It seems that they had no plan who had to wear which colour during the early season one episodes of TOS. Uhura for example wore gold in the very first episodes. Spock’s rank was given as lieutenant commander but his uniform was spotting the rank insignia of a commander. So weapon officers wearing gold in an early season one episode does not mean anything.
(BTW they did not even know when the whole show should take place, that came with TWOK and TNG.)
yeah season one of TOS was pretty fluid, I mean I don’t think they even used the term starfleet initally
Yeah, they were saying United Space Fleet, UNESPA, and so forth.
Also, talented motivated Enlisted in the Modern U.S. Navy can apply for a program, I think it was called Boost… And get a commission, takesmonths, not 4 years. 2 people who were PO1C stationed with me at a torpedo repair facility did it successfully and then they were reassigned, two different units because we already had a lieutenant.
But to even apply for this program you have to be super squared away and have all kinds of great career enhancing duty behind you already with exceptional enlisted performance evaluations.
Enlisted are task specialists and Officer are Task Generalists.
The Infantry Lieutenant is not the specialist on the radio, mortar, machinegun, or grenade launcher. The Infantry Lietenant is the master planner and integrator that given a mission by the next higher officer (within parameters) the who, what, when, where, why, and how those components accomplish the task.
An enlisted crewman is a specialist at a specific skill set or the operator for a specific range of equipment. 75% of the enlisted on the ship are there to maintain and repair equipment and specialize by that type of equipment. Shuttle Crew Chief, Main Power Maintenance, Damage Control, Medical Equipment Repair, Computer Systems integration, Sensors Maintainer, EVA suit repair, Workbee Pilot. The other 25% are support and auxiliary. Cargo stevedores, Supply, Corpsman, Lab Technician, Steward, Chef, Paralegal, Personnel Records, Yeoman.
Not all officers are generalst, Sgt. Army officers in combat corps (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery) are usually generalsts, indeed… but not so the majority of the Medical Corps, Nurse Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Judge Advocate General Corps, Medical Service Corps… And let’s not forget the Air Cav - with the vast majority of pilots being warrants, and the rest commissioned. Then, there’s the Corps of Engineers - which said Corps’ officers are about 50/50 specialist and generalist.
My father was a Major in the MSC, an enviromental impact specialist. Degree in Chemical Engineering.
And let us not forget: Gene Roddenberry speicifically cited the NOAA Commissioned Corps as the model for Trek. NOAA officers are almost all specialists. The few who aren’t are their pilots and Conning officers; they do tend to borrow sonarmen and engineers.
You know what they all have in common? They do not Command.
When a Doctor, for instance, Commands a medical detachment, they step out of the Medical role for most of their duties and time is consumed by the Administration tasks.
Those Officer and Warrant Officer ranks are for the purpose of retaining those trained persons and not losing them to the higher earnings of a civilian career.
America is the only nation that utilizes Warrant Officers in that manner. The Commonwealth system most militaries are built around, the Warrant Officer is equivalent to a Sergeant Major in pay and does not Command.
The Army Corps of Engineers exists to keep the Army institutional knowledge current and training up to date by slotting Officers and Non Commissioned Officers into and out of real projects.