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On December 15, 2020, at 19:48, "Timothy Collinson - timothy.collinson at port.ac.uk (via tml list)" <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:
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>- are there circumstances in which more junior officer can be made XO (Executive Officer) over someone of a higher rank? I.e. someone who is a regular part of the same crew?
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>(What particularly irked me about this was that they seemed to imply that the XO was some admin function outside of the chain of command and actually had two lines about precedence in which they agreed it wouldn't affect the senior's overall seniority. If they'd just left those two lines out I might have bought it)
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A bunch of this is what does your duty roster look like?
In general the XO like the Captain are chosen by the powers that be. It isn't too uncommon for both of them to have the same rank.
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Ah, ok, now that I didn't know. (Neither the PTB choosing them - I'd got the impression the captain made the choice or was at least heavily involved with it - nor that they might be of the same rank.)
Clearly, in lieu of time in the military I need to read more such military novels or watch such films. Not that I thought I was slow in viewing a good Hunt for the Red October or Crimson Tide or whatever. In fact that last film may be 90% of what my idea of an XO is/should be comes from.
Now, hasn't Singers War: Origins just arrived in the post? That looks like it has a military flavour, maybe that will help and keep it Traveller! I've just finished the book group book group for this evening's virtual meeting, so I need a new novel. (It was Ben Elton's _Time After Time_ which was a not uninteresting take on going back to 1914 to try to stop World War I. Not first class, but definitely worth bothering with.)
Cheers
tc