Ranking officer

A ranking officer (also known as a superior officer) is a relative leadership position within a chain of command that one person may hold over one person or a group of people within a situational context. Starfleet utilized this system, entrusting a ranking officer with the command decisions for various circumstances, including departments aboard a starship and leads on away missions. The ranking officer for a duty shift on the bridge of a starship is known as a duty officer. The ranking officer for a military unit like a starship is referred to as a commanding officer.

Other cultures may have a different meaning for the term that is more directly related to rank. In 2375, Kashyk's status as a ranking officer enabled him to take command of Devore inspection teams. (VOY: "Counterpoint")

Examples of ranking officers

Determinants for a ranking officer are similar to the chain of command, which include (in no particular order): rank, seniority, Starfleet division, direct orders from a flag officer or Starfleet Command, and Starfleet regulations.

Captain Kathryn Janeway cited Regulation 191, Article 14 to pull rank on Captain Rudolph Ransom. (VOY: "Equinox, Part II")

A ranking officer need not be the commanding officer of an entity. In 2267, Commodore Matt Decker, the highest ranked officer aboard the USS Enterprise, chose to enact Starfleet Order 104 and became the commanding officer before he was relieved by Spock. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine")

Temporarily-ranked Ensign Mendon was Wesley Crusher's ranking officer when the Benzite was aboard the USS Enterprise-D in 2365. (TNG: "A Matter Of Honor")

In 2370, Captain Jean-Luc Picard was looking for an explanation to Cadet Crusher's defiance of orders from the ranking officer of the away team. (TNG: "Journey's End")

Later in the same year, Kira Nerys was the ranking officer aboard the USS Orinoco with Jadzia Dax. (DS9: "Paradise")

In 2371, Captain Janeway was concerned about making B'Elanna Torres the chief engineer aboard the USS Voyager as the Starfleet engineering officers may have difficulty accepting a Maquis as their superior officer. (VOY: "Parallax")

In 2374, Tom Paris reminded Torres that he outranked her when she tried to evacuate personnel from main engineering. (VOY: "Day of Honor")

In 2376, Paris referred to Torres as the superior officer to crewman Mortimer Harren. (VOY: "Good Shepherd")

Other references

• DS9: "Rapture"
• VOY: "Prime Factors"

Memorable quotes

"On your feet, that's an order!"
"You can't give me orders, we're the same rank."
"I'm a bridge officer, and I have seniority."
"Yeah, by about two days!"

- Tom Paris tries to convince B'Elanna Torres to continue moving as they traverse a cold environment within the Nyrian biosphere vessel (VOY: "Displaced")

"I want you to take Seven. Since she has no rank, you clearly outrank her."

- Captain Janeway to Ensign Harry Kim, after he expressed concern of Janeway assigning a higher-ranking officer to "his" away mission (VOY: "Nightingale")

"I assumed I'd be in charge during your absence, commander."
"Excuse me?"
"An Emergency Command Hologram programmed with over two million tactical subroutines outranks an ensign."
"A few words to the computer and this ensign can delete those subroutines."

- The Doctor (as the Emergency Command Hologram) and Harry Kim discuss who will be in command of Voyager with Commander Chakotay's absence (VOY: "Workforce")