just a ball-park on proportions:

300 blue shirts, 550 gold shirts, 150 red shirts, 14 no-shirts/dolphins?

Opinions?

Graham Kennedy wrote:We know there is indeed a night shift, we've heard it called that.

As for low staffing, I seem to recall the occasions on which we've seen the night shift there are fewer people around. I couldn't say for sure without checking, though.

Why do they do it? I suspect it's to maintain as near-normal a day/night cycle as possible so as to make life easier on everyone.

I agree there is one, as wéve seen in most series...
I was just wondering at the pertinence of having that shift understaffed compared to the others...
I mean, using abs would b made easier since they would be available and running for experiences 24/7 without any "rush hours" for equipment...

But trying for a semblance of "standard" day time would indeed most likely help the crew members' morale...

Starfleet appears to positively lavish resources on crew morale in comparison to present day naval forces. Gigantic quarters, provision of recreation facilities of almost every kind - even in the old days there were gymnasiums, lounges for sitting around eating, having musical jam sessions, gardens, bars, even (allegedly) swimming pools and bowling alleys. And that's before TNG, where we get holodecks that give you any environment you like. Given that attitude, I can certainly imagine them arranging the work shifts so that most people are on duty during the day so you can hang out with your mates.

And it does make sense. Modern ships usually only deploy for a few months at a time. Starfleet crews spend years on end on their missions, taking only occasional stops for a few days or so at the occasional planet or Starbase.

That ideology considered, the "night" shift would be at best the least desirable assignment. Would you agree, then, that assignment to the night shift would be temporary, and thus that all shift assignments are similarly temporary? If so, as seems likely, the unity and constancy of all the senior officers being on the same shift all the time is even more of a head-scratcher.

Perhaps the night shift is done on some kind of turn or rotation system. When it is your turn, you spend a week, maybe 10 days, then go back to your regular shift until it is your turn again, weeks or a couple of months later. I'm sure shifts could be traded or requested as needed by the individual crew members.

Mikey wrote:That ideology considered, the "night" shift would be at best the least desirable assignment.

Yes and no. Yes, because it means you're away from the normal life of the ship. But at least some people seem to think of it as a fun chance to be in charge whilst the boss is away, or to do something they wouldn't normally do - Beverly took a night shift command sometimes just to keep her skills up because she enjoyed being a "Doctor who commands a Starship". I can see it might appeal to some - people who like peace and quiet, or whose friends are on the night shift, etc.

Would you agree, then, that assignment to the night shift would be temporary, and thus that all shift assignments are similarly temporary? If so, as seems likely, the unity and constancy of all the senior officers being on the same shift all the time is even more of a head-scratcher.

I don't know. I could see them switching assignments around sometimes just to shake things up, but it seems to be that day shift people remain day shift people most of the time.

Oh, another example of that - Rom on DS9. The engineering crew night shift had a whole "We're the night shift, bitches!" attitude going - all drinking the same drink, etc. Both O'Brien and Rom treated Rom being transferred to the day shift as a promotion, rather than a common shift change.