IDK. Yeah, DS9 is a desk job, and maybe that is what Starfleet thought, but let's think more about what Sisko's background is: engineering to XO of the Saratoga, and after he's no longer psychologically fit to be in command post-Wolf 359 (and that's fair, his wife gets KIA and he has a very young child to care for as a single father) they give him a base job heading up starship design.
Plus, at some point he's the Starfleet attache to Curzon Dax, Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire.
I'm not sure why they give Sisko a desk job, but it's at least half as much trying to keep this guy in the service as it is finding a place for him where he won't break stuff. Their reasoning seems to be that the Bajorans need mostly material help in order to rebuild and join the Federation, but if they can find a guy who also has some diplomacy background so much the better. A stationary command is what Sisko has been demanding because of his son, so Bajor fits that billet. And it gets him away from the Defiant-class design board, which Starfleet is considering pulling funding from and his psych report indicates encourages him to fixate on his trauma.
They obviously don't consider it a military posting, because they never bother to post a defensive ship to the system until long after the territory is threatening. And Picard himself says the main goal is to get Bajor to join the Federation. (Reading between the lines suggests Bajor was warp-capable, but the Federation never came to their aid and feels guilty about this.)
I don't think that Starfleet command thinks he's a problem officer until at least half-way through the series, where he starts actively being Emissary to the Prophets and pushing Starfleet to war with the Dominion. Troubled, yes, but not in a problematic way.
You're right that they self-select Picard and Janeway because they think they're temperamentally suited towards not starting shit, though. Picard is far more racist towards the Ferengi than Sisko, though.
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Date: 2009-06-18 10:18 pm (UTC)Plus, at some point he's the Starfleet attache to Curzon Dax, Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire.
I'm not sure why they give Sisko a desk job, but it's at least half as much trying to keep this guy in the service as it is finding a place for him where he won't break stuff. Their reasoning seems to be that the Bajorans need mostly material help in order to rebuild and join the Federation, but if they can find a guy who also has some diplomacy background so much the better. A stationary command is what Sisko has been demanding because of his son, so Bajor fits that billet. And it gets him away from the Defiant-class design board, which Starfleet is considering pulling funding from and his psych report indicates encourages him to fixate on his trauma.
They obviously don't consider it a military posting, because they never bother to post a defensive ship to the system until long after the territory is threatening. And Picard himself says the main goal is to get Bajor to join the Federation. (Reading between the lines suggests Bajor was warp-capable, but the Federation never came to their aid and feels guilty about this.)
I don't think that Starfleet command thinks he's a problem officer until at least half-way through the series, where he starts actively being Emissary to the Prophets and pushing Starfleet to war with the Dominion. Troubled, yes, but not in a problematic way.
You're right that they self-select Picard and Janeway because they think they're temperamentally suited towards not starting shit, though. Picard is far more racist towards the Ferengi than Sisko, though.