LIST #70

FUTURE LEADERS

CADETS ENROLLED IN STARFLEET ACADEMY UNDERGO RIGOROUS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TRAINING. THE PROGRAM GENERALLY LASTS FOUR YEARS, THOUGH SOME CADETS ENROLL IN LONGER CURRICULUMS. WHILE THE DIFFERENT STAR TREK SERIES HAVE FOCUSED ON THE ADVENTURES OF ACADEMY ALUMNI, OCCASIONALLY ACTIVE CADETS HAVE MADE AN APPEARANCE OR HAD AN ENTIRE EPISODE CENTERED AROUND THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF THESE FUTURE STARFLEET OFFICERS.

“Shore Leave” Kirk met a replica of his old academy nemesis, Finnegan, and got to exact some satisfying revenge for numerous pranks.

TOS

“Coming of Age” Wesley Crusher took his Starfleet Academy entrance exam and failed. He was disappointed in himself until Picard revealed that he too had failed on the first try.

TNG

“Q2” Once Icheb was freed from the Borg collective, he worked to gain entrance to Starfleet Academy, passing his history exam just before Q Junior appeared on the ship.

VGR

“The First Duty” Wesley’s cadet team, Nova Squadron, was involved in a fatal accident, forcing the cadet to choose between loyalty to his friends and the truth.

TNG

“Heart of Stone” Nog despaired of a possible future life like his father’s, and pushed for Sisko’s recommendation to be the first Ferengi in Starfleet Academy.

DS9

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Admiral Kirk and a ship full of cadets had to take the U.S.S. Enterprise out to face Kirk’s archenemy Khan.

“Homefront/Paradise Lost” Acadamy Cadet Nog introduced Sisko to the members of Red Squad, a group of elite academy cadets who unwittingly helped the Changelings launch a coup on Earth.

DS9

“Valiant” Red Squad was assigned a training mission aboard the U.S.S. Valiant and were trapped behind enemy lines, where they rescued Nog and Jake. Nog, in his eagerness to join the elite crew, almost led himself and his friend into the crew’s grim fate.

DS9

“Final Mission” Weeks before Wesley Crusher left to attend the academy, he and Picard were involved in a crash on an inhospitable moon. Crusher saved Picard’s life, earning the captain’s acknowledgment that the cadet would be missed.

TNG

“In the Flesh” The Voyager crew encountered a replica of Starfleet Academy created by Species 8472 as a training ground, including a replica Boothby, the gardener who was a mentor to both Captains Picard and Janeway.

VGR

Star Trek (2009) The Kelvin Timeline James Kirk had to be goaded into entering Starfleet Academy on a dare. Once there, he repeated history from a different timeline by beating the Kobayashi Maru training scenario and meeting the fellow cadets that would ultimately become his senior staff on the Enterprise.