Vice Admiral
From Starbase 900 Wiki
Vice admiral is a military rank, the equivalent of which was used by the service organizations of many civilizations. As a traditional grade, Vice Admiral was a flag officer falling superior to a Rear Admiral and below a full Admiral of a naval organization. This rank was used by Starfleet. Vice Admirals commanded entire fleets of vessels, divisions at Starfleet Headquarters, starbases, and other senior positions in the fleet. In comparison to other ranking systems, this rank was equivalent to the Marine Lieutenant General rank or (approximately) the Cardassian Union's quasi-military rank of legate.
In the early 22nd century, Starfleet Vice Admirals (such as Maxwell Forrest) were denoted by three rank insignia enclosed in a rectangular frame, worn on both sides of a uniform jacket. These officers also had a series of rank stripes on their sleeve, a group of five stripes (four in a group, and one separate towards the cuff).
By 2161, the sleeve stripes had changed to be more in line with the style used in the 2260s. An unnamed Vice Admirals at the signing of the Federation Charter wore a solid white/grey stripe with silver braiding (about three standard stripes wide), flanked by two single stripes of a similar material (one above and one below).
In the subsequent Federation fleets, Vice Admirals (like Fitzpatrick) were again denoted by sleeve stripes, this time signified by a similar insignia, one solid gold band (about three stripes wide, worn by the rank of Commodore) of braid, and two additional stripes separate, above and below.
By the Starfleet uniform design of the 2280s, all officers wore their insignia as a pin device attached to the shoulder on the jacket clasp. The Vice Admirals pin was a small round field with four gold arrowheads arranged pointing towards a gold pip in the center, and was accompanied by an embroidered sleeve stripe.
24th century Starfleet ranks had Vice Admirals (such as Vice Admiral Aaron) wear one triangular admiral braid on their shoulders, with two rank pips beneath it.
Another redesign in the 2360s denoted Vice Admirals (like Vice Admiral Nakamura) by three gold rank pips surrounded by a rectangular frame.
