Source
r/DaystromInstitute•
lemrtom

As a Retired Officer Wesley Crusher had the Right to Wear a Uniform on Troi and Riker's Wedding

For a long time Wesley Crusher appearing in Uniform at Troi and Riker's wedding in Nemesis seemed like a big inconsistency or, at least, something that brought up a lot of questions with zero answers. Was Wesley back in Starfleet? Had he abandoned his travels with the Traveler? I believe the answer to both these questions is no. Wesley never got back into Starfleet. He was just on the Enterprise visiting for the wedding, and wearing his uniform as a retired officer.

Retired officers in many armed forces retain the privilege to wear their dress uniforms on military ceremonies, patriotic parades, or on social events when the invitation was influenced by their past military service. At first glance, in Wesley's case it would seem inadequate that he wears his uniform, considering he resigned his commission as a cadet before even graduating. However, Wesley did serve as an officer with a field commission granted by Picard before departing for the Academy, so I guess this entitles him to wear the uniform at the Enterprise during the wedding and on other official events. If you look closely, you'll see he was wearing one pin on his collar rather than a cadet insignia, or more pins (which would indicate a higher rank). This means it was his time as an acting ensign what enabled him to use the uniform, and not his years as a cadet. It also allows us to discard any theory that he was back at the Academy - as then he would have been using a cadet insignia. The only other possibility is that he was back in Starfleet and had just graduated recently, but if that was the case, why wasn't he ever on the bridge or anywhere else on the ship during the conflict with the Romulans?

Now, since his career ended in near scandal, I would say it wasn't entirely appropriate for Wesley to wear the uniform during the ceremony, and I think his mom should have advised him not to. It is also worth questioning whether a wedding (even when it's officiated aboard a military ship, by a military captain, involving military officers), really does count as a social event influenced by Wesley's past service. But be that as it may, I believe he was technically allowed to wear his uniform as a retiree. And that, I believe, was the case in this particular wedding.

Posted Nov 18, 2019, 9:18 PM UTC · edited

353114
TLAMstrikeLieutenant j.g.•

Is he actually "retired"? At best he resigned so he would have forfeited any rights to salutary use of his uniform and rank, at worst he is AWOL and a deserter.

Also did Picard and Dr. Crusher report what Wesley actually did? Does Starfleet know he's off touring other planes of existence? Or did they just list him as AWOL and assumed he joined up with the Dorvan V colonists and later the Maquis?

Anyways we don't see him for the rest of the movie so I don't think he's on the Enterprise, heck most of his scenes were almost cut, he could just be a multi-dimensional being showing up for a wedding as a Starfleet officer. What's security going to do if they try to arrest him for being AWOL? He'll just send them into the cornfield or something.

130
spamman5r•

Is he actually "retired"? At best he resigned so he would have forfeited any rights to salutary use of his uniform and rank, at worst he is AWOL and a deserter.

Indefinite leave for graduating to the next stage of human evolution does seem to be the kind of exception Starfleet would have written down somewhere.

97
MtnNerdCrewman•

Perhaps it was taken as an excused absence in context with the events of TOS with Gary Lockwood. That is, without the traveler Wesley could actually be a danger to others.

36
StellarValkyrieCrewman•

I suppose it could be seen as a scientific mission with an indefinite end date provided when he returns he is required to undergo a debriefing.

6
lemrtomOP•

I don't think Wesley is a defector. He had the right to resign, as he did. And while his behavior on the DMZ planet with the Cardassians and the American natives wasn't stellar, he backed down before actually committing a serious offense.

Regarding his leaving with the Traveler, I imagine Picard had reported this fellow's existence to Starfleet the first time he appeared on the Enterprise, and must have cited what he had told him about Wesley as a reason to allow him to serve on the bridge. I very much doubt Picard would allow a civilian to pilot the ship without at least informing Starfleet. So it would only make sense he would include Wesley's departure with him in some report.

48
bolivar-shagnasty•

Resignation and retirement are two entirely different things. Retirement implies a minimum service commitment that spans a significant portion of one's life. Wesley didn't even graduate from the Academy.

55
KnightFoxCrewman•

In a service that allows you to seperate at more or less anytime, I'm not sure there would be an administrative difference to someone leaving the starfleet in "retirement" or to "resign", more of just a convention of speech than a legal distinction. And Academy Cadets are generally commission officers all ready.

10
bolivar-shagnasty•

Academy Cadets are generally commission officers all ready.

Is there any canon for that? Memory Alpha says they were in training to become officers. And cadet isn’t an officer rank on the rank structure.

8
CaptainGreezyEnsign•

Also did Picard and Dr. Crusher report what Wesley actually did?

I think the same should be asked about what happened in season 1. How thoroughly was Wesley's involvement in the Kosinski-Traveller incident reported? The Traveler said to not tell the boy about his abilities and I think it may have been wise to conceal them from Starfleet too. Especially so soon after first contact with Q. They would want to get all Maddox on him to find out how he worked. Picard and Beverly would absolutely want to shield him from anything like that.

I think the same for his season 7 episode. Telling Starfleet the whole truth accomplishes little other than drawing attention and scrutiny upon Wesley.

16
opinionated-dickChief Petty Officer•

Wasn’t there a deleted scene where he talked about being posted as an engineer on the Titan?

91
chappyhour•

There was a 4-minute live action video produced for Star Trek: The Tour where both Wesley Crusher and Tuvok are serving aboard the USS Titan - would that be considered canon (and thus confirmation that Wesley rejoined Starfleet)?

48
thatVisitingHasher•

Where can I watch this?

15
chappyhour•

https://youtu.be/dJMDYiLW3go

23
thatVisitingHasher•

Thanks! That was fun. I still hate the idea of Wesley losing the traveler abilities, just to become a Starfleet officer. I wouldn't mind a story that brought Wesley and Captain Sisko back to help the Galaxy.

28
lightingbolt50•

Damn, that production value was a lot higher than I thought it would be

5
danktonium•

They got cast members to act out a part of the Beta Canon? Nifty!

13
Tiarzel_TalChief Astrogator•

Tim Russ is basically a super trekky. He was a fan for years before he appeared uncredited in Undiscovered Country and even after Voyager is super into the fan film community. I bet he jumped at the chance.

15
danktonium•

There's a reason he was in Renegades.

4
Zer_Crewman•

It wouldn't be out of the question that Wesley would rejoin Starfleet at some point. It's generally a good way to "travel" after all. :)

5
wired-one•

Where is this available?

3
CreamyGoodnssCrewman•

Most likely not canon

2
frezikChief Petty Officer•

Yes. You could certainly argue that, since it wasn't in the final cut of the film, it's not canon.

44
Nawnp•

To be honest, what the film introduces makes people wish it weren't canon (this+Datas destruction, and arguably even Worfs return to Starfleet). In all fairness it was a farewell to the characters to have them all on screen one last time while play fast and loose with existing canon and the plot line of the movie itself.

34
CreamyGoodnssCrewman•

They should have just had Worf there in his diplomatic capacity and jumping in at tactical because he's Worf and can do whatever the fuck he wants

35
mousicle•

Kinda like in First contact where Lt Daniels is just kinda forgotten as the new security and tactical officer since Worf is there.

10
SnorbCrewman•

I think the novelization said Worf was there as a favor to Picard-- his regular chief of security was on maternity leave.

I do know that either a deleted scene or the novelization explains Wesley's uniform; he Traveler'd aboard the Enterprise, but he assumed Riker and Troi were having a Betazoid wedding, so he dressed for the occasion (read: "showed up bare-assed naked.") The famous First Contact Dress Whites were provided for him because that was a sharp uniform after he was told "No, we're doing an Earth-style wedding first, then a Betazoid-style wedding."

8
[deleted]•

[removed]

4
StrategiaSEMODStrategic Operations Officer•

Hi u/Bay1Bri, I've removed your comment because it is in violation of the Daystrom Institute's canon policy.

If you have any further questions, please message the Senior Staff.

1
sorin255Ensign•

Idk about talking about being posted on the Titan but there was going to be a scene where we caught up with Wesley (complete with possible Ashley Judd cameo as that character from TNG that he married!)

But it was just one last bit of Rick Berman being skeevy and abusive towards Wil Wheaton.

6
calgilCrewman•

How was Berman abusive towards Wil?

10
sorin255Ensign•

Wil tells a story about how he once had a movie lined up to shoot during the off season. But when it came up that he was doing it, Rick Berman went to him saying "we're going to start shooting early and we have this big part for you!" So Wil turned the movie down and when it came time to film the part got cut down, then cut down more, then eventually Wil barely even appeared in the episode if at all.

The message was pretty clear - Berman was exercising ownership over him.

It adversely affected his career obviously, but also his mental health in a bunch of ways and was inferred to be the biggest reason he left the show. I remember for the 25th anniversary reunion in Calgary there was even a moment saying how he felt like he let everyone down when he left the show but people reassured him that they all saw what was going on and they completely understood and they still loved him.

14
calgilCrewman•

That sucks. Poor Wil.

7
Throwaway1303033042•

Memory Alpha says he was a LT JG in Nemesis, which means he must have come back and continued to serve:

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Wesley_Crusher

64
LuisDeMonsterTruckChief Petty Officer•

Excellent catch. Yes, this means his uniform can't just be due to his time on the Enterprise or at the Academy. He must indeed have served in Starfleet at some point after he left with that dude.

16
FuturessobrightChief Petty Officer•

Some services do have a practice of promoting officers upon retirement (on their last day) as an honour for a distinguished career.

( and MÅ may say he was a Lt. j.g., but that image you linked to sure looks like he is only wearing one pip to me)

11
Fofolito•

The retirement promotion is practiced at higher ranks as a recognition of a Career's worth of work. A Lieutenant JG is still the Effin New Guy just about. Promotions in Naval officers are very strict too, necessary because of the limited space aboardship. There is one captain (rank Captain), one XO (rank Commander), one Security Chief (rank LTC), one Medical Officer (rank LTC), etc. This continues into the watch commanders who are Lieutenants and their seconds are the LTJG. If you are an Ensign you don't get promoted until there's need of another Lieutenant Junior Grade. Wesley has earned whatever he's wearing.

9
creepigChief Petty Officer•

If you are an Ensign you don't get promoted until there's need of another Lieutenant Junior Grade.

This makes the Harry Kim sad.

11
Dubya007Crewman•

If you zoom in, you can just barely see some black contrasting with the blue grey.

8
Yuris_ThighsCrewman•

I just rewatched the scene. It's one full, one hollow. Definitely Lt. Jg.

1
RickRussellTX•

Military is just one of Starfleet's functions. He could have rejoined a Starfleet crew as a mission specialist, scientist, consultant, or something.

Much like our own military, it's possible that those who are posted for longer assignments are granted nominal "noncombatant" rank and uniform so that they enjoy the protections of military law and have a defined level of authority and access.

c.f., the "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps" which is a uniformed rank system for weather service forecasters and scientists, or the "United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps", which is for doctors and health researchers operating alongside military units.

2
glenlassanEnsign•

Perhaps as a consultant on "Traveling alternate planes of existence via thought power?" Just think of how much experimental physics researchers would LOVE first hand accounts of alternate planes of existence! Much less the ability to ask an actual starfleet-aligned planar travel to conduct experiments for them there!!

1
Bay1Bri•

Yea, the post said he's wearing one pip but I remembered 2. Thanks for confirming.

2
Throwaway1303033042•

LT JG is one gold pip, one black. Hard to make out if there’s a second on his black undershirt.

4
new_brain_who_dis•

Retired officers in many armed forces retain the privilege to wear their dress uniforms on military ceremonies, patriotic parades, or on social events when the invitation was influenced by their past military service.

Wesley never even graduated from the Academy; he never would have been authorized to wear the uniform after his separation, any more than any other Academy dropout like B'Elanna Torres.

The only other possibility is that he was back in Starfleet and had just graduated recently, but if that was the case, why wasn't he ever on the bridge or anywhere else on the ship during the conflict with the Romulans?

If you go off the deleted scene where he had dialog, he was back in Starfleet and assigned to the USS Titan. His presence at the wedding was as a guest, not a member of the Enterprise crew.

Of course, this leaves the entire question of what happened with his departure from the Academy and his time with the Traveler as a giant gaping question mark, but hey...

There was a non-canon explanation in a Trek novel that Wesley was still with the Traveler, but had shown up to the wedding naked expecting a traditional Betazed ceremony. The uniform was provided for him short notice so he wasn't naked.

38
LuisDeMonsterTruckChief Petty Officer•

It's worth noting that Wesley did serve as a Starfleet officer, being an acting Ensign on the Enterprise D, before he went to Starfleet Academy, so it's not quite the same as B'Elanna Torres.

That said, Wesley's rank in Nemesis renders this all moot anyway.

11
SmokeSerpent•

But he got battlefield promoted to full ensign before even joining the academy

2
brch2•

There was a non-canon explanation in a Trek novel that Wesley was still with the Traveler, but had shown up to the wedding naked expecting a traditional Betazed ceremony. The uniform was provided for him short notice so he wasn't naked.

Pips are easily removable, and Picard seems like he'd be a stickler regarding Wesley not wearing improper rank, which makes it a stupid explanation. If he'd been wearing a uniform with just Ensign insignia, the highest rank he held, that explanation would be more reasonable. Well, that, and if he can just pop around and pop in without clothes, presumably he could also make clothes appear on his own, and not need a borrowed uniform. Or they could get Enterprise to replicate civilian clothes. Either way, that non-canon explanation is idiotic.

10
Paladin_127•

In the novel A Time for War, A Time for Peace, he’s still with the Traveler and appears at the wedding naked (assuming it’s a traditional Betazoid service). He is given a spare uniform to wear to be more appropriate for the ceremony.

19
lemrtomOP•

Funny. The reason I wrote this post in the first place was because I was planning to write exactly that, that he traveled naked and since there are no longer civilians on the Enterprise they gave him a uniform, and that got me thinking. It's good to know there's a novel exploring that concept. i will read it!

7
lordcorbranChief Petty Officer•

There may not have been civilians on the Enterprise but surely they had the ability to replicate something other than a uniform for him.

13
Galaxy_Convoy•

I liked all those novels' explanations for the year leading up to Nemesis.

5
Paladin_127•

As did I. The events surrounding the Tezwa conspiracy actually have come back and been central to the plot of the last three or four Trek Novels.

2
Galaxy_Convoy•

Sadly, I am not a fan of how Ward and Mack handled TNG novels this year. The Section 31 revelations didn't have the grand depiction I thought they deserved as the outgoing novel continuity gets overridden.

1
Paladin_127•

Hard to really capture a “grand depiction” in only 400-ish pages, since more of the story was focused on 1) how Section 31 was ultimately revealed and 2) the effect it had on specific characters. They only wrote a couple of small pieces in an otherwise HUGE picture.

1
glenlassanEnsign•

Sooo. Is that beta canon confirmation that he didn't pack a sweater while exploring alternate realities like his mom asked him to??

2
nebnodlew•

In the deleted scene of Nemesis Wesley states he joined the crew of the Titan and was working in engineering.

16
DifferentManagement1•

That was so awkward

1
AHPpilot•

Didn't he have a few episodes as an actual Ensign, not just "acting Ensign"?

14
lemrtomOP•

I am referring to those episodes when I mention the field commission. Before that he was an "ensign" in that he performed the duties of an officer, and was even called that by Picard, but he was not acting in any official capacity. That's why he wore his needlessly revealing jumpsuit rather than an actual uniform.

10
Bay1Bri•

No. He was Ann acting ensign then a cadet them a traveler. Never an ensign.

2
Dubya007Crewman•

He was Acting Ensign, got a battlefield commission and the rank of Ensign, became a Cadet, then a Travveler.

8
Bay1Bri•

When did he get a battlefield comission?

1
Dubya007Crewman•

At the end of S3E24, Menage a Troi.

4
CalGuy81•

After Wesley missed his first entrance exam to help rescue Riker and the Trois, Picard promoted him to full (not acting) Ensign. That's when he swapped out the grey jumpsuit for a proper uniform.

3
LeicaM6guy•

As far as we know, Wesley never retired. He didn’t put in his twenty - or whatever set period of time Starfleet officers are required to serve before retiring. At best he resigned his commission, but more likely he went into the 24th century equivalent of the”individual ready reserve,” or IRR, which gives officers and enlisted folks to separate for a period of time, but allows them to come back.

More likely he resigned his commission, in which case he would not be allowed to wear his uniform again in a modern service. Realistically nobody would likely go out of their way to stop him, but it would be very much frowned upon.

My head canon is simply that Wesley, at some point in the intervening years, managed to return to Starfleet and was currently serving at the time of the film.

8
8xzGen80•

He probably joined back up to help the Dominion war effort

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MtnNerdCrewman•

I could see them reclassifying him real quick if he asked to come back during the war

4
MathalamusCrewman•

no offense but he didnt even graduate the academy?

4
TravisPeregrine•

I think the director commented on it sometime and they decided to put him in the movie. I don't think they had all the details. Wesley becomes a new kind of traveler or he rejoins Starfleet, or possibly both.

3
brch2•

He had one gold and one black pip in Nemesis, aka Lieutenant (j.g.) rank. His highest rank was Ensign (acting or otherwise) before becoming a cadet, and he resigned out of the Academy. So the only explanation is that he got back into Starfleet, finished the academy, and was promoted before Nemesis.

3
jerslanChief Petty Officer•

Or they took his time with the Traveler as finishing out his Academy years and gave him his officer's commission anyways.

As far as we've been able to tell so far, there has always been more than one way to enter Starfleet as an officer. Burnham never attended Starfleet Academy because she had attended the Vulcan Science Academy instead. Spock was the first Vulcan to attend Starfleet Academy, and yet the USS Intrepid was crewed entirely by Vulcans (implying that Starfleet Academy wasn't the only way to earn an officer's commission).

It's possible they decided that a combination of his return from his travels and his experience from the Enterprise-D, was enough to justify re-instating him with the rank of Lt JG. Especially if he was stationed at the Daystrom Institute or Jupiter Station in a propulsion research capacity (since that was always his specialty anyways).

5
pablackhawkCrewman•

He could've even been re-commissioned as an Ensign and then gotten promoted to LTJG after 1-2 years of service somewhere like the Titan if we give weight to the deleted scene.

2
petrus4Lieutenant•

As I've said before, the reception in Nemesis was the living equivalent of a Near-Death Experience. There was no logical in-universe explanation for Wesley's presence, let alone what he was wearing. He was just there.

TNG was virtually never anything close to hard science fiction, and especially when it came to sentiment, there were times when there was no rule it would not break, both in the TV series and the films. I'm not calling that a bad thing; it was frequently beautiful, but it was also one of the defining characteristics of that series and those characters.

3
[deleted]•

[removed]

2
lunatickoalaLieutenant Commander•

Was he ever actually commissioned though? I thought he left the academy before graduation which would make him a dropout in that respect and served as an acting Ensign which makes him more of an intern in that respect.

It's definitely rather questionable whether he had the right to and even if he did the optics are... less than good. Maybe if he came back and served in the Dominion War offscreen, but as is his record at the academy combined with his mother's more-than-friends relationship with the Enterprise CO makes it not a good look.

2
TheEvilBlight•

I'd laugh if Starfleet designated his travels as a Temporary Duty Assignment; under the assumption that he might return to Starfleet some day (or not), and at present is maintaining contact with The Traveler.

2
RickRussellTX•

I think it makes more sense to think of Starfleet as an ongoing scientific and social project, rather than a solely military endeavor. That's why the flagship carries a small city full of scientists, historians, artists and assorted non-military mission specialists. Those folks would probably wear their official uniform to a shipboard ceremony. Why wouldn't Wesley do that too?

And there is a long history of giving scientists nominal military status so they fit into the shipboard structure. For example, today weather forecasters and specialists serve aboard Navy ships as part of the "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps", with uniforms, so that they are protected by the Geneva Convention in the event of capture.

2
UltraChip•

even when it's officiated aboard a military ship

....Am I an idiot? I always assumed the wedding happened on Earth. I thought the idea was that they had one wedding on Earth so that Riker's friends/family could attend and then another wedding on Betazed so that Troi's friends/family could attend.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
kranrev•

Wesley was a cadet at the equivalent of a modern day uniformed service academy who elected to drop out in his (super) senior year. At best this is would lead to an unceremonious dismissal from military service, and at worst one is expected to pay back the government for years of education as an enlisted troop. When I first joined the military a guy from my unit had been kicked out of the service academy and was paying off his obligation as a grunt.

The most likely explanation is that no one cared enough about Wesley as a character or his story line to put any thought into this, or else Traveler Wesley decided to cosplay as a Star Fleet and it wasn't worth the screen time to call him on it.

1
stos313Crewman•

"Retired" or "AWOL"?

1
UltraChip•

Given how much leeway Starfleet is shown to give captains I'm certain Picard had the authority to grant him authorized absence or whatever the official term is. And even if he didn't have the official authority I'm sure he had the connections to pull strings with the CO of the Academy or whoever to get him authorized absence.

1