The responsibilities of the crew to the vessel are broken down by the department in which they serve, which is overseen by the Personnel office and staff.  The personnel office is responsible for making sure that all departments are operating with an adequate number of personnel.  They also participate in the crew evaluation process and may make recommendations for situations where a crewmember is not performing up to the standards expected of them.  The personnel staff usually handles all paperwork related to the crew (promotions/demotions, payroll, etc.)

Each department aboard ghop qeylIs (Engineering, Science, Medical, etc) is normally administered by the Department Chief.  The chief is usually the senior-ranking person within that department.  Each department is usually then broken down into subsets based on functions within that department.  In both cases, some variation in structure may exist depending on the administrative methods of those in the department.

The departments are broken down as follows:

This department is the smallest of all aboard ghop qeylIs with regard to the number of personnel in it.  It contains the Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, the Helm/Navigation staff and the personnel department.  Initially it would seem obvious that the Commanding Officer would administer this department as the senior person in the department.  Because the Commanding Officer is responsible for the overall operation of the vessel, among other concerns, administration of this department rests with the Executive Officer.

The Helm/Navigation Department is included in the Command Department because of the importance that rests with the success of the navigation staff.  Since the Empire will be quick to administer stern punishment to a ship's Commanding Officer for the loss of a ship due to poor helm/navigation work or other reasons where fault lies within the vessel's crew, the command staff keeps these personnel under their own supervision.  In addition, the Helm/Navigation Department often serves as a pathway to higher levels of command within the Empire's military services.

Because these personnel are responsible for maintaining equipment aboard the vessel as well as the vessel structure itself, this department has the largest number of personnel aboard ghop qeylIs (and almost every vessel in the Empire), alternating with Security depending on the staffing levels of any particular moment.  The Engineering department is administered by the Chief Engineering Officer.  There are a number of subdivisions of the Engineering department.  They include:

This subdivision is responsible for all aspects of the warp drive system.  They include the warp core, matter & antimatter handling systems, warp nacelle systems, etc.  The Warp Propulsion Officer administers this subdivision of Engineering.  This officer is also the second in command of the entire Engineering department.

This subdivision is responsible for all aspects of impulse engine operations (including the engines of the forward Weapon Module and the Bridge Module).  They also have responsibility for all thruster units aboard ghop qeylIs.  The Impulse Propulsion Officer administers this subdivision and is also third in command of the entire Engineering department.

This subdivision is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ship's power distribution network.  They maintain all the ship's wiring, plasma conduits, etc.  They also maintain the auxiliary power generators throughout ghop qeylIs.

This subdivision is responsible for maintaining the hull, bulkheads and other structures aboard the ship.  These personnel manage damage repairs beyond that handled by Damage Control teams.  They perform much of any construction work done for scientific or other projects that cannot be done with the industrial replicator units.

In a combat situation or other crisis, this is one of the most important functions aboard any vessel.  These personnel are responsible for making all emergency repairs to keep the vessel functional in a crisis.  Virtually all personnel aboard the vessel (and any vessel in Imperial service) are trained to perform some function related to damage control in addition to those people dedicated to this subdivision.  This subdivision is responsible for the continued training of all personnel that are not dedicated to this function.

This subdivision is responsible for maintaining all life support systems aboard the vessel (gravity, water, atmosphere, etc.).  They also maintain the replicators, turbolifts, personnel quarters, etc.

This subdivision maintains all transporter units aboard the ship, including the Marine and Phase units.  Certification for transporter operation requires at least nine months of service in this subdivision.  Recertification for transporter operation is required every eighteen months.

This subdivision covers all remaining functions of the Engineering department (tractor beams, computers, cloaking device, etc.)  This contains all engineering personnel assigned to other areas of the ship (such as Sickbay's transporter system and the Hanger Deck).

This is the second largest department aboard ghop qeylIs, alternating with Engineering, depending on the staffing levels of any particular moment.

This subdivision is responsible for maintaining security aboard ghop qeylIs.  It insures that restrictions placed on access to various areas of the ship are enforced.  It also provides honor guards and escorts for senior officers and VIPs at official functions aboard ship.  Any investigations of criminal or other activity is also performed by Internal security.

This subdivision is responsible for security functions off the ship, such as away teams and officer escorts at official functions off the ship.  Generally, it performs most functions of Internal Security off the ship.  Because the need for security off the ship represents a small fraction of the total workload of the Security department, this subdivision often only exists when it is actually needed.  Personnel working for this subdivision are allocated from the Internal Security staff.  Personnel assigned to External Security are often older staff members who possess more restraint in their behavior, reducing the chances of a diplomatic or other incident occurring while those they escort are off-ship.  It is common for these personnel to have special diplomatic training to allow them to operate among foreign nationals with minimal friction.  Those who specialize in External Security will often be the personnel assigned to provide escort services to alien guests aboard ghop qeylIs for the same reasons.

This department is responsible for the maintenance (along with Engineering) and operation of the various weapon systems aboard ghop qeylIs.  This department is managed by the Chief  Weapons/Defense officer.  This area is divided into specialties:

Personnel in this subdivision are responsible for the operations and maintenance of the directed-energy weapons mounted on the vessel.  Personnel are moved between the various forms of weapons to keep them familiar with a variety of weapons.  This subdivision is managed by the senior officer of the section and is second in command of the Weapons/Defense department.

Personnel in this subdivision manage the photon/quantum torpedoes and their launching and support systems, as well as the Plasma Torpedo system.  This subdivision is managed by the senior officer of the section and is third in command of the Weapons/Defense department.

Personnel in this subdivision are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the deflector shielding system.  They also coordinate with representatives of Imperial Intelligence and Security to keep the systems updated on developments in enemy weapon technologies.  Along with Engineering personnel, responsibility is shared for the maintenance of the cloaking device and updates to its systems and control software.

The Marine force complement aboard ghop qeylIs (currently TASK FORCE 941) is a separate entity from the Naval staff.  (On some smaller ships they are integrated into the ship's crew structure.)  The Marine forces and equipment aboard ghop qeylIs are under the command of the Marine Force Leader, who in turn is subordinate to the ship's Commanding Officer while aboard ship.  The Marine Force Leader's staff will coordinate with the senior staff of ghop qeylIs as needed during Marine operations.  Generally, the Marine personnel operate separately from the ship's crew.  Exceptions may exist in the area of Security during a crisis where some troops are detached to supplement the ship's security staff if deemed necessary.  They can also supplement ship's staff in such areas as Medical and Engineering if and as needed (such as in combat or other crises).  Each department within the Marines (Communications, Engineering, etc.) perform for the Marine forces the equivalent functions their Naval counterparts do for the vessel with the Marine Force Leader and his executive being the senior officers for Marine Department Heads.  The Marine Force Leader is considered to be on the same level as the vessel's Department Heads in the chain of command while aboard ship.

This department is responsible for maintaining all communications equipment (internal and external) associated with the vessel, from the long-range communication arrays for the vessel down to individual communicator badges carried by personnel and transceivers installed in equipment.  The Chief of Communications is responsible for administrating the department.  Communications personnel will also assist in the maintenance of communication systems aboard shuttles, fighters, scouts, and Marine vehicles embarked aboard ship.  They monitor incoming and outgoing transmissions in conjunction with Security personnel to look for anything in message content that could be viewed as traitorous or otherwise "of interest".  Communications personnel are responsible for keeping current with the latest developments in transmission technologies and message encryption/decryption methodologies (Klingon methods as well as those of other races - both allied and enemy).

This department is responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the ship's auxiliary spacecraft (repair pods, fighters, shuttles and B'rel Scouts) while aboard ship and in the immediate area of the ship.  In addition to the department's regular complement, many Engineering personnel are cycled through this department on a periodic basis to enhance their skills in the Engineering field.  This department is also responsible for the ordinance and weapon systems of the auxiliary craft stationed aboard the vessel.  Damage control drills are practiced here more than most areas of the ship due to the potential for catastrophic damage occurring with the fuels and weapons utilized by the auxiliary craft.  All personnel assigned to this department have a primary and secondary function in Damage Control operations.

The Chief Science Officer administers the Science department.  The Science personnel are responsible for all scientific research functions performed aboard ship.  Any Engineering personnel attached to this field are subordinate to the Science department administrators while in service to this department.  These Engineering personnel are responsible for the maintenance of all equipment in the Science department.  The Science staff works with Medical personnel to conduct the decontamination protocols of the Science labs that have been recovered from areas of operation off the vessel.

The Chief Medical Officer administers this department.  This department is responsible for serving the medical and dental needs of the officers and crew aboard the vessel.  They also share administration duties with the Science department for some of the Science facilities that are also utilized for Medical work/research (biology, chemistry, etc.)  Some Engineering personnel are also attached to the Medical department to operate the dedicated medical transporter system and also maintain medical equipment.

The Operations department has oversight duties for the other departments aboard the vessel and funnels information and instructions between them.  This level is the main buffer between the command department and the other departments.  The Chief Operations Officer supervises the Operations department.  All personnel within operations have specialties in the various fields of service in the Empire and are able to interact with those departments in an informed manner.  Operations is responsible for allocating resources (power, sensors, computer processor time, etc.) to meet the needs of the various departments.

The Auxiliary Services department is responsible for all the smaller functions aboard a ship that are too minor to be established as a department of their own.  Among other things, the Auxiliary department covers the messhalls/galley, shrine, Inspirational Theaters and holodecks (their usage; generally not maintenance outside of requesting repairs and/or alteration/upgrading).  Responsibility for this department is often cycled through different junior members of the command department to give them experience in administration functions of a warship, coordinating with the shrine's caretaker for many functions of this department.