OK, well I can say that they do transform in the game. Sometimes at the least opportune moments. =/
There are a few missions to fluidic space, but I think they are reserved for when you get higher in rank. There are no methods to detect them however. It's what makes them so dangerous.
As for being a a redshirt...uhh, I mean MACO ;)...you can be anything in the game you really wanna be, but since the game takes place in the 24th century, the MACOs don't really exist anymore, nor are there any uniforms. Yet. (They do have TOS uniforms and ships, so maybe they will have those eventually. )