Standard Equipment
| |
| Standard Starfleet Equipment | |
| INFORMATION | |
| Year Commissioned: |
2240-2252 |
| Affiliation: |
United Federation of Planets |
| Status: |
Active |
| END OF BRIEFING | |
| Template:Equipment | |
At a Glance
Throughout most of the 2250s, Starfleet's equipment has a strong resemblance to the later 2260s era. Rank insignia are placed on a department-specific badge as "commbadges" are not yet available. However, these badges do contain locator-transponders and can relay some information back to the ship's sensors. To communicate, personnel carry a flip-style communicator. Tricorders and datapads are also frequently carried and used.
Uniforms
Starfleet Command issues a series of garments to meet the needs of its personnel. Starfleet's uniforms come in a number of variations to suit the wearer with an appearance that varies by their division within Starfleet.
In 2230, Starfleet Command adopted a new uniform that moved away from the primary red-blue-yellow top with a black bottom uniform design that had dominated the last twenty years. The design they chose was a radical departure that harkened back to the functionality of the Federation's early eras. With only minor variations in 2240 and again in 2250, the uniform has largely been unchanged. The Constitution-class Explorers began to don a new uniform similar to the pre-2230s era but those changes have not been implemented in the wider fleet.
Skant Variation Uniform
Two-Piece Uniform
The standard Starfleet uniform is a two-piece, long-sleeved garment with a close-fitted, tailored contour. Underneath the jacket, personnel usually don a sleeveless, short sleeve or long-sleeved dark blue or gray undergarment.
Skants are most popular among the Yeomanry and see little use in the more operational or utilitarian parts of the ship. These uniform variants, which are unisex and can be worn by all genders, have a dress or pleated kilt-like bottom. Skants can be a one-piece (in which the skant is dark blue like the uniform) or two-piece (in which the skant portion is black). The skant variation ends a few centimeters above the knee. It can be worn with black leggings and standard boots, or without leggings.
One-Piece Jumpsuit
Those with a utilitarian approach or who have a vocational necessity will find there is a one-piece jumpsuit version of the standard uniform. It is especially popular with engineers and operations personnel. The uniform is made of a thicker and more robust material.
Skant Variant
Skants are most popular among the Yeomanry and see little use in the more operational or utilitarian parts of the ship. These uniform variants, which are unisex and can be worn by all genders, have a dress or pleated kilt-like bottom. Skants can be a one-piece (in which the skant is dark blue like the uniform) or two-piece (in which the skant portion is black). The skant variation ends a few centimeters above the knee. It can be worn with black leggings and standard boots, or without leggings.
Officer's Standard Dress
The officer's uniform is a dark blue garment with five vertical lines on each shoulder. Patterned field colors descend from the sides under the arm. It has an off-side lapel, concealing the jacket's zipper and ribbed blue shouldering.
Commanding Officer Adornment
Admiral's Badge and Shoulder
Commanding Officers (Captains) of starships and starbases are differentiated aboard ship by gold shoulder piping in the ribbed area between the vertical lines and the collar.
Flag Officer's Adornment
Commodores and those of the Admiralty don a unique rank insignia badge as well as gold shoulder piping similar to a Captain's. However, their form a cup around the ball of the shoulder as well.
Formal State Dress
Starfleet has several variations of formal dress, largely decided by ship, situation, and individual choice. All of them are a two-piece tunic and either pants or skirt. They all possess the offset lapel, though the Class D style has a ribbed lapel. In this case, the jacket and lapel are two layers and not the same garment layer. The undershirt is a royal blue color. Other minor variations include straight arm cuffs (Type A), angled arm cuffs (Type B), and one with angled shoulder caps (Type C).
Medical Officer's Dress
By 2230, Starfleet bowed to pressure by the Medical Division to differentiate its officers from Science personnel. Their reasons were largely centered around safety- doctors, nurses, and paramedics were hard to locate in crisis situations and had unacceptable casualty rates when engaged in the rare act of combat. Starfleet decided to design a garment that gave medical personnel an easily identifiable appearance, hoping it would 1) tell an opponent that these are noncombat humanitarians; 2) assist refugees and evacuees to locate trained medical personnel in a crisis situation.
Enlisted Standard Dress
Non-medical Enlisted personnel below the rank of Chief Petty Officer don a slight variation of uniform. Sometimes seen as the "Specialist's Uniform" the garment is similar to commissioned officers. It is a medium blue jacket or one-piece jumpsuit with blue vertical shoulder lines and blue patterning under the arms. Like the standard officer's, it has an off-center lapel. A rank insignia badge is worn on the left breast.
Civilian Contractor's Dress
Civilians are a rare breed on mid-23rd century vessels. Many wear their own attire. When the ship's fabricators are deployed for longterm civilian contractor dress, the standard output is a slate blue, one-piece jumpsuit with offset lapel collar. The jumpsuit is somewhat commonly worn (with a rank insignia badge) by engineering personnel when undertaking work that needs a very robust garment. The civilian variant does not have a rank badge.
Prisoner's Fatigues
Brig detainees and prisoners who have been processed by Security personnel are issued a yellow one-piece jumpsuit similar to the civilian jumpsuit (its pockets are sealed/removed). The color choice is one to help differentiate them from the crew and to alert ship's personnel that, should this person be seen away from Security escort, they are to call Security immediately- they are not to intervene themselves.
Rank Insignia Badge
The standard insignia badge in Starfleet in the 2250s is pinned to the left upper chest and is made of different material depending on one's division with the fleet. Command is gold. Operations is bronze. Science is silver. Medical is nickel. Officers have their rank insignia lining the lower-left portion of the delta. Enlisted and Non-Commissioned Officers wear a badge without rank pips.
Starfleet Intelligence Section 31 Badge
Section 31 and Starfleet Intelligence have a unique badge (glossy black left with a mirror silver right). It is not included here because the Ulysses has no Intelligence personnel aboard.
Cadet Badge
Cadets wear a badge with similar division coloration with a matte black, rectangular background. With a division-specific border, a series of four bars cross the middle of the badge horizontally. Each bar represents one year at the Academy. A senior cadet has four full bars in their division color.
Safety Equipment
Starfleet of the 2250s has several pieces of equipment to safeguard personnel in the event of combat or hostile environments.
Tactical Vest
The Tactical Vest or Armor Vest is donned by all Security personnel during Red Alert, and by all personnel who go on an Away Mission where expectations of casualties or combat are statistically probable. All command and flag officers are expected to don one in the event that they will be leading an Away Team regardless of the statistical probabilities of conflict, as per General Order 15, subsection 3: "Command Officers will take all precautions to safeguard themselves in the event of unsecured field activity." It remains one of the most chronically ignored General Orders in Starfleet.
Type I Environmental Suit
Type II Environmental Suit
Environmental Survival Suits
Starfleet deploys two versions of an EVA Suit to its personnel, both with specific functions in mind. Both suits have extensive temperature and pressure regulators within a form-fitting, airtight mesh uniform.
Type I Environmental Suit
The EVA Mark I is a lighter, less cumbersome EVA suit for surface operations on planets or environments with non-breathable atmospheres or near-vacuum conditions. These suits also come with gravity boots that can be deployed on any walkable surface. The Mark I's visor can be lifted should the atmospheric conditions change to a Class M tolerance.
Type II Environmental Suit
The EVA Mark II is a more bulky EVA Suit with directional thrusters and backup life support systems meant for zero-gravity movement in space or otherwise outside the hull of the Ulysses. It has an onboard navigational computer, sensor suite, independent communications system, and multi-vector thruster system, as well as gravity boots, grip pads in the fingers, and magnetic clasps for tools. The EVA Mark II has a fixed environmental system that can recycle atmosphere for longer than the EVA Mark I. However, it is much more cumbersome, becoming unwieldy to maneuver in when subject to gravity.