“You manage things, you lead people.”
Grace Murray Hopper
So far there has been a lot of mentions of the chain of command, but what exactly is it?
“In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders are passed.
The line of command will generally go from a higher-ranked soldier who gives the order, i.e. an officer, down to a lower-ranked soldier who is ordered to perform, i.e. a common soldier.
In general, military personnel give orders to only those directly below them in the chain of command and receive orders from only those directly above. For example, a common soldier who has difficulty carrying out an order is likely to be disciplined for not observing the chain of command if he skips the officer who is in direct command of him and directly appeals to a higher-ranked officer in his chain of command.
The concept of chain of command also implies that higher rank alone does not entitle a person to give commands. For example, an officer of a given military unit cannot directly command common soldiers of another unit, because this officer is outside of their chain of command. If the officer needs something from the soldiers of another unit, he is generally expected to approach an officer along their chain of command.”
Wikipedia Definition
In STF we operate a Chain of Command. In character on a ship a JO should report to a DH, that DH should report to the XO, the XO to the CO and the CO to Starfleet Command. The Chain of Command operates as a two way filter. Orders filter down and information filters upwards. The DH is the first step in the link and they will pass the information up to you, or handle what problems they can at their level.
The XO effectively then filters the information from the DH’s decides what is important to pass onto the Captain and does so. In Character it should be rare that the XO cannot handle all but the most serious of problems before involving the Commanding Officer. That does not mean you keep the Captain out of the information loop, you will just keep him informed with standard reports.
As with any situation there is some degree of flexibility. In a crisis department heads should and will report directly to the Captain. The Captain may bypass you accordingly. It is a matter of what is necessary to the situation required. In a crisis you don’t have time to gather information and filter it to the Captain.
Out of Character the same system should apply, but in practice the XO is often, but not always, the first port of call for most problems. If you cannot resolve them, then you should then refer the issue to the CO, who will then refer it onto the FComm if required. Don’t feel by using the chain of command you are letting anyone down. Better to get a problem resolved than sitting on one and letting it grow. Always keep your CO informed as to any OOC problems that may be passed to you for your attention.
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