Changes: Starfleet Academy

Latest revision as of 03:45, 24 November 2023

Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)

For the mirror universe counterpart, please see Imperial Starfleet Academy.

For additional meanings of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy", please see Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

"I am a graduate of Starfleet Academy. I know many things."

– Worf, 2373 ("The Darkness and the Light")

Official emblem, circa 2372

Starfleet Academy (also referred to as the Space Academy) was a department within Starfleet. The main purpose of this department was for the education and training of individuals for service in Starfleet. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Apple"; TNG: "Final Mission", "The Drumhead", "The First Duty"; DS9: "Heart of Stone", "Little Green Men", "Homefront"; VOY: "Learning Curve", "In the Flesh", "Imperfection") The movement of personnel in and out of this service was governed by the Starfleet Transfer Regulations. (TNG: "The Measure Of A Man", okudagram) The chief administrator of the Academy was the superintendent or commandant. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi", "The First Duty") The head of the academy was the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy. (PIC: "The Star Gazer")

History

As early as the 2140s, United Earth had established a Space Academy where Starfleet personnel were trained. (ENT: "Storm Front, Part II"; PIC: "The Star Gazer" commemorative plaque) It was officially incorporated into the Federation in 2161 with the motto Ex Astris, Scientia, to serve as a training facility for Federation Starfleet officers. (Starfleet Academy emblem plaque; PIC: "The Star Gazer" commemorative plaque)

In the 2260s of the alternate reality, information on Starfleet Academy was located in the Federation database. (Star Trek Beyond)

Starfleet Academy was mentioned in a list of Starfleet agencies, which appeared to the left of the personnel file for Balthazar Edison. [1]

By the early 25th century, there were thousands of cadets from the Alpha and Beta Quadrants attempting to complete the four-year training program. In one graduating class in 2401, there were cadets from Andoria, Trill, United Earth, Vulcan, Ferenginar, Betazed, Klingon Empire, Romulan Free State, Denobula, and Orion. (PIC: "The Star Gazer" commemorative plaque)

The flags of these cadets' homeworld or states, save for Orion, can be seen in the Starfleet Academy Hall when Admiral Jean-Luc Picard was addressing the graduating class. The identification of these flags was made by Star Trek: Picard production designer Dave Blass in one of his tweets ^{tweets (X)} .

In 3190, Starfleet Academy was reopened following The Burn. (DIS: "Kobayashi Maru")

Dedication plaques

In the 24th century, the Academy was named on the dedication plaques of some Miranda-class and Nebula-class starships.

Captain John Nesterowicz was noted for his work with the Academy on the USS Brattain on Stardate 22519.5. (TNG: "Night Terrors", dedication plaque)

Captain Adele Simmons was noted for her work with the Academy on the USS Phoenix on Stardate 40250.5. (TNG: "The Wounded", dedication plaque) Later, she was noted for her work with the Academy on the USS Sutherland on Stardate 44820.5. (TNG: "Redemption II", dedication plaque)

Holodeck simulation - Captain Riker

Riker personnel file 2 remastered — Starfleet Academy in Riker's personnel file

In 2367, while exploring a cavern on Alpha Onias III, Commander William T. Riker was rendered unconscious by gases. While unconscious, neural scanners scanned Riker's brain. The scanners used elements of Riker's reality and constructed a holodeck simulation with those elements interspersed throughout, so that it felt real to him. What Riker wanted the scanners made possible.

In one of these simulations, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard was promoted to superintendent of the academy, on stardate 51253, Captain Riker succeeded him as the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise-D. In 2383, the academy was mentioned in Riker's service record that was on display in his quarters on the Enterprise-D. (TNG: "Future Imperfect", okudagram)

For the remastered episode of "Future Imperfect", the original text of Riker's service record was replaced.

Locations

The headquarters of Starfleet Academy were located in the Presidio in San Francisco, while the Academy training facility itself was located in Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge. The training facility consisted of a Starfleet Command School, a Starfleet Flight School, a Starflight Tactical School, and the Starfleet Medical Academy. (Star Trek; PIC: "The Star Gazer" commemorative plaque)

Staff accommodations for flag officers was next to the northern part of the Golden Gate Bridge, also in Marin County. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Administration buildings were located in San Francisco's downtown financial district. (VOY: "Non Sequitur")

By the 32nd century, Starfleet Academy had left Earth, along with the rest of Starfleet and the Federation government. However, a massive tree on the former campus under which cadets had studied as far back as the 23rd century remained intact and well-maintained. (DIS: "People of Earth") In 3190, Starfleet Academy was re-commissioned at Starfleet Headquarters, with Captain Michael Burnham of the USS Discovery and Federation President Laira Rillak addressing the new class of cadets there. (DIS: "Kobayashi Maru")

Starfleet Academy training bases and campuses

In 2401, there were satellite campuses on over 80 Federation worlds. (PIC: "The Star Gazer" commemorative plaque)

Preparation for admission

Academy application — Application of Admission

Admission into Starfleet Academy began with the acceptance of the candidate's application. Once the application was accepted, the candidate underwent the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, which determined those admitted by the best scores among a group of candidates competing to gain admission. In 2364, one such location for these competitions was on Relva VII. The exam contained sections on hyperspace physics and dynamic relationships, among others. Along with the infamous "psych test", in which the prospective cadet faced their greatest fear, unannounced tests could take place at any time during the exam period. (VOY: "Imperfection"; TNG: "Coming of Age")

Not all candidates made entry into Starfleet Academy on their first attempt; however, if their scores were high enough in the competition, they could be eligible to reapply the following year. If the results of the reapplication were sufficiently high, they were accepted into the Academy. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")

For non-Federation citizens, a candidate could attend the Academy if they were sponsored and had a letter of reference written on their behalf by a command-level officer. Once this was accomplished, the candidate was eligible for the Academy Preparatory Exam. (DS9: "Heart of Stone"; VOY: "Imperfection")

It is not certain whether a non-Federation citizen that signed up for application at a Starfleet recruitment booth still required this letter of reference, or if there was an equivalent process for this path of candidacy. (LD: "Reflections")

In the 24th century, the Starfleet Academy Preparatory Program was a pre-requisite for Academy admission, which consisted of six weeks of summer classes. By passing the Preparatory Program, a candidate had proven to the admissions committee that they were prepared, or determined, to become a cadet. Once this had been accomplished, the candidate was then eligible for the Academy entrance exam. (DS9: "Facets")

Attending the Academy

The Academy program typically lasted four years, though certain programs lasted five, six, or eight years. (TNG: "The First Duty", "Conundrum"; TOS: "Bread and Circuses")

Extracurricular

In a deleted scene from TNG: "Chain Of Command, Part I", Starfleet Academy was referred to as having a rugby team. ("Chain of Command" Blu-ray special features)

Program for enlisted crewmen

The Academy had a separate program for the training of enlisted crewpeople, which included receiving basic training and attending the Starfleet Technical Services Academy on Mars. (TNG: "The Drumhead", "Eye of the Beholder"; LD: "Reflections")

In "Trials and Tribble-ations", Bashir referred to O'Brien's Academy temporal mechanics course. Ronald D. Moore commented, "This is a mistake, plain and simple. If you want to rationalize it, I suppose we could say that the enlisted training program also takes place at the Academy." (AOL chat, 1998) However, in "Starship Down", O'Brien specifically mentions to Worf that Stevens and Muniz didn't attend the Academy, implying that the enlisted crewmen trained at a different campus, that they didn't take the temporal mechanics' course, or even that things had changed since O'Brien's time.

For the elite cadets

Training ships

Training ships included:

Notable exams

Kobayashi Maru test

Graduation

In 2368, Captain Jean-Luc Picard was asked to deliver the commencement address for that year's Academy graduates. The occasion was marred by the loss of Cadet Joshua Albert in an accident shortly before commencement. (TNG: "The First Duty")

The Lost Era book Deny Thy Father noted that the commencement address at William T. Riker's graduation from the Academy was given by Dr. Leonard McCoy.

Post-graduate options

Appendices

Background information

Information on this educational institute being a department was derived from the regulations that were seen in "The Measure Of A Man".

Exteriors of Starfleet Academy were filmed at the Japanese Gardens at Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, California. The Golden Gate Bridge was inserted into some shots in post-production to make it appear that the Academy was located in San Francisco. This location was also used to depict the planet Rubicun III in TNG: "Justice".

In the 2009 Star Trek film, exteriors of Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge, were used to depict Starfleet Academy.

An unseen portion of the Picard family album mentioned the academy having a "Onizuka Wing".

The original version of the logo

The Academy motto was "Ex Astris, Scientia", meaning "from the stars, knowledge" in Latin. The ancient Romans usually did not use verbs in inscriptions, so it would be better translated as "knowledge comes from the stars". According to Michael Okuda, the motto was inspired by a quotation on the Apollo 13 mission patch, "Ex luna, scientia". The Apollo 13 quote was itself a paraphrase of the motto of the United States Naval Academy, "Ex Scientia Tridens," which means "from knowledge, seapower." (Star Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed., p. 487); Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (2nd ed., p. 197))

The initially shown version "Ex Astra, Scientia" was grammatically wrong, as the preposition "ex" requires the ablative case "Astris". According to Michael Okuda, six months after "The First Duty" aired he received a letter from a Latin Professor at Brown University pointing this out. This error was corrected for later appearances and also in the remastered Blu-ray edition of TNG. (Memorable Missions, TNG Season 5 DVD special features)

The Academy emblem was based on a design by Joe Sena. (Star Trek Encyclopedia (2nd ed., p. 487))

The second version of the logo

There have been three versions of the Academy logo. The first version being the original logo seen in "The First Duty", with the Latin grammar error. The second was seen only briefly behind Harry Kim's interrogation in the alternate timeline in "Non Sequitur". This logo had the updated Latin phrase and the rays of light had been inverted when compared to the original, with the outer border changing to a shade of pink rather than a red. The third logo debuted shortly thereafter with an updated Starfleet insignia and the border returning to a shade of red.

Apocrypha

According to the novel The Kobayashi Maru, Starfleet Academy has a curfew.

In Star Trek Online, Federation players can visit Starfleet Academy on Earth.

The IDW comic series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy reveals that the Academy was founded by Admiral Somers (β) in 2161 following the disappearance of the Slayton (NX-05) (β), whose crew included his son, Jack (β). Somers felt that if Starfleet officers were properly trained, incidents like this wouldn't happen. This, however, may contradict canon as the Academy was said to be established in some form before the founding of the Federation.

External links

Starfleet Academy at StarTrek.com
Starfleet Academy at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works