Star Trek: Deep Space Nine picked up one of Wesley Crusher's best stories from Star Trek: The Next Generation and enhanced its core themes, making it even better. TNG season 5, episode 19, "The First Duty" introduced Nova Squadron, an elite flight team made of Starfleet Academy cadets, including Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). After attempting an illegal flight maneuver, a member of the team is killed, and Wesley becomes involved in a cover-up. Four years later, DS9 introduced another elite team of Starfleet cadets, the Red Squad, who took part in an attempted military coup. This was a significant step up from TNG's scared cadets who were desperate to save their careers.
In DS9 season 4, episode 11, "Homefront", increasing paranoia around the threat posed by DS9's villainous Changelings and the Dominion, Admiral Leyton (Robert Foxworth) manipulated events to increase Earth's security. He deployed the Red Squad, an elite team of Starfleet cadets with advanced field training to disable the global power distribution, staging it as an incursion by the Changelings. The coup is later foiled by Sisko, but the Red Squad remained a key part of Starfleet Academy, later returning in DS9 season 6, episode 22, "Valiant", commanding a Defiant-class starship through Cardassian space.
DS9’s Red Squad Showed Why TNG’s Nova Squadron Was A Bad Idea
The Red Squad showed that Starfleet hadn't learned the lessons of the Nova Squadron incident. Despite being presented as an egalitarian and utopian future, the very notion of elite units exposes a contradiction at the heart of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Elite squadrons within Starfleet immediately create a hierarchy and foster competitiveness, which is what led Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) to engage in reckless behavior that led to the death of his fellow student. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) observed that Locarno attempted the illegal Kolvoord Starburst maneuver so that he could graduate as a "living legend". Red Squad is similarly flawed, driven by their desire to be recognized as legendary Starfleet officers.
It's that same drive that leads to the deaths of all but three members of the Red Squad cadets aboard the USS Valiant. Unwilling to be recalled to Starfleet Academy following the death of their senior officers and tutors during a skirmish with a Cardassian battle cruiser, Cadet Tim Watters, acting as the captain of the USS Defiant-style Valiant, accepted a dangerous mission behind enemy lines to gather technical data on a Jem'Hadar warship. Driven by overconfidence and his need to prove himself, Watters led the Valiant into a battle with the ship, resulting in the destruction of the ship and the majority of the crew was killed in action.
Nova & Red Squadron Were Great Stories For TNG & DS9’s Youngest Characters
As stories about the arrogance of youth, TNG's "The First Duty" and DS9's "Valiant" provide stark warnings. The Red Squad makes a real impact on Nog, who clashes with Jake Sisko about Watters' foolhardy plan to take on the Jem'Hadar. However, Nog realizes that Watters was a bad captain who led his team "over a cliff." Similarly, TNG's Nick Locarno eventually holds his hands up, protecting the careers of his fellow officers, they're both stories about reaching the emotional maturity required to be a great Starfleet officer.
The Nova and Red Squadrons are elite teams of cadets that tantalizingly give youngsters a shortcut to greatness, so it's unsurprising that the driven and confident Watters and Locarno made their fatal decisions. "Homecoming" also provides a stark warning about blindly following authority figures, Riley Shephard eventually confesses his role in Leyton's conspiracy to Sisko, leading to him foiling the military coup on Earth. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Nova Squadron and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Red Squad provided strong material for the coming-of-age stories of Star Trek's young officers.