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Post by Captain T'Pang on Jan 9, 2012 15:54:22 GMT -5
From the moment Lieutenant T'Pang reported for command school the pace was non stop in its intensity. Every day presented it own unique challenges, yet everyday started with the same grueling ritual. Up before dawn with physical training, running, calisthenics and what ever other physical tortures the instructors felt the trainees needed to be subjected to that day. The exercises were as much to test the trainee’s mental toughness as their physical stamina. Already most of the class was beginning to show signs of stress and strain from the difficult regimen and lack of sleep.
From the second day on the classes had begun. Classes included Federation and Starfleet values and ethics, historical perspectives on the Federation and Starfleet. There were talks and seminars about leadership and other topics by distinguished guests. The big one and by far the most challenging one for most trainees was starship tactics and strategy. All the classes were taught by some of the best minds in the Federation, but combat tactics was the realm of a Zakdorn commodore by the name of Esala Ankrach. He seemed to take a rather perverse delight in submitting his students to rather intense and often lop-sided challenges, especially in the simulators.
In fact most trainees, all except the slower students, knew from the first day that this particular class would be the make or break class for most of the students. Commodore Anakrach began the class with the following pronouncement:
“Good morning class, I am Commodore Anakrach. The first thing I want to drill into your heads in this class, is my first rule. In combat there is no teacher but the enemy. No one but your enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer your enemy. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the only rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you.” There was an evil grin on the Zackdorn’s face, “The next rule is this: I am your enemy. Perhaps in some of your lives, the first one you've ever had who was smarter than you. For the duration of this course, I am your enemy. From this point forward I am your teacher. Make no mistake in your thinking, my one goal is to find ways to make you fail this course and I am very good at what I do."
The class quickly learned that these proclamations were in no way born from bravado or arrogance. Although the Zakdorn had more than his fair share of arrogance, it was also a statement of fact that he was as good as he said. The class was difficult in of itself, but it was the simulator sessions that the trainees learned to dread.
Thus began the rather intense challenge of Starfleet Command school.
OOC: This is just to try and give some life to events that are to transpire essentially off camera. Stuff that is going on between seasons.
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Post by Captain T'Pang on Jan 10, 2012 16:47:46 GMT -5
Personal Log – Lieutenant T’Pang
I have been here at Starfleet Academy for less than a week now, undergoing Command School training. Physically I am finding the regime less difficult than some of the students. This is one of those cases where my Vulcan discipline and training have paid dividends. However on a mental noted I find some aspects of the training lack any apparent basis in logic and are difficult to absorb. A good example was this morning when I met with my faculty advisor. His name is Captain Reginald Tyson, he is human. I have become somewhat accustomed to interacting with humans since joining Starfleet, but this particular officer was difficult to read and even by Human standards seemed rather irrational. I was far more certain of the state of my progress before I visited with him than I am now after the talk.
T’Pang sat patiently in the waiting room for what must have been a half an hour. The secretary glanced up at her several times and then back to her work. It seemed odd to T’Pang her appointment was already a good twenty minutes past and Captain Tyson’s previous appointment had left just minutes after her arrival. This advisor appointment was probably going to provide very little insight into her progress as she had been here for less than a week and there was little data from which to draw any meaningful conclusions about her performance. There were far more productive things she could do with her time than wait in an academy lobby.
T’Pang glanced up when the buzzer on the secretary’s desk sounded and a muffled voice spoke over the speaker. The secretary looks up at T’Pang and stated, “You can go in now.”
T’Pang stood up and headed for the door, opened it and stepped into the room. “Lieutenant T’Pang reporting as ordered sir.” She said as she stood up straight at attention.
“Relax Lieutenant, have a seat.” Captain Tyson said with a smile.
T’Pang thought for a moment then sat down, but she didn’t relax. As she took a seat the Captain picked up a PADD from his desk and began reading it. After several minutes of this T’Pang decided she wanted to move this conversation along, “Excuse me sir, was there something in particular you wanted to see me about?”
“No.” he said without putting the device down, “as I will be your faculty advisor while you are here, I wanted to meet you.” He said and then put the PADD down on the desk.
“You come here well recommended and your record is exemplary.” Tyson stated, “I suppose you will likely do quite satisfactory here as well.”
T’Pang raised an eyebrow at that, it seemed a rather odd turn of phrase for a human, “Satisfactory?” the comment slipped out, well it was more of a question really.
Tyson grinned, “I thought with you being Vulcan and all you might appreciate…” he began, and then paused, “But wait you were perhaps hoping to do better than just satisfactory?”
Reflexively T’Pang answered, “No sir.”
Without so much as a hint to the thoughts or emotions inside the man’s head he responded, “So I take it it’s your intention to do the absolute minimum to get by then?”
In the blink of an eye T’Pang realized she had lost control of this conversation. She was unsure how she had managed to fail so miserably at conveying her thoughts and ideas to this particular individual. Was this some sort of game or test that she wasn’t made aware of before hand, “That isn’t what I intended to say.”
“What exactly did you intend to say, exactly?”
“I meant to convey the idea that I will do my absolute best here and that nothing else will be acceptable.” T’Pang said.
Captain Tyson nodded, “That is very good.” He said then paused, “rehearse that a few more times and you will be more convincing.”
T’Pang said nothing, there was nothing to say. She had made a rather terrible first impression.
The captain took a long deep breath, “You are not a people person are you Lieutenant?”
“Not really sir.”
“Yet you think that you can come in here and pass a few classes and graduate from command school with honors like you did back at the Academy?”
“No, sir.”
“You are damn right no sir, this isn’t about book learning. You can pass every class from now to the end of time and people still won’t want to follow you. I think it was Harry Truman who said: What makes leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don't want to do and like it. You are going to need to manage people, your Vulcan brain may not be able to savvy human emotions, but you will need to learn to manage them in order to work with people effectively. Authority is no substitute for leadership, so don’t get the mindset that your rank will be some sort of guarantee that people will follow you and do what you order them to do.” Tyson paused for a breath, “are we clear?”
“Yes sir,”
“End of pep talk. You are dismissed.”
T’Pang stood up and made her way out of the door.
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Post by Captain T'Pang on Jan 11, 2012 21:49:38 GMT -5
While the lecture part of the Starship tactics course was considered important and graded just as strictly as any other course, every command school candidate knew that the simulator portion of the course was the real heart of the class. It was in the simulator where you learned how to implement the tactical ideas presented in the classroom.
Commodore Ankrach, made a special point to review standard Starfleet tactical doctrine. He had an almost contemptuous tone in his voice as he explained how Starfleet’s peace keeping mission presented special tactical problems for the Starfleet captain that often forced them into poor tactical situations. He also noted that it was the primary reason the simulator portion of the course would so often be stacked against the student, because as he said “unfair and lopsided engagements will be an unfortunate fact of life for you as a commanding officer in todays Starfleet, you should get used to it sooner as opposed to later.”
The culmiation of the course was the Kobayashi Maru senario, which was in fact the ultimate lopsided engagement – the no win senario. It had a reputation for being hard on both students and equipment, but mostly on students. For now that final test was still a ways off.
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Post by Captain T'Pang on Mar 22, 2024 5:16:32 GMT -5
Stardate: 89725.59 Location: Earth, San Francisco, Starfleet Academy
Lieutenant T'Pang stood at attention, "Lieutenant T'Pang reporting as ordered sir."
Commodore Gruhn Ankrach smiled warmly as he motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Please have a seat lieutenant. Would you like some tea?" The Zakdorn male motioned to the carafe situated on a platter on the edge of his desk.
T'Pang sat down. her posture was perfectly straight as she sat on the edge of the seat. "No thank you, sir."
The commodore poured two cups of tea and slid one in front of T'Pang. The Vulcan-Human officer gave the commodore a confused glance. "thank you sir." was her only reply.
"You are welcome." the commodore replied. "For future reference when a flag officer offers you tea, the proper response is yes sir and thank you, sir."
"I'll remember that for future reference sir," T'Pang answered.
The commodore folded his hands in front of himself on the desk, "Now down to business. This last simulator exercise, how would you characterize your performance?"
"I failed to achieve the mission objective sir," T'Pang stated tersely.
The commodore nodded slowly, "But, you and your task group died heroically. I was however looking for a more in-depth analysis. What went wrong?"
"We were outnumbered sir and the enemy was able to anticipate and counter the tactics we were using."
The commodore again nodded this time with a slight chuckle. "I will say this about you lieutenant. You have a fine memory. I would wager you have the entire catalog of attack and defense maneuvers memorized. But, as you are finding out any serious opponent is going to know their enemy well enough to recognize standard maneuvers and be ready with tactics to counter them." The commodore lectured, then paused to sip his tea before continuing. "I understand, you are Vulcan and come here from a science background. You want problems that can be neatly categorized. You want a formula or algorithms to get you to a solution as efficiently as possible. But, combat is chaos lieutenant. But, military philosopher Sun Tzu, from Earth I believe, advises that 'in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.'"
"I understand sir," T'Pang replied.
The Zakdorn shook his head slowly, "No. I don't think you do. In battle, fighting is pretty straightforward. Unremarkable really. But, the unremarkable does not win victories. It is remarkable or unorthodox that you need to win. The unorthodox is chaos. But, that chaos brings opportunity."
T'Pang tried not to look confused, "I should not use standard attack maneuvers?"
"Oh no. I certainly did not mean to imply that." The commodore stated before sipping more tea. "You will need both the orthodox and unorthodox. The goal is to make your opponents follow the path you lay out for them. When they are on your path, you know when and how to attack." the Commodore explained, then there was a long pause. "You know I don't get many science officers in this program. But, you are certainly not the first. I remember a young science officer, Ensign Elizabeth Rendino. I think you are familiar with her."
T'Pang nodded, "Yes sir, she was my XO on the Ayanami."
"She was very creative. Perhaps too creative. A thing I never used to think was possible. But, look up her solution to similar simulations. I think it will give you a better idea of what I am talking about." The commodore explained.
"I will do that sir," T'Pang replied.
"Good. Now drink your tea Lieutenant, it is getting cold."
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