Red shirts secure

[c57d]

Okay, so we all know the jokes and memes about red shirts in TOS.
But, how do we get past all that to make Security a valid and interesting PC choice in our TOS Starfleet campaigns?
I, for one, have never (in over 10 years of running Starfleet campaigns) had a Player who wanted such an option.
So how do we improve that?
I think it starts with turning around Security's perception. Rather than "the first and the most frequently to get killed", maybe it should be "the brave and dedicated force standing between the scientists & engineers, and the dangers of exploring the wonders and mysteries of "strange new worlds"?
With no apparent army in TOS, perhaps Security is the "boots on the ground" for Starfleet.
So what would this look like in play?
Skills would be around both HtH and phaser combat, with a healthy dose of tactics.
Plus survival in a wide range of different planetry environments and basic first aid
And then what the FASA STTRPG calls Security Operations. I would see this as a combined surveilance, electronic locks oversight for secure areas (something Kirk could have frequently done with!), questioning methods and (combined with tactics) use of appropriate defensive/protection formations for ViP's etc
I always run my campaigns so that every PC gets to be the focus of a scenario, with the others in supporting roles. And this fairly rotates throughout the PC group. Protection of a visiting, very arrogant and difficult diplomat against conflicting factions, investigation of a apparently motiveless murder of a seemingly ordinary crewman etc. These strike me as some starting points for such a Security chief PC focused scenario.
All to give a more interesting focus to a maybe underused PC specialisation.

[Falconer]

I don’t know if it’s underused. Honestly I fear it’s overused. “Beyond the Final Frontier” gives you a 21% chance of rolling Security as your starting department. I lowered this to 10%. Of course this doesn’t matter much, it’s basically a “suggestion,” as ultimately your assignment on the ship has more to do with your skills and where you’re needed. STAGFF/BTFF PCs tend to be pretty versatile, so your department mainly defines your niche. We had two security PCs in our group, one of whom became First Officer and eventually Captain, the other one was a “Jayne from Firefly” type who (atypically for Star Trek) liked to carry around a laser rifle. That player isn’t able to game with us regularly, so he mustered out and became a trader captain. That has proved to be super useful. Anyway, if you think of Jayne, the weapons enthusiast, the information extractor, etc., I think the play value is pretty obvious. I have also often let these PCs be in charge of firing ship’s weapons. I also think it has worked out really well to have the Security Chief as First Officer. The Scientist will always have stuff to do. What often ends up happening in our games is we split the group into 2 or 3 teams, and the First Officer is always the leader of one of the teams.

And even then I’d say it’s still the most lackluster role. But shouldn‘t it be? Isn’t it idiomatic of Star Trek that the brute force solutions are way down on the list on purpose (humorous side-effects aside)?