This Is Operations

Posted on Mon Feb 4th, 2019 @ 5:23pm by Commander Thavanichent th'Dori & Cadet Freshman Grade Molly Seol & Cadet Freshman Grade Phoebe Cavendish & Cadet Freshman Grade Talia Varen & Cadet Freshman Grade Claudia Rankin & Cadet Freshman Grade Jondar Sito & Cadet Freshman Grade James Corrigan
Edited on on Tue Feb 5th, 2019 @ 8:01pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Academic Building/Lecture Hall
Timeline: 2388/08/28 1000 (Thurs. August 28 2388 10:00am)

Once the last of the cadets on his list arrived Spangler put the roll call PADD on the table and looked over the class. He spoke in a clear voice that the acoustics of the auditorium made loud enough to be heard throughout the room. "Good day cadets. I am sure you all realize by now some classes are exciting and others are quite boring. Such is life. Now on each seat was placed a PADD, does anyone not have one?" Spangler did not wait for a reply but pointed to four points in the room where extras had been stacked. "If you do not have, you need to go get one at one of those tables."

As she arrived by her chair, Phoebe picked up her PADD and turned it on as she settled into her seat.

The first thing Talia had done, was pick up the PADD and turn it on. It was then that she tucked her foot under her and sat.

Jondar rushed in and after a good natured glaring contest with another male cadet, scored a seat next to Pheobe. He grinned sheepishly and picked up his PADD. "Got talking..."

"Who to?" Phoebe whispered, shifting her chair a little bit closer to his.

"Frankie and S'let, they were trying to say the new M65 Groundhawk is a better hover bike than the 007 Stealth. Frankie called it a 'crotch rocket' whatever that is, had to set them straight..." He said with a grin.

Behind him, Molly had squeezed into a seat between two large guys. She turned on her datapad and waited with interest.

Claudia sat quietly in the front watching the officer with interest.

"Now then this is Operations. We have many task to perform on ships, on bases, on planets. If the fleet needs it we procure it. We also run diagnostics to make sure it all works, support engineering to maintain and even repair it. If it is not specific to any one department, we in operations man the station. We are the transporter techs, we make sure the replicators have raw materials. Those lucky few on the bridge operate various sensor arrays and ensure everyone has power. People breath on a starship because we make sure the systems are up and running appropriately. Same goes for sonic showers, artificial gravity, lights, and room temperature. We make sure the Federation ships and bases function. Those of you who have the desire will find Operations is a swift path to command." Spangler smiled "Now then about those PADDS.. I will activate them soon, but a brief explanation first."

Spangler held up a PADD "This is a sort of pre-test, a bit of reading and searching, you need not go anywhere. In here is a ship request order for twenty items. You are the Operations person given this order for items and it needs to be delivered within the hour. You have to locate each item, ensure it is properly packaged, schedule it to be properly moved to the pick up point and then signed for by the receiver. All paperwork and forms properly filled out, documented and replacements ordered back into stock. Each item is worth up to five points. A score under forty is a poor performance. Forty-five to sixty is average and acceptable. Any score over sixty-five is commendable. This class is three classes a week, two hour per class. Anyone who scores above seventy has the option to work one four hour part time shift in base Operations in lieu of one of those classes. It is an additional two hours of your time but the benefits other then a few earned credits should be obvious. Now any questions before we start?"

"Do we get any help with where to locate the items at all?" Phoebe asked, not really sure where she was going to start.

Jondar was looking a little glum, "Paperwork.." He thought a little bummed, "desk jockey...shut up Sito hows that fair just because its not your gig doesn't make it wrong..." After suitably mentally smacking himself in the back of the head, he tried to pay closer attention. It helped when Phoebe asked her question.

Spangler looked at the class listing on his PADD, "Ah, there you are Cadet Cavendish." He looked up and smiled "Do you know how I found you?" He turned his PADD so it faced the class. "Everyone in this class is in a database. Every item used by the Federation is in a database as well. As an Operation's officer you will need to be able to locate items from literally billions of items in the inventory. Now just like this class, the database is divided to make it usable. I could never have found Cadet Cavendish by referencing her picture in a fleet database."

Spangler paced the front of the class as he spoke. He hoped this was not too involved of an answer. "The class is a sublist, every ship is a sublist as well. Every ship is divided into departments, subdivided down to individual systems and then to the parts. One of the skills you will be learning here is how to find the smallest size list needed as quickly as possible. For this subtest the list of parts for a Cheyenne class ship is in your PADD. I will answer questions during the search, but I expect you to make an attempt to find the parts by finding the appropriate list on your own." Spangler returned to stand in front of Phoebe, "Long-winded I know, in short everything you need is in the PADD you have in hand. Does that answer your question Cadet Cavendish?" Spangler had an easy smile and he enjoyed this, it showed in his demeanor.

"Yes Sir." Phoebe nodded, relieved that they weren't going to have to dig up the information from scratch because she really, really wouldn't have known where to start.

"Can we work in teams?" Jondar asked. Thinking even if he couldn't match up with Phoebe he could do it himself kinda like how he could take a punch for a friend but he wouldn't like it. He was a smart cadet or he wouldn't be here but what was just described did not appeal to his get up and go. That was an understatement but he was always game even if not fond.

"I am afraid not... Cadet Jondar Sito.. You see in Operations we often work in teams but there is normally just you, the computer, and your request form." Spangler had stopped pacing to answer and then continued walking "Any other questions? If not we will begin?"

Now a whiner would complain about the lack of instruction or about the unfairness of the assignment. Jondar pursed his lips briefly in a vaguely annoyed but thoughtful fashion and fell silent. He was pretty good at reading people and this Prof was not going to budge. To Jondar sometimes people were like forces of nature. You couldn't control them, sometimes all you could do was grab an umbrella when it rained. You just had to roll with it.

He glanced over at Phoebe, titling his PADD at her and giving her a comically pitiful hangdog expression.

"There, there." Phoebe patted his knee, "Just remember our date tonight." she whispered at him then gave his knee a squeeze hoping that the incentive would get him through what was obviously going to be a boring few hours.

Jondar perked right up at that, "For you I can wade through mountains of paperwork..."

"That's my boy." Phoebe winked at him before turning her attention back to the lecturer.

After everyone seemed satisfied Ensign Spangler activated the PADD with all the information needed for the test. He had designed the test based on his work in Operations, a typical ship turn around resupply. He walked around the class as they began, just observing them. He had been offered this class as part of his graduate command course. Instructing subordinates was a bit part of the responsibilities of command.

The Engineer Corps Instructor department head, Commander Thavanichent th'Dari sat off to the side. So far he was only partly pleased; while Ensign Spangler was doing a good job within his area, there was so much more areas to mention than what he had with Operational duties.

Claudia looked down at the test and started tapping through the items, none of it was too hard as she had done something similar with her dad when they were on various fleet ships. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be an ops officer but her dad had hopes that she would as she was good at it.

Molly Seol was another one with an advantage considering her dad was a former Ops chief, and an academy professor at the Main Academy in San Francisco. Throughout her childhood, although she adored him, she'd had a habit of rebelling against him. But when it came to his work, she ended up bit by bit extremely interested, despite herself.

She began with the first item on the list. Fairly simple, combadges, new and unprogrammed.. Molly checked the availability of them in inventory. There weren't enough to fill the order, so she looked up a replicating request form and started filling it out.

Jondar bent to his task with a grim focus, just because it wasn't his favorite didn't mean he didn't realize it was important. He was an active sort not an idiot. He fought not to let his eyes glaze over as he worked. Being the new kid with a corporate security company aka mercenaries meant he did things like haul around supplies for the supply sgt. So he didn't know this but he understood the basic concepts. It was all he could do not to fidget though, he was learning but sitting still doing paperwork was not something that came naturally to him.

Keeping her head down, Phoebe worked on each item one by one, deciding that she really, really never wanted to be an Operations officer. Who could possibly find a job like this exciting? Stifling a yawn she read the next part of the test. Medical supplies. Yuk. Medical was almost just as bad and here Spangler was combining the two. Unable to hold back a deep sigh, she continued on, knowing she had to do the work but it didn't mean she had to like it.

Jondar sensing Phoebe's trouble, bumped her leg gently with his own. Giving a smile even as he kept his eyes and hands on his own work.

Twenty minutes in and Claudia's familiarity with the database was showing as she was a third of the way through the test. She looked up feeling Spangler's eyes on her giving her an almost suspicious look as he moved in front of her.

"Sir?"

"I was just watching Cadet Rankin, it would seem you helped your parents quite often to be so familiar with fleet databases. If you work as accurately as you do fast one of those positions in base operations is yours. That is if you want it." Spangler nodded his head at another student. "Excuse me, Cadet Rankin. You might want to keep in mind though, Operations is a door to command." Spangler walked over to answer another Cadet's question.

Claudia blinked before hiding a grin and continuing to work carefully through the list. She hadn't really thought beyond this first class but the more she thought about it the more she liked the idea of both the internship and the command track eventually.

Coming upon the neutron microscope, Molly stared at it and then wondering something, raised her hand.

Spangler stepped alongside facing the young lady, "Yes Cadet O'Brien. You have question?" She was one of the cadets he suspected would be at the top of the class. Then well-known parents was not a proper way to profile a Cadet.

Molly smiled, "Yes, Sir..." she glanced down to her PADD and then back up to him questioning, "I'm going over the specific handling instructions for the neutron microscope. Would an inspection of the microscope's condition be required by the M.D. that signs off on it?"

"Actually no. It is shipped in components and must be put together, mounted, and calibrated before it could be tested. Since the several components are so sensitive checking the seal is enough for a signature. The responsibility is entirely on the packer who sealed the crate." Spangler nodded smiling once he answered "an excellent question though, you know something of this process." He glanced at her work thus far "I believe you will be one of those offered a position. Nice work."

Molly nodded as he explained, and then looked up at him returning his smile, "Thank you, Sir."

Getting to the gel packs Claudia slowed down and took her time. Forms in triplicate were hard and needed careful copying to make sure you got the details right. Transferring the information over carefully she unknowingly transposed a figure on the second form. Finishing the third form Claudia had a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right and she started to re-trace her work for the gel packs.

Having a thought she raised her hand "Sir?"

"Yes, how might I assist you Cadet Rankin." Spangler had a fairly friendly personality and it leaked out despite his efforts to appear the tough instructor.

"Do the gel packs need to be checked for contamination at all before they are sent? I understand that the spot tests are not always reliable, but it takes 3 days for the swabs to grow an identifiable pathogen if there is one there."

"No, actually every time they are handled there is a risk of contamination. So the less they are handled the better. You are right most problems take about three days to develop. So if during a check one was contaminated then by the time it was discovered the damage could be significant." Having spoken loud enough for the class to hear Spangler stepped past. "Good question Cadet Rankin. So you know those items go through a strict screening process before packed for shipping, so should be fine on arrival."

Nodding Claudia put the last finishing touches to her work deciding she really wanted to get one of those spots if she could. The instructor had a lot of knowledge and she would love the challenge.

Spangler moved to the front of the class. "You have six more minutes so please begin to wrap this up. I hope this gives you an idea of what Operations is about. Many of those going into Operations begin by doing just what you are doing now. Learning the system, knowing where to find and how to get parts is a sort of continued learning experience. Operations is so much more though!" Spangler was making a sort of sales pitch now, not so much to convince the cadets to go into Operations as a career but to help them see this course as important.

"Operations not only does inventory and ordering of parts. We run diagnostics and prepare work orders for engineering, some repairs we do ourselves once you develop the skills required. We operate the transporters and many computer stations. On the bridge we deal with reading sensor data, operate defensive systems and distribute power to all parts of the ship. It can be a thankless job and even boring. We are seldom seen as heroes. What we do makes us keenly aware of how a ship works though, which makes us good choices for command positions. Something to think on if you are looking at a long career." Spangler looked at the time "Three more minutes folks."

Having already been keeping time for herself, Molly had dived into her last item just before Spangler made his announcement. Replacement repair parts for a ship type IX phaser...hmm...delivered tooo.. theee...Armory..

Seeing the score come up automatically on her PADD, Claudia was relieved to see while not the top score of 100 that was possible she had scored a fairly decent 89, none of the marks taken off were for input errors but there were a couple of processing errors for items she had never had to handle before.

Molly looked at her score and half smiled, 88...not too bad, but she felt she definitely needed to improve.

Claudia looked round the class curiously as she waited for the instructor to close the lesson. For now she was keeping her options wide open ... besides she had heard rumours that people like Admiral Fraiser were cross trained in several areas so it would hardly make her the first to have a multiple specialty.

As Phoebe set her PADD aside, she whispered to Jondar "Okay, so I officially hate Operations."

Jondar gave a smile and nodded.

James had listened to the instructor's words carefully. He was familiar enough with Federation databases, but he still wondered how well he would perform on this particular test, not having been tested on it before. Quietly, he began when everyone else did. His eyes skimmed through list after list to the appropriate list for each items, then to the item. He was not as fast as Claudia -- he did not know this, of course, but it would hardly have mattered if he had -- but he was fast enough. Each item was handled quickly and efficiently, all papers properly filled out and filed before he moved on to the next. When time was up, he glanced at the number of the items he had finished and frowned. Fourteen. He should be able to do better than that! Mentally cursing at himself, he set down his PADD and waited for the instructor to do as his father always had, find some fault with his work beyond that which he already had.

"Time is up. Please flip over your PADDs and I will collect them." Spangler collected PADDs and the results were pretty much as expected. Most seemed to have struggled till they got the hang of it but then it was too late to catch up. He tapped an instructor code as he collected each scoring and applying the score to their class file. He made no comment till he had half the class and collected Molly's PADD. "Seems Cadet O'Brien will be receiving an invitation from Operations. Well done." He had collected a dozen more when he got to James and noted the score. "Cadet Corrigan so far you have the second highest score. You might just be receiving a message as well." He glanced over his shoulder at James "Of course you do not have to accept it. Well Done Cadet Corrigan."

He collected only a few more and nodded as he picked up Claudia's PADD. As expected he smiled at her "You're in if you want the position. Nicely done." He finished collecting the PADDS a short time later. "So we have fourth high score. Cadet Phoebe Cavendish, you will also be receiving an invitation to work for base operations." Returned to the front of the class. "Four Cadets will receive a letter in the next couple days. The job is not mandatory but the experience would be very useful. At least I feel so. Now then lets have a short round of applause for Cadets Claudia Rankin, Molly O'Brien, and James Corrigan. They were the top three scores." After acknowledging them, Spangler saw a wave from Commander Peta Vinx. "Allow me to introduce the Department Chief Instructor as I can see she wishes a few words with you all. Commander Peta Vinx." Spangler moved off to the side giving up the floor. He was sort of surprised how much he enjoyed teaching.

When the instructor praised his work, James felt a surge of pride and grinned. He would have said 'thank you', but Spangler moved on as he should have. So James just grinned and let himself 'sit with the feeling' for a few moments. And a great feeling it was too! Why couldn't his father ever be proud of him like that?

Jondar sighed in relief as the exam ended, he did well enough, 75%. Considering it wasn't his thing that was pretty good. He glanced over at Phoebe's, she got higher. Not surprised, he turned in his stuff when she did. "That was rough..." he whispered trying to look fake pitiful even as he wondered if he could take his shoe off to rub on her leg without anyone noticing....

"It sucked eggs." Phoebe replied, looking less than happy despite her good mark. Roll on her favourite subjects that was all she could think.

Jondar nodded, managed to get his shoe off quietly and was gently rubbing her lower leg with his oddly dexterous toes.

Spangler was moving out of the way to turn the class over to the Chief of the Department when he stopped and placed a firm hand on Jondar's shoulder. He leaned down and spoke quietly into Jondar's ear. "I understand the need for stress relief and Cadet Cavendish obviously is not offended by the attention. However one should think of the rest of the class when removing one's shoes from one's sweaty feet. Please replace your shoe until the Chief Instructor has finished her talk." Spangler smiled at Phoebe "You did well Cadet Cavendish for one who believes this department 'sucks eggs'. Spangler released Jondar's shoulder and continued to a far corner to observe.

"Thanks Sir." Phoebe blushed furiously, appalled that Spangler had overheard her as she quickly pulled her leg away from Jondar. The brunette was a swot by heart and being caught like this wasn't something that she was used to.

Completely unabashed Jondar replied, to also take the heat off of his girlfriend, "My feet smell like roses, but yes Sir.." respectfully and obediently enough put his shoe back on. He then rested his right hand on his leg waiting for his chance to stray into Cavendish territory again.

Anichent moved up front and looked over the class, "Thank you, Ensign Spangler. I'll take it from here," and then proceeded to go over a few more positions and opportunities within the Operations Department. He answered a few questions, and when it was apparent there were no more and time was up, he ending with, "Dismissed."


~End


Commander Thavanichent th'Dari
Eng. Corps Dept. Head
Magellan Campus

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Cadet Molly Seol
Engineering/OPs
Magellan Campus

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Ensign Jacob Spangler (NPC'd by Ray)
Dorm officer/grad student Command
Magellan Campus

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Cadet Sito Jondar
Security Cadet
Magellan Campus

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Cadet Phoebe Cavendish
Security Cadet
Magellan Campus

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James Corrigan
Starfleet Cadet
Engineering and Flight Control

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Cadet Claudia Rankin
Security/Science
Magellan Academy

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Cadet Freshman Grade Talia Varen
Cadet
Magellan Academy