Senior chief petty officer

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Starfleet SCPO insignia
2280s
2350s (all chiefs)
2370s

Senior chief petty officer (SCPO) was an enlisted naval rate, a type of military rank used by the service organizations of different cultures. As a traditional naval grade, SCPO was senior to a chief petty officer, and was almost the highest enlisted grade in organizations like Starfleet and the US Navy, falling subordinate to any commissioned officer. In comparison to infantry ranking systems, this rank was approximately equivalent to the first sergeant grade.

When there are individual grades of chief petty officers, SCPO was subordinate to master chief petty officer (MCPO).

This rank was considered to have the responsibility of a "noncommissioned officer." Personnel of this grade could be addressed simply as chief (or more properly, "senior chief"), and sometimes by their job title, such as "senior chief specialist." (DS9: "Shadowplay")

[edit] Background

The rank of "senior chief petty officer" was never referenced in dialog, but is rather derived from rank insignia.

O'Brien was referred to usually as "chief" or "chief petty officer." Since he was referred to as chief petty officer in TNG Season 4 and again in DS9 Season 3 and beyond, it must be assumed that the DS9 Season 2 reference in "Shadowplay" to him being a "senior chief specialist" must mean that, just as the term "petty officer" can sometimes be used interchangeably with "specialist" in the US Navy, so too can "chief petty officer" be used interchangeably with "chief specialist" in Starfleet, with "SCPO" being the person's rank while "specialist" is their title.

[edit] See also

• Starfleet ranks
• Starfleet enlisted personnel