SFI History C6

Starfleet History Chapter Six

Fran Booth
With Fleet Admiral Stilwell’s resignation, the remaining members of the Executive Committee named Captain Fran Booth as "Interim Correspondence Secretary" charged with processing all memberships. Nominations for a new Commanding Admiral were held in January and February, with the election held in March. On March 27, Captain Booth was informed she had won the election and was promoted to Fleet Admiral as the Sixth Commander, STARFLEET.

The Purge
In May of 1984, Fleet Admiral Booth published a Special Edition Communiqué to inform the general member of the events transpiring between Fleet Admiral Stillwell’s resignation and her own ascension. Due to the general state of confusion within STARFLEET, one of Fleet Admiral Booth’s first acts was to purge the Admiralty of STARFLEET. All Flag Rank officers were removed from the roster and she named nine Admirals and twelve Rear Admirals. Any other member who previously held the rank of Rear Admiral or above was reduced to Commodore.

Rebuilding STARFLEET
The Booth Administration began immediately to rebuild the Fleet, almost from scratch. She had entered office with no funds in the STARFLEET account and over seven hundred members lost. Fleet Captain Stephen C. Thomas requested that the remaining 1500 members each send $2.00 to Fleet to help rebuild the coffers. Fleet Admiral Booth also redefined the Executive Committee, reducing it from seven to five positions by abolishing the Offices of the Chief of Personnel and Chief of Cultural Affairs. A new staff position, Chief of Computer Operations, took over the duties of the Chief of Personnel, though this position was not part of the Executive Committee.

Captain Steven Smith was appointed the new Chief of Communications and quickly brought the Communications Department back on-line. Within a month information to STARFLEET members was back with the production of an informative but inexpensive Communiqué.

A Renewed Interest
The release of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in 1984 helped renew interest in Star Trek fandom and STARFLEET. With the debut of the USS Excelsior in that movie, the USS Exeter took the plunge to become the first Excelsior class starship in the Fleet. Captain J. Scott Spadaro of the USS Saratoga in Region Five also produced a new Rank Insignia Guide, which was used by STARFLEET for many years.

Changes at Starfleet Academy
Admiral Bryan A. Ackerman, Commandant of STARFLEET Academy, announced three new correspondence courses: the Cadet Training School (to teach cadets the basics of Star Trek trivia and STARFLEET), the Post Graduate School (allowing officers to earn degrees in various areas), and the Command Training School (which prepared officers for their own Commands one day). The Officer Training School under Rear Admiral Jason E. Genser became a popular course, and Commodore Alex Rosenzweig expanded the Post Graduate School with multiple disciplines for the Bachelor, Masters, and Doctorate programs. And the STARFLEET Senior Captain Network served as a kind of "Big Brothers, Big Sisters" program for STARFLEET Commanding Officers. Each Region’s Senior Captain, who held the rank of Fleet Captain, would take new COs under their wing and help them in their first months as CO.

A New Shuttle Program
The STARFLEET Shuttlecraft Program was developed to both recruit new members and chapters and to train their leaders in how to run successful chapters.

Epilogue
But the toll of rebuilding the Fleet weighed heavily on Fleet Admiral Booth and at the end of her two-year term she announced her intention not to run for reelection.