Detached Duty Scout Title?

[Spinward Scout]

"Hey Captain?" said the Engineer.

The Detached Duty Scout turned to him and said, "I'm not a Captain. I'm a Detached Duty Scout assigned to this ship."

"So you're the Ship's Master then?" asked the Engineer.

"I guess maybe I would be," replied the Scout.

"Yes, Master, what I was going to say was..."

The Scout interrupted with "Well, that won't work either."

"So what am I supposed to call you then? I take it that you don't want to be called 'Hey You'..."

And so we have a conundrum in the Scout Service: Since the Scouts don't have rank, what do you call a Detached Duty Scout who has been assigned a Scout/Courier? How would he or she be addressed by System Traffic Control or the Starport Authority? By a merchant that crossed his path? By the Navy Commander doing a customs inspection? Or that wiley Pirate telling them to 'heave to and prepare to be boarded?'

What do you do IYTU?

 

[hunter]

If he's in command of the vessel he's the Captain of the vessel.

Unless he's working in an official capacity he'd be called 'Captain Jones' or whatever.

 

[BlackBat242]

The correct title is "Scout Officer".

Of course, the abbreviation of that is Scoff, now isn't it? :rofl:

 

[Commander Drax]

Just for the record, Scouts do have ranks, it says so in the MegaTraveller World Builder's Handbook, when crews are assembled for specific missions they are each attributed a rank so that a proper command chain is in place, otherwise a 400 ton scout surveyor wouldn't get of the ground without a proper chain of command.

You can have scout team leaders, scout commanders, scout administrators and all sorts of ranks.

 

[BlackBat242]

Positional rank... rank attached to the billet the individual fills.

Not Personal rank... rank attached to the person, regardless of the billet the individual is filling.

 

[Ran Targas]

As far as honorifics go, Captain or Ship's Master is appropriate, but maybe there would be a better term for retired scouts, as they hold a unique position.

IMTU, if they are on detached duty, they still hold a reserve commission in the IISS, entitling them to all the rights and priveleges (security access, medical treatment, etc.); they can call themselves anything they want on their Sulie but the Scouts still call them by their retiring rank.

If you insist on a military rank, Warrant Officer may be the most appropriate. Detached duty could be interpreted as a "warrant commission". Not everyone would receive a ship on retirement, only those who with records of excellent service. The retired scout could wear the rank openly, where it garners respect from the military and reflects the experience of the wearer. Those who complete one or two terms of detached duty could be promoted to Chief Warrant Officer.

 

[boomslang]

What do you do IYTU?

IMTU, the Navies of most non-3I polities, in order to avoid confusion shipboard, tend to favor Army ranks; Naval (and Marine) traditions are acknowledged in some nomenclature, but Army (Air Force) protocols dominate.

A vessel's (100+ dtons) commanding officer is its Commander, regardless of regular rank held, and is addressed as such. Informally, the CO may often be addressed by subordinates as "Skipper". Smaller craft have Pilots (who also steer them); big craft have Helmsmen who steer them as ordered by whomever has command of the bridge.

Captains are simply officers who rank below Majors and above Lieutenants. Lieutenants and Captains command Escorts. Carriers and Tenders are commanded by at least Majors. Capital ships and riders are commanded by at least Lieutenant Colonels -- full-bird Colonels for the big ones. Generals never command their own flagships; that's a job for politically-aspiring Colonels.

Depending on circumstances, any qualified commissioned officer may be assigned command of an appropriately-sized vessel; Warrant Officers are sometimes given command of non-nuclear-armed SDBs and non-frontline ships, and ordinary unranked Scouts serving as Naval Auxiliaries are often breveted to Warrant Officers so that they may hold command of a Type S, and thus be designated their "Commanders".

In a rankless service such as the IISS (more specifically the Field Office, if using CT B6 or later versions of the IISS), there are three designations beyond "Scout" that are assigned as needed: a vessel's "Commander", a mission's "Team Leader", and, for the expertly-skilled individual who's only along to perform some particular task (read: NPC), "Specialist".

 

[casquilho]

I would also have times when the owner of a ship is just called Mister.

"The Engine is repared Mr. Jones."
"The supplies have been stowed Mr. Smith"
"Mr. Smith, can you come to the bridge?"

This allows the crew to show respect without giving someone a rank title he does not have.

Just a thought.

Daniel

 

[aramis]

For MTU, a field scout commanding a ship under 500 tons is skipper, and over 500 is captain.

"Officers" on a scout vessel are "Chief" or "Chief ___" where ___ is the position. eg: Chief Engineer Hudson, Chief Hudsen.

1st officers, when needed, are Master Chief.
If there are multiple chiefs in a department, the senior most is senior chief.

Crewmen on a scout vessel, when needed, are "Crewman" or job title, eg: Engineer Smith.

Admin weenies (who have ranks) don't normally serve aboard ships. when they do, their rank is subsumed by position; passengers are simply scout, even if they are high rankers.

Detatched duty personel IMTU use the same title.

CO, 500+: Captain, Scout Captain
CO, 499-: Ship's Master, Scout Skipper, Skipper
1O: Master Chief, Master Chief Scout
Senior Officer: Senior Chief, Senior Chief Scout
Officer: Chief Scout
Seniormost scout in a department lacking officers: Master Scout
2nd term or later field scout: Senior Scout
Any scout serving aboard when other non-crewman scouts present Crewman
Any scout, any time: Scout.