Admiral Vaughan Rittenhouse (2198-2281)
Admiral Vaughan Rittenhouse was one of the most important - and infamous - Starfleet flag officers of the 2260s. A bullish, dramatic and decidedly arrogant leader, Rittenhouse would make a mark on the Star Fleet at every point in his career, earning followers and detractors everywhere he went.
Known as VR to his friends, "Burnham Rot Ritten" to his detractors, "The Tel" to the press, and "The Admiral" in his own diaries and briefings, Rittenhouse was also a consumate curator of his own personal profile. He presented himself to the public as a consumate, if haughty professional who existed both as a "man of the people" and as a genius on a higher plane to the rest of Starfleet. This image was carried to the public through both his fiction (and non-fiction) writing and various affectations, including most notably a corn-cob pipe, which he used to light up regularly - even aboard starships where doing so was extremely dangerous. Rittenhouse's time as C-in-C of Klingon Command in the early 2260s would see him set the tone for the rest of the decade, with his forward posture and willingness to confront the Klingon Empire at every step nearly drawing the Federation into a General Interspace war on several occasions. During this time he clashed constantly with civilian officals and other Starfleet flag officers over his willingness to use force to back up the "Democratic Crusade" of the Federation. A brief period as Commander, Starfleet in 2262 would end after his plan to clear the Klingon Fleet from the Acamar System was vetoed by President Wescott. Despite his political views, Starfleet was unwilling to let such an talented administrator and commander go, reassigning him to Starfleet Operations, where he replaced Admiral Nogura. As Chief of Starfleet Operations, Rittenhouse would cement his views on opposing "despotism in all it's forms," while also expanding the remit fo Starfleet Operations to cover fleet readiness and Starbase Operations. Politics - and Admiral Chrisjen Paris's maternity leave would see him return to Klingon Command in time for the Kobax Crisis, where he would orchestrate the masterful relief of the memberworld from a Klingon-back coup attempt. The 2265 shake-up of the Admiralty was a lost opportunity for Rittenhouse, who lost out on a once-promised promotion to Commander Starfleet to Robert Comsol, who bumped him sideways into Starfleet Security. An attempt to regain a field command after the outbreak of war in 2267 would be denied by Comsol, frustrating Rittenhouse greatly. The draw-down of forces after the Organian War would turn Rittenhouse against the civilian administration of the Federation, who viewed the Klingons as a lesser threat than the Romulans or Tholians. Re-promotion to Commander, Starfleet would see him butt heads with President Lorna McClaren, a key proponent of reducing Starfleet' military capability. Eventually, Rittenhouse came to view McClaren as "anti-Federation at her core", and along with several officers close to him, began plotting to replace her with an Originalist candidate in a coup d'etat. While the coup was discovered before it could be initiated, the public trial of Rittenhouse and the conspirators destroyed much of his reputation and seriously damaged that of Starfleet. Rittenhouse was sentence in 2271 to 25 years in the Starfleet Stockade on New Zealand. This sentence was commuted for good behaviour in 2278, after which he retired to Seoul under parole. He died in 2281 from natural causes. A request for a military funeral from his next-of-kin would be denied by Admiral Nogura. |
InformationFull Name: Vaughan Michael Terence Rittenhouse
Born: 8th November 2198 (Noveau Croydon, New Paris) Died: 7th Decemeber 2281 (Seoul, Earth) Affiliation: United Federation of Planets Branch of Service: Federation Star Fleet Commands:
|
Excerpt From "The Edge of Midnight"
Rittenhouse was already a controversial figure by 2259. Admiral Nogura referred to him in a note to Robert Stone as “someone who shouldn’t be left alone with other people’s wallets”. Matt Decker simply called him a “shithead”. But he was best summed up by his predecessor as Commander, Starfleet, Robert Comsol, who noted that “[Rittenhouse] seemed to be under the delusion that the Douglas Macarthur was a hero to be emulated, as opposed to being the strange vainglorious antihero he really was.”
The Macarthur comparison went deeper than Comsol’s snide remark; even as early as his days at the Annapolis naval academy, Rittenhouse had somewhat been obsessed with the 20th-century general. His biography of the man (panned by most historians of Earth’s second world war) attempted to paint him as a flawed democratic crusader, ignoring his crimes against the American population and the danger his intense vanity posed to liberal institutions. It is easy to understand how Rittenhouse idolized Macarthur; like him, he was the fourth son of a longstanding military family: his father had served at the battle of Cheron as an Ensign and had been part of the formative generation of Starfleet personnel. He’d also grown up on the frontier, with the New Paris colony standing in for the Old West of North America from his birth in 2200. His parents had also uprooted him to the capital, moving to New York, Earth in 2211. His time at Starfleet Academy was marred by extreme hazing of “dunsels” – a term for a useless cadet, derived from the DunSel corporation’s scandalous supply of colony vessels with poorly-built spare parts. His father – now Chief of Staff of Starfleet made sure that he got safe postings and easy promotion out of the academy – a controversial act of nepotism resented by both Rittenhouse and his contemporaries.
Rittenhouse’s career as a combat commander began during Operation John Brown, where he led a trio of Kestrel class destroyers in combat against up-gunned Orion cruisers. Whilst his write-up of the battle painted the danger he faced as quite drastic, more recent work seems to suggest that the Orion Cruisers were running short on deuterium – making the danger much smaller. Either way, Rittenhouse’s own position as a battle-winning officer and self-dubbed “Frigate Leader” made him popular for a time amongst those officers, and the regional colony leaders, merchant representatives and prospectors whose livelihoods he protected. His first memoir – also titled “Frigate Leader” sold incredibly well, despite its dubious provenance.
His prominence as a leader only grew in the 2240s. Even though he missed Donatu V, he saw serious action himself against Kzinti raiders and paramilitaries in the meantime. Promotion to Commodore saw his take command of Starbase 16, bordering the Tholian Assembly. Once again, he was in a frontline position – though here he spent more time protecting colonies and convoys than engaging with the Tholian fleet. It was good for his PR game, however: at a time when Starfleet was ignoring the needs of the colonial leadership, Rittenhouse was listening – even if just to give himself ammunition for further literature. His second book – The Donatu Incident – was a fierce attack on Starfleet’s strategy and tactics in the run-up to Donatu V: a bold move from a Captain who did not see action in that conflict. Despite this, the book was well-read, at least enough to be in the public mind during T’Kuvma’s War.
Promotion in 2252 to Rear Admiral saw him bumped to a staff position as chief of the department of fleet readiness. Four years at Starfleet Command did not ingratiate Rittenhouse to his peers. His outspokenness only got worse behind a desk, and the constant stream of requests, memoranda, and dossiers that flew upstairs to Starfleet Operations and the Chief of Staff’s office went from frustration to running gag. Several requests to have him bumped sideways or upstairs were denied – despite his criticisms and detractors, Rittenhouse was incredibly competent; his work in reordering and streamlining fleet readiness operations would be valuable during both Burnham’s War and the aftermath. Rittenhouse had one ace other up his sleeve: the support and patronage of Uncle Shu himself.
Ch’Shukar had always taken a shine to Rittenhouse, who’d combined tactical skill and quick-thinking with a lot of old-fashioned brown-nosing to get himself in Uncle Shu’s good books. Both were considered ‘outsiders’ from the Admiralty establishment. Their views on fleet operations also aligned a lot with each other, and Ch'Shukar had respect for Rittenhouses' combat experience against the Kzinti and the Tholians. As C-in-C of the Reserve Fleet, he'd worked closely with Rittenhouse on fleet readiness, and the collective work had been pivotal in getting much of the category C reserve into action to defend the core worlds during the oncoming hostilities. Rittenhouse would write another book in this period, too, publishing The Glorious Dead? in 2255. This work was speculative fiction, instead of historical analysis, and spun a warning tale of a Federation too wedded to peace and harmony to properly defend itself against a vicious, unstoppable Klingon invasion. It was not read well, mainly due to its less than positive views on democratic scrutiny and checks on Starfleet power, but one of its core ideas - that if the Federation had the industrial and economic means to secure itself if only the politicians put their minds to it - would become a cornerstone of radical Unionist thought in time. In the meantime, the work of the armchair novelist was lampooned by those who had better knowledge of the empire than an admiral who'd never seen a Klingon face-to-face.
Rittenhouse would, however, get his chance to fight the Klingons after the Battle of the Binary Stars. With Drake bumped to 2nd Fleet Commander, Rittenhouse was promoted to command the smaller 4th Fleet. It is perhaps unfair to blame the collapse of the 4th Fleet on its’ CO. By the time Rittenhouse took control, it had already been mauled significantly by Klingon attacks in and around the Alshanai rift, and its operational range beyond Sauria was hemmed in by major supply line cuts. Rittenhouse pushed his crews to the limit, and once again demonstrated intense bravery as a frontline captain (much to the detriment of his command ability). His own penchant for military victory over strategic goals cannot be ignored, however. Even this early on, Rittenhouse found nothing of value in civilian concerns and demands, even when they aligned with overall strategic goals. Their demands for convoy escorts and planetary defences contradicted his desire for a decisive engagement, even when it became increasingly clear that the Klingons were not going to take him up on that. He’d remained in command of 4th Fleet after the Armistice and played a strong hand in its’ rebuilding, using his personal influence to ensure that the 4th was delivered a large number of Saladin, Pioneer, and Larson class vessels instead of Eaves-Beyer vessels, a sensible action that had the unintended effect of pushing those defective ships onto 2nd Fleet. Once again, Rittenhouse made no friends amongst his peers doing this but earned the adoration of even more junior officers and subordinates, who became ever more loyal to the Admiral.
Ch’Shukar had been pushing for Rittenhouse to be put in charge of Klingon Border Operations since the Command had first been created, against significant pressure from the rest of the Admiralty and the civilian government. Th’rhahlat’s opposition, while severe, disappeared after Caleb IV. His military focus – written up before (and after) as Jingoism – was now a vital asset in a theatre that was supposedly about to become a warzone. Civilian leaders – whose opinions of Starfleet were always fickle – were suddenly very appreciative of an officer who appeared to have some sort of plan for securing the border. Rittenhouses’ promotion to Vice Admiral, and his appointment as Chief of Operations, Klingon Command, were confirmed on October 30th.
The Macarthur comparison went deeper than Comsol’s snide remark; even as early as his days at the Annapolis naval academy, Rittenhouse had somewhat been obsessed with the 20th-century general. His biography of the man (panned by most historians of Earth’s second world war) attempted to paint him as a flawed democratic crusader, ignoring his crimes against the American population and the danger his intense vanity posed to liberal institutions. It is easy to understand how Rittenhouse idolized Macarthur; like him, he was the fourth son of a longstanding military family: his father had served at the battle of Cheron as an Ensign and had been part of the formative generation of Starfleet personnel. He’d also grown up on the frontier, with the New Paris colony standing in for the Old West of North America from his birth in 2200. His parents had also uprooted him to the capital, moving to New York, Earth in 2211. His time at Starfleet Academy was marred by extreme hazing of “dunsels” – a term for a useless cadet, derived from the DunSel corporation’s scandalous supply of colony vessels with poorly-built spare parts. His father – now Chief of Staff of Starfleet made sure that he got safe postings and easy promotion out of the academy – a controversial act of nepotism resented by both Rittenhouse and his contemporaries.
Rittenhouse’s career as a combat commander began during Operation John Brown, where he led a trio of Kestrel class destroyers in combat against up-gunned Orion cruisers. Whilst his write-up of the battle painted the danger he faced as quite drastic, more recent work seems to suggest that the Orion Cruisers were running short on deuterium – making the danger much smaller. Either way, Rittenhouse’s own position as a battle-winning officer and self-dubbed “Frigate Leader” made him popular for a time amongst those officers, and the regional colony leaders, merchant representatives and prospectors whose livelihoods he protected. His first memoir – also titled “Frigate Leader” sold incredibly well, despite its dubious provenance.
His prominence as a leader only grew in the 2240s. Even though he missed Donatu V, he saw serious action himself against Kzinti raiders and paramilitaries in the meantime. Promotion to Commodore saw his take command of Starbase 16, bordering the Tholian Assembly. Once again, he was in a frontline position – though here he spent more time protecting colonies and convoys than engaging with the Tholian fleet. It was good for his PR game, however: at a time when Starfleet was ignoring the needs of the colonial leadership, Rittenhouse was listening – even if just to give himself ammunition for further literature. His second book – The Donatu Incident – was a fierce attack on Starfleet’s strategy and tactics in the run-up to Donatu V: a bold move from a Captain who did not see action in that conflict. Despite this, the book was well-read, at least enough to be in the public mind during T’Kuvma’s War.
Promotion in 2252 to Rear Admiral saw him bumped to a staff position as chief of the department of fleet readiness. Four years at Starfleet Command did not ingratiate Rittenhouse to his peers. His outspokenness only got worse behind a desk, and the constant stream of requests, memoranda, and dossiers that flew upstairs to Starfleet Operations and the Chief of Staff’s office went from frustration to running gag. Several requests to have him bumped sideways or upstairs were denied – despite his criticisms and detractors, Rittenhouse was incredibly competent; his work in reordering and streamlining fleet readiness operations would be valuable during both Burnham’s War and the aftermath. Rittenhouse had one ace other up his sleeve: the support and patronage of Uncle Shu himself.
Ch’Shukar had always taken a shine to Rittenhouse, who’d combined tactical skill and quick-thinking with a lot of old-fashioned brown-nosing to get himself in Uncle Shu’s good books. Both were considered ‘outsiders’ from the Admiralty establishment. Their views on fleet operations also aligned a lot with each other, and Ch'Shukar had respect for Rittenhouses' combat experience against the Kzinti and the Tholians. As C-in-C of the Reserve Fleet, he'd worked closely with Rittenhouse on fleet readiness, and the collective work had been pivotal in getting much of the category C reserve into action to defend the core worlds during the oncoming hostilities. Rittenhouse would write another book in this period, too, publishing The Glorious Dead? in 2255. This work was speculative fiction, instead of historical analysis, and spun a warning tale of a Federation too wedded to peace and harmony to properly defend itself against a vicious, unstoppable Klingon invasion. It was not read well, mainly due to its less than positive views on democratic scrutiny and checks on Starfleet power, but one of its core ideas - that if the Federation had the industrial and economic means to secure itself if only the politicians put their minds to it - would become a cornerstone of radical Unionist thought in time. In the meantime, the work of the armchair novelist was lampooned by those who had better knowledge of the empire than an admiral who'd never seen a Klingon face-to-face.
Rittenhouse would, however, get his chance to fight the Klingons after the Battle of the Binary Stars. With Drake bumped to 2nd Fleet Commander, Rittenhouse was promoted to command the smaller 4th Fleet. It is perhaps unfair to blame the collapse of the 4th Fleet on its’ CO. By the time Rittenhouse took control, it had already been mauled significantly by Klingon attacks in and around the Alshanai rift, and its operational range beyond Sauria was hemmed in by major supply line cuts. Rittenhouse pushed his crews to the limit, and once again demonstrated intense bravery as a frontline captain (much to the detriment of his command ability). His own penchant for military victory over strategic goals cannot be ignored, however. Even this early on, Rittenhouse found nothing of value in civilian concerns and demands, even when they aligned with overall strategic goals. Their demands for convoy escorts and planetary defences contradicted his desire for a decisive engagement, even when it became increasingly clear that the Klingons were not going to take him up on that. He’d remained in command of 4th Fleet after the Armistice and played a strong hand in its’ rebuilding, using his personal influence to ensure that the 4th was delivered a large number of Saladin, Pioneer, and Larson class vessels instead of Eaves-Beyer vessels, a sensible action that had the unintended effect of pushing those defective ships onto 2nd Fleet. Once again, Rittenhouse made no friends amongst his peers doing this but earned the adoration of even more junior officers and subordinates, who became ever more loyal to the Admiral.
Ch’Shukar had been pushing for Rittenhouse to be put in charge of Klingon Border Operations since the Command had first been created, against significant pressure from the rest of the Admiralty and the civilian government. Th’rhahlat’s opposition, while severe, disappeared after Caleb IV. His military focus – written up before (and after) as Jingoism – was now a vital asset in a theatre that was supposedly about to become a warzone. Civilian leaders – whose opinions of Starfleet were always fickle – were suddenly very appreciative of an officer who appeared to have some sort of plan for securing the border. Rittenhouses’ promotion to Vice Admiral, and his appointment as Chief of Operations, Klingon Command, were confirmed on October 30th.