Editing Starfleet (section)

==Background==
[[File:Starfleet Command patch.png|thumb|Starfleet Command's insignia]][[File:Combadge.png|thumb|Starfleet's insignia as a combadge]]
Starfleet dates back to [[United Earth]] in the mid-2130s where it was tasked to  "...seek out new life and new civilizations," and "...go boldly where no man has gone before.". Starfleet played an instrumental role in bringing the founders of the Federation together in the lead up to the Earth-Romulan War. On the founding of the Federation in 2161, Starfleet became the Federation's primary exploratory and defense organisation bringing together crews from across the Federation.

As the Federation expanded, so did Starfleet's crews with a myriad of new species joining its ranks. Often, Starfleets deep space exploration prompted conflict with those fearing the Federation's expansion, such as the [[Klingon]]s and [[Cardassian]]s. As such, Starfleet's peaceful mission of exploration has seen frequent interruptions to defend the Federation from invasion. However it was only the encounter with the [[Borg]] that prompted the Federation to create outright warships such as the {{USS|Defiant}} in the 24th century.

By the late 24th century, the Starfleet deemed the Borg threat had subsided and refocused on exploration. Starfleet also expanded its admission guidelines to accept non-Federation citizens to [[Starfleet Academy]] without command-level recommendation.

In the 25th century, Starfleet found itself called once again to its defensive role as the [[Federation-Klingon War (2405-2410)|Federation-Klingon War]] started in 2405. It rapidly found itself embroiled again in multiple conflicts, including the return of the Borg in 2409.

===Emblem===
Starfleet's insignia (a variation shown top right) is an asymmetrical, arrowhead-shaped pennant. This features on Starfleet ships, combadges and other ware. However the faction loading screen uses the flag of the Federation (seen in the infobox above) while the faction icon is still a [[File:Faction FED25.png|25px|Starfleet's insignia]] small blue delta.

Starfleet insignias have, at various points in the organization's history, shown the wearer's division in its centre. A star signifies tactical, a stylized spiral signifies engineering and a circle with longitudinal lines signifying science. Note the assocition of these icons, and [[Career path|division]] colors, differs slightly between Star Trek Online and [[Canon in Star Trek Online|main Star Trek canon]].

===Uniform===
[[File:Odyssey Uniform Group.png|thumb|Starfleet Uniform in 2409; a white top section is a command uniform. Red highlights indicate command or tactical, yellow: operations and blue: sciences]]
In 2410, Starfleet's [[uniform]] is the [[Odyssey Uniform|Odyssey design]], although captain's have considerable leeway in the uniform regulations for their crew. Starfleet uniforms are typically color coded to the wearer's [[Career path|division]] (in Star Trek Online: red for tactical, yellow  for engineering and blue for science; note that this deviates from [[Canon in Star Trek Online|canon]]) while rank is indicated by a series of collar pips (this varies by time period).

===Ranks===
Starfleet [[rank]]s roughly mirror those of the US navy, with crew being given ranks of [[Cadet]], [[Ensign]], [[Lieutenant Junior Grade]], [[Lieutenant]], [[Lieutenant Commander]] and [[Commander]]. Ship commanders are usually at the rank of [[Captain]], but sometimes a commander is referred to as Captain even if they are at a different rank. Senior officers hold the ranks of [[Vice Admiral|Vice]], [[Rear Admiral|Rear]], [[Admiral]] and [[Fleet Admiral]]. 

===Command===
{{MAlpha|Starfleet Command}}, based in [[San Francisco]], is the fleet's operating authority and answers directly to the Federation President, [[Aennik Okeg]]. Starfleet Command runs the fleet's day-to-day operations, with Fleet Admiral [[Jorel Quinn]], based on [[Earth Space Dock]], being the most senior officer encountered.

:''While Quinn is treated as the leader of Starfleet, notably being shown as [[J'mpok]]'s opposite at events such as calling the ceasefire, [[Cryptic]]'s lead writer Christine Thompson has stated that the position of Commander in Chief of Starfleet is a different position, and is being reserved for "someone special" <ref name="Thompson Twitter">[https://twitter.com/Cryptic_Kestrel/status/487333408574435328 Twitter post by Christine Thompson (14 July 2014)]</ref>.

===Departments and agencies===
Major Starfleet bodies include;
* {{MAlpha|Starfleet Medical}}: the most senior medical staff of Starfleet who take the lead on combatting major contagious and medical research.
* [[Starfleet Intelligence]]: the Federation's intelligence agency. Not to be confused with [[Section 31]].
* {{MAlpha|Starfleet Corps of Engineers}}: are the fleet's finest technical minds and the creators of most of the Starfleet's most advanced ships and technology (alongside the, independent, [[Daystrom Institute]]).

===Important facilities===
<gallery>
File:DS9 Space Wiki2.png|[[Deep Space 9]]
File:Deep Space K-7.png|[[Deep Space K-7]]
File:Earth Spacedock.png|[[Earth Spacedock]]
File:Starbase 39.jpg|[[Starbase 39]]
File:Starfleet Academy.png|[[Starfleet Academy]]
File:Utopia Planitia Shipyards FCday.jpg|[[Utopia Planitia Shipyards]]
</gallery>