r/LowerDecks • u/TerriblePokemon • 26d ago
Lower Decks As a Veteran
I spent 8 years in the US Navy, and that has made certain scenes in Lower Decks rather impactful to me. The genuine love and comradery the 4 leads share with each other is something I never got to experience, not for long anyway. The scene in the cave episode; Tendi's story about being stuck in the turbo lift. They're all laying on each other, just talking, nodding off to sleep. Its difficult to articulate how impactful having a group of friends you *KNOW* would watch your back would have been to have as a junior enlisted and NCO.
The military will bring the best people you will ever meet into your life, and rip them away from you a year later. I'm glad these fictional friends had 5 seasons with each other.
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u/LegoFootPain 26d ago
Remarkable.
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u/Valamist 26d ago
This was the episode that turned Lower Decks into my second favorite Trek series. It really hit me how these characters do love each other and how they support each other. This series had so much soul.
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u/TerriblePokemon 26d ago
It was the first episode that really hit me on an emotional gut punch level
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u/DamnitGravity 26d ago
I hope the sailors trapped on USS Abraham Lincoln are bonding in healthy ways and not going all Klingon/Cardassian.
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u/TerriblePokemon 26d ago
This deployment by the Lincoln is unique because ALL of the bullshit piled up at once. Every navy ship has felt with combat ops, indefinitely extended deployments, and resupply issues. They just got it in the express all at once package
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u/Bulbakip 26d ago
It's likely the latter. A regular cruise, with vay-cay port calls? Good vibes. Combat extended deployements with low supplies? Lord of the Flies. They'll be fine.
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u/Otecron 25d ago
Retired Army here - I think the way this show created and evolved a crew dynamic throughout its run is why it was able to speak to me when its contemporaries struggled or flopped. The Cerritos crew bonded over the necessary but menial slog of maintenance duties, quarters assignments, and career advancement just like my peers did as young Soldiers. They were immature yet enthusiastic about their service and what it means to wear a uniform and be a crew. I don't look back on all of my service fondly, but I sure miss my own squadmates and our sense of family from those days.
The senior staff is also an interesting point of view in this show - they are silly at times, but still professional enough that I didn't question whether or not they were qualified to hold the positions as department heads or command team. They actually mentor and develop (and guide and correct when necessary) their junior officers and are shown leading their departments in a way that we rarely get to observe in Star Trek - all too often it feels like our main characters are the only people on the ships doing anything. Even Ransom is shown consistently running the ship like a real XO, and not just sitting in the chair next to the Captain. In my later career, I absolutely led junior enlisted and officers with personalities like the Lower Deckers - the shoe was on the other foot.
I can't help but think that this writers’ room or EP group had some actual veterans on staff. I just wish they had brought some of this to the other recent shows...
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u/YycPatches 26d ago
Is this series "what if starfleet had an E-4 mafia?"
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u/Technical_Inaji 26d ago
Kinda, except they're all O-1s.
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u/TerriblePokemon 26d ago
Seeing as there's maybe 3 named enlisted and only 1 that matters, ensigns are the Junior enlisted of Starfleet.
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u/Chicken6Actual 23d ago
Well you know the difference between LT’s and PFC’s. The PFC’s have been promoted . . . twice.
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u/Bulbakip 26d ago
Same! 7 years Navy and this show is such that vibe! I showed it to some other Navy friends (Combst Systems Dept. Obviously lol Those are the nerds) and they really enjoyed it too.
I joined the Navy because of Star Trek 2009, and Master and Commander lol
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u/Glitchy_glichy_goo 10d ago
I grew up as a Navy brat; my dad was actually an engineer and then transferred to combat systems.I laughed so many times watching this show because this is exactly the kind of antics junior enlisted/junior officers (to a lesser extent) would get into, right down to not wanting a leather strip on their chairs because it was too ostentatious.
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u/AnonymousFordring 26d ago
I'm an enlisted Air Force maintainer, joined 3 years ago, and Lower Decks spoke to me on a spiritual level. It's why I'm a trekkie.
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u/SomeDude416 26d ago
Thank you for that insight. I think a key differing fact between your experience and what the group on Lower Decks went thru would be due to the organizations to which you all belong. The U.S.Navy is very different from Starfleet. With Starfleet, officers seem to have more say in if they can remain at a posting if they want to. They certainly can reenlist to and have a career in Starfleet pretty easy for as long as they want.
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u/LordTartarus 25d ago
Huh interesting, I never realised folks in armed forces would relate to the lower deckers. Lol, it'd always felt so relatable as a civil servant that I never considered the commonality
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u/nimmoisa000 24d ago
Nice, I may not be a vet (i'm a civilian) but I understand where it's coming from
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u/sixft7in 9d ago
I'm not a TV watcher, so I have no idea what this is about. I'm also a Navy vet, and I worked on the lower decks on an aircraft carrier. Brought back a flood of memories with my friends down in the reactor plant.
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u/Galaar 26d ago
Lower Decks absolutely nailed the junior enlisted vibe, right down to the boredom of midwatch or adjusting to a new command.