2022 OCS Review

Greetings Bravo Fleet!

Since moving to our current model on April 2020, the ranks and criteria for promotion have remained largely unchanged. Having lived with this model for around two and a half years, we decided now was the perfect time to review our ranks and promotion criteria with a view to potentially recalibrating them.

The main outcome of that review is that we are introducing a new rank between cadet senior grade and ensign: midshipman. This has also necessitated that we recalibrate the promotion requirements for Ensign to Lieutenant Commander.

There are several reasons for doing this. The first, is that it allows us to even out the number of ranks at each level. Before there were 4 cadet ranks, 3 junior officer ranks, 4 senior officer ranks, 4 flag officer ranks with Fleet Admiral out on it’s own at the very top. Now there are 4 ranks in each of those groups. The second is that it spreads the promotions out a little more. We wanted to make sure that people were really enjoying their time in the junior officer ranks, rather than just racing through them to reach lieutenant commander. We want members to be able to take the time to smell the roses, learn the ropes of writing for a primary command with their Raven-class commands, and develop a strong stable of characters so that by the time they reached lieutenant commander, and they could pick out a shiny new starship, they were ready to jump straight in with new and exciting stories.

Here’s a quick rundown of the changes:

• Cadet Ranks: The cadet ranks remain largely unchanged, save for an increased selection of criteria to help you reach the next rank.
• Midshipman: This is the biggest change to our rank system since its introduction. Midshipman replaces ensign as the first of the junior officer ranks. You’ll need to meet two required criteria, authenticating on discord and earning the New Member Program badge, two other criteria from the list. Raven-class primary commands can be requested once a member reaches midshipman.
• Ensign: There are now no required criteria to reach the rank of ensign. Complete four criteria from the expanded list and you’ll earn that first solid silver pip.
• Lieutenant Junior Grade: The number of criteria necessary to achieve this promotion has risen from four to five, and the list of criteria has been expanded.
• Lieutenant: In order to reach the rank of lieutenant, you’ll need to complete five of the criteria, up from four, from the expanded list.
• Lieutenant Commander: The first big milestone we all work toward so we can pick out our first starship primary command. Reaching lieutenant commander now involves completing six of the criteria from the expanded list, previously it had been five.

In addition to the changes made to the junior officer ranks, we’ve updated language around the senior officer and flag officer ranks. These changes should hopefully make it clear what kind of activity OCS is looking for when reviewing promotion requests and what will be required for members to achieve those ranks going forward.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your Task Force staff or myself and we’ll be happy to help in whatever way we can.