A duty shift was a moment of the workday in starship duty where crewmen were effectively working. The officer in charge of the bridge during a shift was often referred to as the shift officer when the commanding officer was not on the bridge.
Three-shift rotations were common in Starfleet, as well as in the Tal Prai'ex. It was common for shift officers, in the Tal Prai'ex, to take command of the ship in battle if they had to fight while on duty.(RIS Bouteina et al.)
Types of shift[]
Alpha shift[]
In the Tal Prai'ex, the alpha shift was the shift where the most senior crewmen served on. It also was the "first" shift in a workday. It was also used for what technically was daytime for the crew. (RIS Bouteina)
Beta shift[]
In the Tal Prai'ex, the beta shift was the second shift.
Rovas was the beta shift officer on the RIS Bouteina. He even handed over his beta shift duty to Brianna Reiss once while they were hunting for the HMS Sovereign, refusing to play the superheroes. (RIS Bouteina: "Spoiled Rotten")
Gamma shift[]
The notion of a gamma shift, in the Tal Prai'ex, was akin to that of a night shift for land-based forces. It was usually relegated to junior officers and crewmen for it was an undesirable duty.
Ulduar was the gamma shift officer on the RIS Bouteina. (RIS Bouteina)
External links[]
- Duty shift article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Duty shift article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Officer of the watch article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.