General Robert Neller is a four-star Marine general and Commandant of the Marine Corps, which is the highest ranking member of the Marines. He is a member of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he is also a Trekkie.
General Neller’s love of Trek was revealed as he recently spoke to the Atlantic Council think tank and was asked about being a Trekkie. Neller is particularly fond of TNG and Captain Picard. Here is what he had to say about Trek and the Star Trek: The Next Generation leader’s style.
I think that Star Trek is a leadership show. I think it talks about the future. There have been four of five different version of Star Trek and my favorite is Star Trek: The Next Generation with Jean Luc Picard as the captain of the Enterprise. I have always enjoyed watching it. It is a little hokey sometimes, but we talk a lot about modernization and technology. I think, above anything else, it is a leadership show because you always find the crew and the captain are put in some sort moral, ethical or operational dilemma, which I find interesting.
You can watch Gen. Neller discuss Star Trek from his talk to the Atlantic Council below.
The clip of Gen. Neller was highlighted by the military and veterans site Task & Purpose, which also added examples of 5 Star Trek episodes that could inspire troops to follow you.
More Great Links for the week
CBC: Meet the Star Trek writer (David Gerold) who predicted the smartphone.
NPR: Advice To Parachuting Docs: Think Before You Jump Into Poor Countries (Discusses applying Star Trek’s prime directive to medical ethics)
Forces of Geek: The U.S.S. Enterprise’s Arrowhead, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Truth
Huffington Post: How ‘Star Trek” Made History 22 Years Ago With A Same-Sex Kiss
Nerdist: Worst of the Best: Star Trek Voyager’s “Threshold”
Screenrant: 7 Star Trek Costars Who Are Frenemies (And 8 Who Are BFFs)
Tweets of the week: American Chopper takes on TOS ships
Star Trek author Dayton Ward had some fun this week on Twitter with fan debates over canon. Recently a meme from the reality show American Chopper started popping up around the web, and so Ward inserted the Trek issue over ship insignia into this epic rant.
I know. I'm terrible.#StarTrek pic.twitter.com/nNVW43OigN
— Dayton Ward (@daytonward) April 6, 2018
He followed that up with a second American Chopper meme thread, all about if Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet.
Video of the week: Admiration for the USS Enterprise
One of our fave channels on YouTube, ECHenry, has another Star Trek-themed video this week, appreciating the design of the USS Enterprise.
That’s it for this week’s update. Keep up with all the fun Star Trek from around the web in our Great Links category.
Captain Picard always tried to do his best as a leader. I loved that about him. I think he would be quite happy to be mentioned by the leader of the real Marines! As a fictional character or in reality as a possible personage.
Happy to read this news. Trek has always been on the right track.
Semper Fi!
I honor all those who have served faithfully. May God bless you.
As a US Marine, this is awesome!
I never understood why people say that Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet. It just doesn’t make any sense.
That meme is hilarious! I haven’t looked, but I assume people have turned it into an argument about the Oxford comma.
Sigh. Decker wears the Fleet Command Insignia denoting his status as a Flag Officer in the field.
Too bad this guy has to take orders from tRUMP.
Picard was a great leader on the TV show, then turned into a less intelligent version of himself in the movies. I know Patrick Stewart wanted to stretch himself as an Action-Hero figure, but it really ruined the dynamic of the character.
Picard/Stewart emanated effortless leadership and authority. Why wouldn’t the general dig that?
If only the US military practiced the Prime Directive instead of empire-building. The Klingons would be right to fear the US Empire.
Much respect, Gen. Neller.
2018 and people who still think U.S military are the good guys
Picard is the man! I’m happy to see when real leaders acknowledge that.