Helm Officer

The Helm Officer (also known as Flight Officer, Conn, or Conn Officer), is a position in the Command Branch, responsible for all of the ship's helm and navigational tasks, with the assistance of the ship's computers. He receives his instructions directly from the Commanding Officer on his shift, or the ranking officer on the bridge if the CO is not present.
Originally, starships held two positions for this role, comprised of Conn and Navigation. Due to the limited computer power available at the time, a dedicated navigator was needed to plot the course and make corrections as the ship traveled. The Conn officer would handle ship flight, as well as weapons if no Chief Tactical Officer was on hand. Sometime prior to 2364, these two positions were combined into the single position we have today.
===Duties:===
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The Helm officer computes and maintains the ship's flight plan, accounting for all known variables in the ship's path. Highly interactive, this position is usually the first step toward a command position. Course can be input by desired destination, proximity to another vessel, relative bearing, absolute heading, or galactic coordinates. The helm officer must know the exact location of the ship in order to make course corrections. Ship location can be determined by time-space beacons, subspace radio relays, other vessels, probes, sensors, or celestial objects. During manual and automatic flight operations the helm officer must monitor navigational sensors, the navigational deflector, the structural integrity field, and the inertial dampening system.
The Flight Control Officer will often contact engineering to note performance problems or requirements related to flight control, if and when an engineering officer is not present on the bridge.
Category:Titles
Category:Starship Positions