Star Trek: 10 Starfleet Rules You Never Knew Existed

In our first video on this topic, we went over Regulation 3, Paragraph 12, which had some really vague wording that left way too much up to interpretation. Funnily, there's another Starfleet rule from the same Voyager episode, Equinox, which was just as imprecise.

Regulation 191 (Article 14) stated that in a combat scenario involving more than one ship (presumably with commanders of equal rank), command would fall to the vessel with tactical superiority. Janeway used this regulation to supersede Captain Ransom's orders, and he was forced to agree, as the Equinox was a much older, smaller, and more damaged ship, vastly outgunned by Voyager. However, it's not hard to imagine a scenario where the most tactically superior ship is not as clear, causing a lot of possible confusion in the chain of command.

This regulation was brought up again in the Short Treks episode Ask Not. Ask Not also referenced the 'reserve activation clause' from The Motion Picture, which we'll talk about in more detail now.