[Jim in St. Louis]

In the movie, if Kirk wasn't on administrative suspension and was assigned to a ship (probably not the Enterprise), what would his job have been? In TOS ep. Court Martial, we learned that Ensign Kirk reported Lt. Commander Finney for leaving a switch open to the atomic matter piles when they changed duty shifts. This makes me think Kirk would have been an engineering crewman. I'm wondering what his training and specialty was at the academy.

[Zardoz]

Well I think we can't apply TOS to this new movie series.

[Jim in St. Louis]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

Well I think we can't apply TOS to this new movie series.

Agreed. But the question still stands. What was Kirk's training (in the movie). Engineering? Quite possible since he immediately knew how to open the turbine bypass door.

[JoeFromEarth]

Here's another question: what was Kirk's job before he joined Starfleet? Was he just a barhopper, hitting on women, and getting in fights? I know the economy's different in the 23rd century, but what did he do to "make a living?" Or did he just sponge off everyone else?

[Zardoz]

Originally Posted by Jim in St. Louis

Agreed. But the question still stands. What was Kirk's training (in the movie). Engineering? Quite possible since he immediately knew how to open the turbine bypass door.

If he was on a Command track, I would imagine he would be rotated through most of the major departments.

[Akula2ssn]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

If he was on a Command track, I would imagine he would be rotated through most of the major departments.

That is pretty standard. Usually newly commissioned ensigns start out holding the position of a division officer. This just means he's in charge of a group of people generally enlisted. This can be things like navigation, supply, etc. The position is usually held up through the rank of LTJG.

After that LT and LTCDR usually are department heads, they usually run things like supply, engineering, operations, or weapons.

Often times what kind of division or department you're stuck in is dependent on what department or division has an opening.

So by the time you make XO or CO, you've worked at various levels of administration on the ship and have a pretty good feel for how the hips as a whole works. And the thing is there's always a certain degree of on the job training, which is partly why you rely a lot on the people you're in charge of.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by Jim in St. Louis

Agreed. But the question still stands. What was Kirk's training (in the movie). Engineering? Quite possible since he immediately knew how to open the turbine bypass door.

If it was an emergency release switch it was probably designed to be operated fast by anyone, specific training or not, IMO.

[horatio]

Perhaps I take farm boy too literal, but it seems as if he worked on his stepdad's farm ... or one someone else's, the guy might not have taken the crash-my-antique event too lightly.

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by Jim in St. Louis

In the movie, if Kirk wasn't on administrative suspension and was assigned to a ship (probably not the Enterprise), what would his job have been? In TOS ep. Court Martial, we learned that Ensign Kirk reported Lt. Commander Finney for leaving a switch open to the atomic matter piles when they changed duty shifts. This makes me think Kirk would have been an engineering crewman. I'm wondering what his training and specialty was at the academy.

Yeah, there's been a few suggestions in TOS that Kirk may have started off as a red shirt but then switched to command while he was a lieutenant. Kirk's original specialty may have been in operations, IMO.

[NCC-73515]

Top of his class in survival strategies and tactical analysis.
Assistant Instructor in Advanced Hand-to-Hand Combat.
Treasurer of Starfleet Academy's Xenolinguistics club.

It's in the dossier section of the official website