Admiral Ryn Ch'Shukar (2188-2271)
Admiral Ryn Ch'Shukar - known as "Uncle Shu", "Blue Jackie" or "That Andorian Bastard" to many throughout Starfleet - was the flag officer who shaped the battered Stellar Navy of 2257 into the capable exploratory and peacekeeping force it was for the rest of the century.
A taciturn, thoughtful and capable thinker, Shukar was also a brutal opponent to his rivals and peers. His experience as a peacekeeper in the Axanar Command and later along the Tholian border turned a capable explorer into an inspiring and innovative tactician. With more combat experience than any other contemporary flag officer, he was best placed to analyse the failures of Starfleet in the aftermath of the 2256-57 Klingon War. His masterful defence of Starfleet's military mission against President Barreuco would ensure his rise to the rank of Commander, Starfleet, and allow him to reshape Starfleet into a stronger, more effective (if hierarchical) organisation than it had previously been, transforming it from the the sedentary, decentralised exploratory force of Archer and Shran into a stellar navy capable of both scientific discovery and galactic peacekeeping. While a supporter of the peaceful mission of the fleet, Shukar was also proponent of a strong military deterrent, eventually becoming a supporter of the Atlas and Federation-Class "Dreadnoughts": earning him the nickname of "Blue Jackie", after the 20th century admiral John "Jackie" Fisher. Shukar would butt heads with many of the great names of his time, including Presidents Th'rhahlat and Broadhurst. His approach to the Acamar Crisis would see Broadhurst fire him for his careful approach, replacing him with Admiral Rittenhouse. Shukar's analysis would prove correct, as Rittenhouse's aggresive approach would bring the Federation and Empire to the brink of war. Shukar would return after Broadhurst's resignation as Commander, Starfleet. His career triumph would arguably come in Summer 2263 with the Kobax crisis: His control of the operational and tactical situation in the Kobax sector allowed him to both contain the conflict and deliver a decsisive counterattack on the Klingon invasion force, preventing escalation to a general Interspace war. His successes that year would see him enobled by the English royal family, taking on the title of First Viscount Aulaikar. In 2264 he was promoted to C-in-C of the Federation Star Fleet, with his protege Robert Comsol taking over as Commander, Starfleet. As C-in-C Shukar would play a key role in preparing Starfleet for the inevitable Klingon War, and was personally involved in preparing defensive plans W,V, and X. Post War, Shukar would find himself increasingly at odds with the UESPA faction of Starfleet and the McClaren administration, who both pushed heavily for the demilitarisation of the Starfleet in the aftermath of the Organian Treaty. Despite his reservations, Shukar would eventually come to support the partial demilitarisation of the fleet as part of a transition to a small, more technologicall advanced navy. His acquiesence would, however, only encourage Rittenhouse's attempted coup (Operation Caesar). Shukar, despite his shock and surprise at the attempts to arrest him and the president, would play a critical role is isolating Rittenhouse from his supporters and preventing the coup's success. Shukar would, however, fall victim to the fallout from the scandal: with the integrity of the Star Fleet in jeopardy, Shukar chose to fall on his sword "for the sake of the fleet", resigning as C-in-C in September 2270. Shukar would retire to Andor to teach at the Laikan military academy. In December 2271 he passed away quietly in his sleep. Shukar would be buried with full military honours at the Starfleet Andorian Cemetery in San Francisco Bay. In 2288 - the 100th anniversary of his birth - he would be re-interred at Les Invalides in Paris. Shukar's historical light has never shined as brightly as other leaders like Nogura, Kirk or Fukuhara. However, none of those officers could have achieved what they did without the foundations Shukar laid. |
InformationFull Name: Ryn Byhreth Ch'Shukar
Born: 28th August 2188 (Aulaikar, Andoria) Died: 7th Decemeber 2271 (Laikan, Andoria) Affiliation: United Federation of Planets Branch of Service: Federation Star Fleet Titles: First Viscount AuLaikar (British Crown) Commands:
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Excerpt From "The Edge of Midnight"
Ch'Shukar was born in 2188, the son of three Andorian Academics and an Imperial Guard Officer. The youngest of three (an unusually high number of children for Andorians), he was the only member of his family to express any interest in the Stellar Service, with both his siblings graduating from the Laikan Academy of Scientific Advancement while he went straight into Starfleet as a non-commissioned officer. He quickly rose through the ranks on long-term service with the newly created Axanar Command, on the frontline of the Federation’s efforts to contain the Orion Syndicate.[4] He received his first command in 2229, taking over as Captain of the USS Victory, one of the new Engle Class light cruisers. He spent eight years on the Orion Patrol, taking part in several of the police actions against the slavers and pirates who for the first 30 years of the 23rd Century were the Federation’s biggest threat to internal security.
In 2237 he would help devise and then lead the highly successful Operation John Brown, in which a task force of sixteen ships broke the back of the infamous Crimson Dryl Slave Guild, ending its raiding operations in Federation territory.[5] The success of the operation would earn him a promotion to Rear Admiral and command of the newly refitted USS Cunningham, a Nimitz class cruiser. Between 2238 and 2246, Ch'Shukar led the Cunningham on a tour of the Tholian border area as C-in-C of Starfleet Forces Deep Space 3. The area was a complicated sector of space, the border with the Tholian Assembly and their vassals broke up by the Camber Shoals, an area of space where Warp travel was difficult due to tetryon fields and other phenomena. Along with constant convoy and anti-piracy duty, he would take command of Starfleet forces in six separate ‘encounters’ with the Tholians, who were infamous for their sudden, massive, and brutal attacks on Federation bases, outposts, and colonies without discernible reason. Unlike most flag officers, he chose to command his ‘Station’ from the bridge of his flagship instead of from the Starbase, arguing that “it’s hard to get the right perspective when you’re hiding under your desk.”
[...]
In 2246 he reluctantly relinquished command of Deep Space 3 to return to the Axanar Command, this time as Commander in Chief. The Axanar Command since his time there in the 2220s had turned from the frontline of the ongoing war against Orion slavery to a quiet sector, with the limited convoy and pirate duty serving as a final mission for many of Starfleet’s more dated craft.[9] Ch'Shukar viewed the assignment with derision, referring to it as “the most boring command in the fleet... even the Romulans were more interesting, and we don’t even know what they look like.”[10]. Instead of moping about on Axanar station or the Rigel Colonies like many of his predecessors, he used the lack of action to organise a set of fleet manoeuvres with the ships he had available, giving not only him but the captains under him the opportunity to try about a myriad of new tactics and manoeuvres. Many names, including Christopher Pike, Angela Fukuhara and Robert Wesley, would see themselves earn their mettle in his wargames before their assignments to the frontier.
Despite many attempts to move him on to higher flag officer positions, he refused any promotion to any position that would require him to relinquish a bridge command. In 2249, he passed over promotion to Vice-Admiral of the 2nd Fleet, instead suggesting Brett Anderson, who had served under him on the Deep Space 3.[11] As much as he wished it, he could not avoid the inevitable promotion to Admiral’s Council, taking command of Starfleet’s Reserve forces in 2250 as a Vice Admiral at the age of 62. Here, he was one of the only Admirals to approve of the recommendations of the Pike report (its only other supporter was Admiral Patar of Starfleet Intelligence, who Ch’Shukar despised), which made him no allies with his seniors in Admirals Cornwell and Teral, who still considered Pike’s recommendations to be against Starfleet’s core directives.
Ch’Shukar spent the duration of the war as C-in-C of the Reserve Fleet, which consisted of many of the cobbled-together mothball fleets from across the Alpha Quadrant from as far as Vega and Denobula. He did not see much action personally (a lucky break on his part, considering that 2257 was the deadliest year to be a Flag Officer in Starfleet History) until the last months of the war, where the collapse of the 2nd and 4th Fleets meant that his patchwork force went into the frontlines as early as March.[12] Here Ch’Shukar proved much of his worth as an organiser and drillmaster, his crews able to bring 40 and 50-year-old Bonaventure and Horizon class starships up to acceptable combat standards in record time. While to many of the crews at the time, their combat record seemed sub-par (Robert Wesley, who served as the CO of the USS James Connolly, referred to this time as being “a constant hand-to-mouth existence punctuated only by back to the wall combat operations”) the crews of the Reserve Fleet were able to not just hold back the Klingons for an extended period, but operate extensive enough defensive operations to deter major Klingon raids on targets such as Axanar or Coridan. The Counterattack at Amatersau on the 24th of May 2257 (Stardate 1377) saw the core of the House of Kor’s raiding fleet broken up and scattered and is considered the last Federation Victory of T’Kuvma’s War.[13]
Some considered Ch’Shukar to be the best option as C-in-C of Starfleet in the wake of the armistice (Admiral Gorch being one of them), but both Ch’Shukar and the rest of the remaining senior staff of Starfleet Command knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Uncle Shu” was too militaristic, too focused on combat drills and fleet ops to be put in charge of an organisation that prided itself on being an exploratory arm first and a combat arm second. There were some (The President among them) who feared that with the weak state of the Federation and Starfleet, the presence of such a figure at the top of its hierarchy would upset the balance between Starfleet and the civilian government, opening the union to the possibility of becoming a ‘navy with a state’, as Kenneth Wescott would describe the predicament.[14] Instead, when the incumbent C-in-C finally retired in November 2257, he was replaced by the quiet, acquiescent and politically acceptable Luteth. A Vulcan with longstanding experience in the Exploratory Fleet, they were expected to maintain a steady hand on the tiller, at least for the time being.
As much as Ch’Shukar had no aspirations (at this point at least) to become the C-in-C of Starfleet, he railed against the appointment of Luteth, considering the appointment to be a dereliction of the Federation Council’s duties to their citizens. “What is the point of recovering from a brutal, devastating defeat on the field of battle if we are simply to continue as if nothing had gone wrong? As if nothing had to change? As if we can simply return to the petty disputes of the Admiral’s Council and Fleet Command by committee? Luteth may be a capable administrator and decent scientist, but I can’t see them beating the Klingons. That’s what matters now.”
In 2237 he would help devise and then lead the highly successful Operation John Brown, in which a task force of sixteen ships broke the back of the infamous Crimson Dryl Slave Guild, ending its raiding operations in Federation territory.[5] The success of the operation would earn him a promotion to Rear Admiral and command of the newly refitted USS Cunningham, a Nimitz class cruiser. Between 2238 and 2246, Ch'Shukar led the Cunningham on a tour of the Tholian border area as C-in-C of Starfleet Forces Deep Space 3. The area was a complicated sector of space, the border with the Tholian Assembly and their vassals broke up by the Camber Shoals, an area of space where Warp travel was difficult due to tetryon fields and other phenomena. Along with constant convoy and anti-piracy duty, he would take command of Starfleet forces in six separate ‘encounters’ with the Tholians, who were infamous for their sudden, massive, and brutal attacks on Federation bases, outposts, and colonies without discernible reason. Unlike most flag officers, he chose to command his ‘Station’ from the bridge of his flagship instead of from the Starbase, arguing that “it’s hard to get the right perspective when you’re hiding under your desk.”
[...]
In 2246 he reluctantly relinquished command of Deep Space 3 to return to the Axanar Command, this time as Commander in Chief. The Axanar Command since his time there in the 2220s had turned from the frontline of the ongoing war against Orion slavery to a quiet sector, with the limited convoy and pirate duty serving as a final mission for many of Starfleet’s more dated craft.[9] Ch'Shukar viewed the assignment with derision, referring to it as “the most boring command in the fleet... even the Romulans were more interesting, and we don’t even know what they look like.”[10]. Instead of moping about on Axanar station or the Rigel Colonies like many of his predecessors, he used the lack of action to organise a set of fleet manoeuvres with the ships he had available, giving not only him but the captains under him the opportunity to try about a myriad of new tactics and manoeuvres. Many names, including Christopher Pike, Angela Fukuhara and Robert Wesley, would see themselves earn their mettle in his wargames before their assignments to the frontier.
Despite many attempts to move him on to higher flag officer positions, he refused any promotion to any position that would require him to relinquish a bridge command. In 2249, he passed over promotion to Vice-Admiral of the 2nd Fleet, instead suggesting Brett Anderson, who had served under him on the Deep Space 3.[11] As much as he wished it, he could not avoid the inevitable promotion to Admiral’s Council, taking command of Starfleet’s Reserve forces in 2250 as a Vice Admiral at the age of 62. Here, he was one of the only Admirals to approve of the recommendations of the Pike report (its only other supporter was Admiral Patar of Starfleet Intelligence, who Ch’Shukar despised), which made him no allies with his seniors in Admirals Cornwell and Teral, who still considered Pike’s recommendations to be against Starfleet’s core directives.
Ch’Shukar spent the duration of the war as C-in-C of the Reserve Fleet, which consisted of many of the cobbled-together mothball fleets from across the Alpha Quadrant from as far as Vega and Denobula. He did not see much action personally (a lucky break on his part, considering that 2257 was the deadliest year to be a Flag Officer in Starfleet History) until the last months of the war, where the collapse of the 2nd and 4th Fleets meant that his patchwork force went into the frontlines as early as March.[12] Here Ch’Shukar proved much of his worth as an organiser and drillmaster, his crews able to bring 40 and 50-year-old Bonaventure and Horizon class starships up to acceptable combat standards in record time. While to many of the crews at the time, their combat record seemed sub-par (Robert Wesley, who served as the CO of the USS James Connolly, referred to this time as being “a constant hand-to-mouth existence punctuated only by back to the wall combat operations”) the crews of the Reserve Fleet were able to not just hold back the Klingons for an extended period, but operate extensive enough defensive operations to deter major Klingon raids on targets such as Axanar or Coridan. The Counterattack at Amatersau on the 24th of May 2257 (Stardate 1377) saw the core of the House of Kor’s raiding fleet broken up and scattered and is considered the last Federation Victory of T’Kuvma’s War.[13]
Some considered Ch’Shukar to be the best option as C-in-C of Starfleet in the wake of the armistice (Admiral Gorch being one of them), but both Ch’Shukar and the rest of the remaining senior staff of Starfleet Command knew that wasn’t going to happen. “Uncle Shu” was too militaristic, too focused on combat drills and fleet ops to be put in charge of an organisation that prided itself on being an exploratory arm first and a combat arm second. There were some (The President among them) who feared that with the weak state of the Federation and Starfleet, the presence of such a figure at the top of its hierarchy would upset the balance between Starfleet and the civilian government, opening the union to the possibility of becoming a ‘navy with a state’, as Kenneth Wescott would describe the predicament.[14] Instead, when the incumbent C-in-C finally retired in November 2257, he was replaced by the quiet, acquiescent and politically acceptable Luteth. A Vulcan with longstanding experience in the Exploratory Fleet, they were expected to maintain a steady hand on the tiller, at least for the time being.
As much as Ch’Shukar had no aspirations (at this point at least) to become the C-in-C of Starfleet, he railed against the appointment of Luteth, considering the appointment to be a dereliction of the Federation Council’s duties to their citizens. “What is the point of recovering from a brutal, devastating defeat on the field of battle if we are simply to continue as if nothing had gone wrong? As if nothing had to change? As if we can simply return to the petty disputes of the Admiral’s Council and Fleet Command by committee? Luteth may be a capable administrator and decent scientist, but I can’t see them beating the Klingons. That’s what matters now.”
Ch’Shukar proposed the abolition of the Admiral’s Council as a key decision-making organisation, to be replaced by a single body that would sit above both the Tactical Command and the Exploratory Command. The position of “Commanding Officer, Starfleet Operational Command” would have authority over the planning and nature of day to Starfleet operations, as well as directly over the fleet organisation and strategic directives. Tactical Command would be given direct authority over Exploratory Command based on the discretion of the new ‘Commander, Starfleet’ to prevent any dispute over authority in time-sensitive situations. “Commander, Starfleet” would sit on the new “Admiral’s Council” – now renamed the “Joint Board of Starfleet Admirals”. This body would, however, be an administrative and grand strategic one – it would not be tasked with making day-to-day operational decisions for Starfleet’s operating forces.
The operating structure of fleets would be reformed around potential fronts, as opposed to focusing on the old “compass” point system, with a specific “Klingon Border Operations Command” to cover the length of the Klingon border along with other new commands to cover the Romulan and Tholian Border. This, combined with a clear chain of command from the top to the bottom, was patently designed to turn Starfleet into a force that could fight a military campaign seriously. Ch’Shukar’s plan would represent the biggest restructuring of Starfleet since its’ foundation in 2161. While he was not asking for the end to the scientific mission, he was asking for the powers to be put in place to side-line said mission when the time was deemed necessary. It was a significant change in Starfleet’s role – one that had been discussed for a long time but dismissed by an Admiralty that did not see it as necessary and politicians who considered it to be too contentious an issue to talk about. But now it could not be avoided. What was presented here was a clear path to a stronger Starfleet that could protect Federation Interests without (arguably) sacrificing its Humanitarian and Scientific role.
The operating structure of fleets would be reformed around potential fronts, as opposed to focusing on the old “compass” point system, with a specific “Klingon Border Operations Command” to cover the length of the Klingon border along with other new commands to cover the Romulan and Tholian Border. This, combined with a clear chain of command from the top to the bottom, was patently designed to turn Starfleet into a force that could fight a military campaign seriously. Ch’Shukar’s plan would represent the biggest restructuring of Starfleet since its’ foundation in 2161. While he was not asking for the end to the scientific mission, he was asking for the powers to be put in place to side-line said mission when the time was deemed necessary. It was a significant change in Starfleet’s role – one that had been discussed for a long time but dismissed by an Admiralty that did not see it as necessary and politicians who considered it to be too contentious an issue to talk about. But now it could not be avoided. What was presented here was a clear path to a stronger Starfleet that could protect Federation Interests without (arguably) sacrificing its Humanitarian and Scientific role.