Star Trek: 10 Things You Should Know Before Applying To Starfleet Academy

There are those cadets who aren't content with being the second or third brightest star of the constellation. They want to be the best of the best: an alpha in a skyful of Gamma Orionum. For 'elite cadets,' Starfleet Academy offers special training programmes, one of which is Red Squad(ron). If you're approached to join during your studies, be warned! Things have never gone well for this band of young upstarts.

Whilst it has been difficult to gather any information about the group's origins, leaked reports suggest Red Squad was 'pretty new' in 2372 at the time of Admiral Leyton's failed coup d'état. If you were on Earth that year, you may remember the lights going out and armed Starfleet officers beaming onto every street corner. Well, as it turned out, Red Squad cadets were responsible for the global power failures, although, much like the rest of the planet as a result, they were apparently in the dark about the true nature of their sabotage mission.

During the Dominion War, reporter for the Federation News Service Jake Sisko and friend Ensign Nog were rescued by the USS Valiant behind enemy lines. The pair were shocked to learn that the advanced Defiant-class starship was crewed entirely by Red Squad members. The story has a tragic conclusion as field-promoted 'Captain' Watters led all but one of his fellow cadets to their deaths in a futile quest for glory against an enemy that outmatched them — a tale of hubris recounted in Jake Sisko's harrowing piece on the incident.

Would you want your son or daughter on a ship full of cadets in a war zone?