From: dpe@inel.gov (Don Palmrose)
Subject: Bridge Watches (possible minor spoilers)
Organization: INEL EG&G Idaho
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 15:26:23 GMT


Some discussion of what happened in CoC-I so if you don't want to know even
a minor bit of information, leave now.























There has been some discussion about the change Capt. Jellico made with the
bridge watch rotation in going from 3 to 4 watch sections.  There  seems to
be a misconception that this means the watchstanders will have less time
for sleep and other restfull activities.  I must disagree.

I have served as an Officer of the Deck and Engineering Officer of the Watch
a couple of US Navy ships, including the real Enterprise.  In a vast majority
of the time, I stood 3 section watches at a rotation of 5 hours on watch and
10 hours off watch.  During the 10 hours off watch, I had to get my own work
accomplished (division officer duties and responsiblities).  This resulted in
me typically only getting at most 5 hours of sleep with an 8 hour period  of
sleep possible once every three days when the ship was underway.

I give the above as an example.  What actually happens on the Starship 
Enterprise with the watch rotation has always puzzled me, so I was quite
interested when Capt. Jellico and CDR Riker had their bridge watch discussion.
Unfortunately, we are never given a full explanation and it is clear to me
that we are missing alot of information.  The following are factors that must
be considered in setting up any watch rotation and some that may apply to
the situation on the Enterprise:

1.  The number of qualified personnel to man all the bridge watchstations, 
your standing pool of people.  There may be enough people from all of the 
ship's departments to man *6* bridge sections, but the writers will not give
us that much details.

2.  The current mission of the ship.  If it is exploration, then having a 
three section bridge watch rotation frees up alot of people to help in the
collection, analysis, and dissimination of the sceintific data.  Also, 
personnel can be switched in and out of the watch rotation to give them 2 or
three days off in a row for extra rest.

3.  The bridge crews may only have standing watches as their *only* duties.
Thus, when they are off duty, their time is their own to do with.  In this
case then going to a 4 section watch is even better since they will have more
free time between their shifts for rest and relaxation.  

4.  Ships have the habit of setting a certain way of doing things and sticking
to them no matter what.  Everyone gets very comfortable in doing things that
way (they get sort of complancent about the schedule).

I personally believe that item 3 was the intent of Capt. Jellico having the 
switch from 3 to 4 sections.  I also think that the different departments were
very busy trying to make the changes to the ship's systems that Capt. Jellico
wanted done  and switching to the 4 sections was giving them grief by taking
away manpower they wanted to help do the work (example: Geordi saying it
would take all of the personnel in Engineering working 24 hrs a day to make 
engineering improvements, Riker telling Jellico that the department heads were
having problems adjusting and Riker held back from making the switch only to
be chewed out by Jellico).

I really liked CoC-I because we finally start to see how the ship is operated
on a day-to-day basis and how their mission affects the ship's routine.  In
the past, they always had plenty of people at a moments notice or Geordi or
Data or one other of the main characters were in there fixing the problem.
So CoC-I really gave me the feeling of the atmosphere throughout the ship in 
more of the way I actually experienced during my active duty days with the 
US Navy.

BTW as far as Capt Jellico's behavior, I really enjoyed the change and 
reminded me of some of the people I served under and with in the Navy.  It
may not have been the best for a ship doing exploration, but it was the
type of leadership for a ship going into action.  As others have commented,
he should have had a general staff meeting to let them know how he operates
rather having them do something wrong and then jumping down their throats.
But we had a saying in the Navy: "Its easier to be an asshole than it is being
a nice guy."  Clearly, Capt Jellico feels more comfortable in that mode than
in Capt Picard's style of management.

Don Palmrose





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