Star Trek: DS9’s Elite Starfleet Academy Cadets Were So Much Worse Than TNG’s

Red Squad, the elite Starfleet Academy cadets in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, were so much worse than their Star Trek: The Next Generation counterparts, Nova Squadron. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 19, "The First Duty", Nova Squadron members are investigated after attempting the dangerous Kolvoord Starburst maneuver that results in the death of their teammate, Joshua Albert. Nicholas Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) pushes Nova Squadron members Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton), Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), and Jean Hajar (Walker Brandt), to cover up their involvement, and the fact the maneuver had been Locarno's idea.

Although Nova Squadron disbanded after Wesley came clean about Josh's death, Red Squad takes Nova Squadron's place in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's season 4 2-parter, "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost". Starfleet Academy's Red Squad is enlisted by Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth) to sabotage Earth's power grid, enabling Leyton to enact martial law. Leyton resigns, but Red Squad returns in DS9 season 6, episode 22, "Valiant". Red Squad's Cadet Tim Watters (Paul Popowich) takes command of the Defiant Class USS Valiant after its ranking officers are killed. As captain, Watters takes on the Dominion, which destroys the Valiant and kills nearly everyone aboard.

Why Star Trek: DS9’s Red Squad Was So Much Worse Than TNG’s Nova Squadron

Red Squad's Hubris Was Much More Deadly Than Nova Squadron's

Star Trek: The Next Generation's Nova Squadron's belief that they were capable of executing a banned maneuver killed only one Cadet, but Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Red Squad was responsible for far more deaths. Admiral Leyton's special treatment of Red Squad made them unquestionably loyal to him. In "Valiant", Red Squad—and Captain Watters in particular—internalized the insidious effects of Leyton's manipulation. Because Watters truly believed they could take on the Dominion as Cadets, Red Squad's hubris kills everyone except Ensign Nog (Aron Eisenberg), Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton), and Cadet Dorian Collins (Ashley Brianne McDonogh).

Red Squad reaffirmed that Starfleet Academy having a squadron of elite cadets is a bad idea in the first place. Nova Squadron ostensibly existed to recognize cadets who excelled as pilots, but Red Squad was only elevated to help Leyton's Starfleet coup. In both cases, it was easy for a rogue Starfleet Admiral and the squadrons' leaders to manipulate impressionable teenage cadets into becoming accomplices. Wesley Crusher proved that Nova Squadron still had integrity, but Watters' bad leadership on the USS Valiant proved Red Squad didn't have the emotional intelligence to responsibly use the power that came with their status.

Nova Squadron’s Nick Locarno Became A Star Trek Super Villain

Locarno's Persistent Belief In His Superiority Was Fueled By Misremembered Glory Days

Nova Squadron's leader, Nick Locarno, returned as a Star Trek supervillain in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4. Years after being dismissed from Starfleet Academy, Nick Locarno's hubris grew into a full-blown delusion that he'd always been better than everyone. Locarno got revenge on Starfleet by assembling Nova Fleet, an independent fleet of disillusioned recruits and stolen starships. During Locarno's recruitment broadcast, Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) pointed out that the basis of Nick's whole plan was entirely inaccurate; Locarno, not Starfleet, was responsible for Josh's death. Nova Fleet turned on Locarno, who perished in a Genesis Device explosion.

Nick Locarno's return as a villain provides further evidence that elitism has no place in Starfleet because Nick's misplaced belief in his own superiority contrasts so strongly with Star Trek: Lower Decks' message that success isn't about being elite. Lower Decks upholds the Federation ideals of inclusiveness simply by being a Star Trek show about a Starfleet support ship. The USS Cerritos and its lower decker crew matter because Starfleet needs competent people at all levels of its hierarchy to function. Starfleet works best when supporting cadets and officers to be their best selves, not artificially elevating them as elites.

Will Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Have A Red Squad Or Nova Squadron?

A New Cadet Squad In Starfleet Academy Might Be More Like Star Trek: Prodigy's Nova Squadron

Hopefully, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy won't have an elite cadet team like Red Squad or Nova Squadron, but Star Trek history tends to repeat itself, as evidenced by Red Squad taking Nova Squadron's place in DS9. Nova Squadron also reappeared in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, with a whole new crop of cadets taking on the legacy name, almost 20 years after the previous Nova Squadron's fatal accident. Maj'el (Michaela Dietz), Zeph (Sunkrish Bala), and pinch-hitter Dal (Brett Gray) were actually noble examples of Starfleet Cadets who redeemed Nova Squadron's name, thanks to Captain Chakotay's (Robert Beltran) guidance.

The elitism that harmed the earlier Nova Squadron and Red Squad was solved in Star Trek: Prodigy because Captain Chakotay was a kind and competent leader who encouraged the 2384 Nova Squadron to include newcomer Dal. As a legacy character in Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Discovery's Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) would almost certainly impart similar compassionate guidance to any elite squad in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. If a new Red Squad or Nova Squadron is taught that leadership is a service rather than a status symbol, the deadly mistakes Red Squad made in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine won't be repeated.