Starfleet General Orders

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In the fictional Star Trek universe, the General Orders of Star Fleet are a list of very important standing orders that members of Starfleet must ensure are followed throughout all operations. Several notable orders are as follows;

• Omega Directive - It is not clear which, if any General Order this is. It is potentially General Order #0 or #1A as it supersedes General Order #1. It is normally only revealed to Captains and Admirals and requires that whatever is necessary is done to ensure the complete destruction of omega particles. It's existence was revealed in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Omega Directive"
• General Order #1 - Also known as and largely referred to as The Prime Directive. This prohibits interference by Starfleet with other cultures, most importantly those of an inferior technological level.
• General Order #7 - No Starfleet vessel was to ever visit the planet Talos IV, even for emergency reasons. To violate this order was punishable by death. The reason for this was eventually explained by the Star Trek: The Original Series two-part episode "The Menagerie", a reworking of the show's original pilot. After a time, it was the only capital offense left on the books. However, in "Turnabout Intruder", Sulu states that a violation of General Order 4 is the only crime to still carry the death penalty. In Justice (TNG episode) Picard reveals that the Federation no longer carries out capital punishment, implying that the punishment for visiting Talos IV has been changed, or simply that Picard did not wish to convey that the death penalty had been abolished 'except in these cases', which would have been a weaker statement. In either case, the death penalty would be virtually unheard of in the Federation.
• General Order #24 - If a commanding officer deems that an individual or group of individuals pose a threat to Starfleet personnel or Federation civilians, he may order the total destruction of a planet's surface. Captain James T. Kirk ordered Commander Montgomery Scott to use General Order 24 against Eminiar VII when they attempted to destroy the USS Enterprise and kill Federation personnel. That meant that the Enterprise would have destroyed the entire inhabited surface of the planet. However, Kirk canceled the implementation of the order when the Eminiar VII situation was resolved, and it is not known whether this is a bluff, or whether a starship would really destroy a civilization. Since GO-24 seems to violate the animating spirit of Star Trek and the general thrust of Starfleet rules and regulations, it seems likely that it was, indeed, a bluff.

External link

• An edition of Starfleet General Orders