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CMO's Authourity?

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Deleted member 6093

Asking here, mainly for @Wes to answer, but do CMO's have the authourity to order medical exams, and what exactly is their jurisdiction anyways?

On that note, what authourity does an exhange programme CMO have?
 
So I'll put in my two cents here. The medical officer has very broad authority when it comes to medical issues on a ship. Even to the point where if they decide the Captain is medially unfit for duty, to remove them and allow the next officer in line to take command. Now, a enlisted medical officer might not have that same authority, as they are effectively nurses who care for people, not doctors who have a broad enough medical knowledge and authority to make such decisions. The model that we use for medical officers to me seems very Star Trek-ish which descends from the British/American naval tradition. However, I don't know about the Japanese tradition WRT doctors, which would be the other relevant source.

An exchange program CMO would have exactly the same authority. They are the exactly the same as a native officer except for their country of origin.

With regards to how much info SAINT would share, I think that doctrine would say that they should share the same things that they would share with anyone else of the same/rank position. That said, there is a lot of discretion when it comes to intelligence and who needs to know what. I also feel like SAINT probably does bend and even break the rules where they feel like they can get away with it. (Or if it benefits them, even if they can't.)
 
So I'll put in my two cents here. The medical officer has very broad authority when it comes to medical issues on a ship. Even to the point where if they decide the Captain is medially unfit for duty, to remove them and allow the next officer in line to take command. Now, a enlisted medical officer might not have that same authority, as they are effectively nurses who care for people, not doctors who have a broad enough medical knowledge and authority to make such decisions. The model that we use for medical officers to me seems very Star Trek-ish which descends from the British/American naval tradition. However, I don't know about the Japanese tradition WRT doctors, which would be the other relevant source.

An exchange program CMO would have exactly the same authority. They are the exactly the same as a native officer except for their country of origin.

With regards to how much info SAINT would share, I think that doctrine would say that they should share the same things that they would share with anyone else of the same/rank position. That said, there is a lot of discretion when it comes to intelligence and who needs to know what. I also feel like SAINT probably does bend and even break the rules where they feel like they can get away with it. (Or if it benefits them, even if they can't.)
This is basically the case with any existing military exchange programme, if it were to be on earth that is. And that was my take on things summed up nicely.
 
While I agree with Soban, I'd also say that people would probably avoid making calls that could result in a diplomatic incident. EG making a call to relieve a captain of duty is already a super super heavy decision that a CMO would have to back up. The burden of proof would be even higher for a foreign officer.
 
While I agree with Soban, I'd also say that people would probably avoid making calls that could result in a diplomatic incident. EG making a call to relieve a captain of duty is already a super super heavy decision that a CMO would have to back up. The burden of proof would be even higher for a foreign officer.
Agreed.
 
The CMO is responsible for healthcare for the crew on the ship and any authorized guests, and runs the medical lab, commands the medical staff, and advises the captain on medical issues. They are staff officers, not line officers, which means they don't have command authority. The CMO can declare personnel fit or unfit for duty, or deceased, based on their physical and mental health.

CMO has access to:
  • Medical records of their patients
  • Information that that the captain determines they need to know
Exchange officers get access to the above in most cases. The Star Army does withhold select information from foreign exchange personnel ("NOFORN").

CMO does not have direct access to sensitive SAINT reports, as these are for intelligence and operations staff. Any mission planning they're involved with is from an advisory role.
 
Generally speaking, with the way Wes has set things up, the majority of things run off a US-based system unless otherwise stated. One would assume that a medical officer has direct command over their medical staff, but given they outrank enlisted personnel and likely other officers, there'd be nothing stopping them from issuing general commands to non-medical staff. Unless rank is locked inside your own MOS, which would certainly make a lot of RP with green panels in the past somewhat shaky.
 
Wes may not have served in medical, but he has a lifetime's worth of knowledge on how it functions if only second-hand. The US Military has staff corps medical. Why would the US Military have staff officers like SAoY but still have command duty? (edited that last sentence a bit)


I have no earthly clue about how the US military runs its medical services - I'm British - I don't have direct experience of any sort. If they're separated from the standard chain of command for some reason, I'm almost certain that's not how we do it in the commonwealth nations and I've not heard that being the case elsewhere, so I'm only speaking from what I know. If I'm off piste here that's just down to cultural differences :S

Edit: Your dad looks very cool, Wes 👍 must be rare for medics to make Captain?
 
So first off I will say this is just an observation and not 100% relevant because this is an RP community and not the actual military. What the FM, Wes, has said goes as law for his faction; If he says it takes 100-licks to get to the center of a tootsie-pop in yamatai it just does somehow regardless of if it makes sense or if someone thinks it should be don e in 99. What people go off of a lot I call Starfleet rules where they see startrek and assume that is how it is everywhere with the things the crew can get away with.

But heres my take as someone with actual experience in the matter of medical personnel in fleet.

First of the CMO is a department head and their authority is extremely limited and specialized. They dont have the authority to perform anything major on any crew member without the express consent and permission of the executive staff (the captain/executive officer) of his/her ship or by a higher authority within the fleet. They are subordinate to the captain of their ship and communicate with them frequently to ensure the captain is allways appraised of the ongoings of his or her department and anything they might need or want to perform.

They are essentially just the holder of accountability for their department and a seinor in their field. They may be a surgeon but they arent the surgeon. They might be a shrink but they arent performing the duties of a psychologist. They are paper pushers and a link in the chain to reach out and be reached out to. Just about anything beyond basic care is often outsourced to larger and more capable vessels in the fleet or facilities. They cannot go against the orders of their captain or act against their wishes because that is insubordination which is a serious and career ending charge.

What I gathered from context of this thread and on the discord is Addies char wants to perform a psyche evaluation and as the cheif medical officer it is within their perogative.

It isnt or would not be. A specialist within the fleet would be contacted and brought aboard or the subject would be brought to them. But thats how it functions in a propper military and this is RP. If the subject is an officer or even their seinor or they are subordinate to their subject they would not be involved whatsoever.

But again this is RP. Its not a stretch.
There is also the topic of exchange officers/personell which should be another thread but I will point out that these people come to the Star army and Nepleslia and Etc. They are the largest most efficient and powerful militaries in the sector and you are going to them to learn and experience. Not to become one of their officers on loan. They dont need the bodies, they dont need whatever military you came from or whatever it can offer. They humor them because its good relations.

Being on the exchange also doesn't give you hardly any authority even if you are an officer or something like the CMO of a ship.

But again this is RP and it is up to the FM/GM on what goes~
 
NDC has the exchange program as well, and has current swaps of personnel with the SAoY. Their take on it is, local comes first, and orders must be passed through the immediate officer it pertains to. So field medic sends it to the unit commander, frame pilot would send it to who ever leads the spearpoint(frame formation), and navy positions like mentioned in other cases here go to the captain. It is only in emergencies that their authority supersedes, like the death of an immediate officer, and another one is somehow not present in the chain. Or like with field medics, it's in the field under fire, and they need to perform triage on a wounded soldier. I know it wasn't SAoY focus, but felt like giving my two cents from an alternative in setting perspective.
 
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