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Sat Feb 4th, 2023 @ 8:34pm
Captain James McGowan
Name James Robert McGowan
Position Commanding Officer
Rank Captain
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 40 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'3" | |
| Weight | 195 | |
| Hair Color | Brown | |
| Eye Color | Hazel | |
| Physical Description | Tall, handsome, and physically fit. |
Family
| Spouse | n/a | |
| Children | n/a | |
| Father | Andrew | |
| Mother | Sarah | |
| Brother(s) | Jeffrey Michael |
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| Sister(s) | Jessica Julia Jamie |
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| Other Family | n/a |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Captain McGowan is a strong-willed person with a great service record, achieving the captaincy in record time, though not as fast as other captains in history. He loves exploring the stars and meeting new cultures and seeing new planets, and pushes himself to be a model officer. Even with that, he can punish himself when a crewman dies or gets hurt, wondering if it were somehow possible for him to have saved him. | |
| Strengths & Weaknesses | Strengths: -stronger than average -eidetic memory -loyal -good sense of humor -encouraging captain for his officers, draws the best out of them. Weaknesses: -can be a loner -sometimes has trouble opening up to others -has trouble forgiving himself |
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| Ambitions | To reach the admiralty | |
| Hobbies & Interests | -hiking -tae kwon do -history -learning new foods and drinks -meeting new species and people, figuring out what makes them tick |
| Personal History | Captain James McGowan was born in Doerun, Georgia. He had a happy childhood and his parents encouraged him to be an active child, playing outside, hiking, and taking tae kwon do starting at 8 years old, achieving his black belt at 12, and second degree by 16, and third degree by 18. His parents had him take several placement tests as Georgia required, and placed him on an advanced learning track at school, including learning Latin, German, Old English, and Niw Englisch. He had several girlfriends over the years - Erin Bruce, Alexi Jenkins, Amanda Höhne, Steffi Dhom, Massara Sandage, Ebony Clark - and was very popular with the ladies, sometimes without being aware of it. His family was well off as farmers, with fields and field hands of all kinds who were considered family and shared in the profits and the downsides of the farm. He took a trip to Vulcan at 13 and to New Britannia at 15, the experiences influencing McGowan to want to join Starfleet. With his aptitudes and his test scores, McGowan was able to join at 17, a year early, and graduate in the top 10% of his class, thriving in the structured environment. He met several aliens who became friends, even Skoval, his first Vulcan friend, whom he enjoyed teasing and using sarcasm on, despite his lack of reaction to a lot of it. Upon graduation as an Ensign, McGowan went to the USS Achilles with Skoval, T'Lana, Kayla April, and Sakhile Dube, his South African roommate from his first semester. His time on the Achilles was spent under Captain Rachel Anne Semmes, a seasoned captain who showed the new ensigns how life on a starship worked. They were given their assignments and she kept a tight ship, only seeing combat three times while McGowan was on the Achilles. McGowan met his wife while on the Atlanta, his second ship, when he was assigned in 2355. Jessica Fischer, an ensign five years his junior with a sharp mind (and tongue), and one of the most noticed young crewwomen on the ship was assigned to an away mission on Galvax III, when they were attacked by a stone-age sentient species and were injured, taking refuge in a cave. McGowan carried her in a fireman carry to a cave, set her broken arm, and kept the two alive until they were rescued a week later. He tried not to date her, as he thought it would be some kind of Florence Nightengale effect, but the two just couldn't stay apart, and were married in 2357. They were together for 9 years before she died as a result of a mission to Semloh I, on which Jessica was killed within 48 hours (later found to be due to Daltari influence). James was devastated at her death, and resigned his commission as the Ben Franklin's first officer in 2366. He still refuses to talk about what he did to resolve the mission after her death, but suffice to say, the three Daltari who were present on Semloh did not survive, chalked up to 'natural causes.' Commander McGowan was returned to service via the 'reserve activation clause' after Wolf 359 and returned to the Franklin in 2368, and promoted to captain after a heroic (some would say reckless) maneuver to save the captain's life on an away mission. Captain Guliwe was thankful, but noted with some caution that McGowan had a disregard for his own life that could jeopardize his own effectiveness. Starfleet disregarded that note and promoted him to captain, and later transferred him to the Andromeda, with the hope that his training in the sciences might be better served away from the more dangerous combat missions and more towards peaceful exploration. McGowan today is a guarded captain, but he is haunted by the death of his wife, and hides it well with sarcasm and a sense of humor that perceptive people, even non-telepaths, can tell is a front to keep people from getting too close. His own journey is one of reopening himself to let others close to him. |
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| Service Record | 2330 - Born in Doerun, GA on Earth 2347 - joined Starfleet early 2351 - graduated in the top 10% of his class at the rank of Ensign, and assigned to the USS Kenyatta 2353 - Made Lt, JG and became Deputy Science Officer on the USS Kenyatta under Captain Daniel Mwangi Maathai from Nairobi. 2355 - Promoted to Lieutenant and assigned to the USS Atlanta as its chief science officer 2358 - Promoted to Lt. Cdr. and Second Officer on the Atlanta, before moving to the USS Georgia in 2359. 2359 - moved to the USS Georgia 2360 - Saved the senior crew with a last-ditch saucer separation maneuver against a Cardassian surprise attack, receiving an early promotion track to Commander 2361 - Promoted to Commander and First officer on the Ambassador Class USS Benjamin Franklin 2368 - Promoted to captain of the USS Benjamin Franklin, responsible for five first contacts and diplomatic resolutions to three interstellar conflicts. 2370 - Assigned to the USS Andromeda, the second Galaxy Mark II ship |