Union Fleet Officer
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in a military environment, able to act as the commanding officer (according to the most technical definition of the word) of a military unit. A superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior.
A Union Fleet Officer is a person who holds position of Authority given directly from the United Stars of the Galaxies Government (The United Stars Territory Defense Act of 2221)
In the United Stars Armed Forces (Union Navy, Union Army, Union System Defense, United Stars Marines and Union Border Guard) every Union Citizen (After completing Union School) may present him,it or herself to one of the Pre-screening Centers of the respective Services. It is there where a battery of tests and evaluations determine if the individual has the physical, mental capacity and the necessary personality to become an Officer. Should all tests be successful, such an individual must complete 3-4 years of Academy schooling ( requirements and evaluations are different from branch to branch) Graduates from these service academies are immediately commissioned. Officer Candidate School (OCS) are graduates from the enlisted ranks and comprise less than 2% of all officers. Officers may also be commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which is composed of small training programs at several hundred Union universities. (Union Navy and Marine Corps do not commission ROTC graduates directly, they too must pass through Basic Training (but might skip year two and three) Another route to becoming a commissioned officer is through direct commission. Credentialed civilian professionals such as scientists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, clergy, and attorneys are directly commissioned upon entry into the military or another federal uniformed service. However, these direct commission officers normally do not have command authority outside their specific branches Medical Corps, Science Corps. (The Navy does generally not accept direct commissioned officers without them going through OCS and Basic training Again year two and three are usually omitted. Unique is the ability of Union Ship captains to field commission any individual they deem fit. Such Field Commissioned Officers are usually asked to complete a Year at an OCS at a later time in their career. Field Commissions are very rare but especially Admiral Stahl and Captain Olafson are famous for Field Commissioning the most unique individuals on the spot.
Union Fleet Officers are trained and held to a very high standard of Honor, Morale and Conduct. The unofficial practice of Dueling while not officially on any book, is a highly formalized and fleet wide accepted practice. Such Duels are often announced and the results made public in the Fleet Intern periodicals and magazines.
The Union Navy is now over 3000 years old and old traditions of salt water navies and Old Space |Fleet navies from many Member civilizations have created their own stiff and rigid traditions a Union Officer must follow and uphold.