Cadet Training Squad Nova

Nova Squadron was an elite flight team at Star Fleet Academy. Each Cadet flew an Academy Flight Trainer, performing various formations and maneuvers as a demonstration of flight prowess and ability. Nova Squadron has existed at least in some form since the initial founding of Star Fleet Academy in the early 22nd Century.

In 2368, Nova Squadron consisted of Cadet First Class Nicholas Locarno, Cadet Second Class Jean Hajar, Cadet Second Class Sito Jaxa, Cadet Third Class Wesley Crusher, and Cadet Joshua Albert. It was this team which won the Rigel Cup.

Shortly before commencement that year, the Nova Squadron flight team suffered an accidental collision on the Academy Flight Range, near the moons of Saturn; they had been practicing maneuvers for their upcoming graduation ceremony. Cadet Albert was killed in the crash; while the other four team members successfully activated their emergency transporters to escape their doomed ships.

Upon investigation, it was determined that Nova Squadron -- despite claiming to have done a Yeager Loop -- was in fact attempting an unauthorized Kolvoord Starburst; a maneuver long prohibited by the Academy, due to a similar accident in which all five Cadets lost their lives. When said discovery was made, the Board of Inquiry came close to expelling all four surviving cadets until Locarno pleaded to assume full responsibility for the mishap and cover-up. Sure enough, he alone was expelled. The three remaining cadets were issued a formal reprimand: their flight privileges were revoked, their service records were permanently tainted, their academic credits for that year were declared null and void.

Another elite Cadet unit with a similarly chequered history, Red Squad, was created in the 2370s.

Nova Squadron remained an elite flight display team at Star Fleet Academy until the 2420s decade, though Squadron Leaders had less freedom in their maneuvers than those prior to 2368.