Edward Jellico

Captain Edward Jellico was a 24th century Starfleet officer who served as the commanding officer of the Federation starship USS  Cairo during the late 2360s. His voice authorization code as of stardate 46361 was "Jellico-alpha-three-one."

Jellico attended Starfleet Academy with future USS Victory captain, Zimbata; they played on the Academy's rugby team together. Jellico later recalled that Zimbata was awful at the game, but that Jellico, himself, was worse. Jellico later began his career as a shuttle pilot on the Jovian Run in the Sol system. By the mid-2360s, Jellico had established a family for himself, having fathered at least one child, a son.
 * Jellico's Academy reference was during a conversation with Geordi La Forge that was unfortunately cut from the episode, and did not appear in the final airing.

In 2367, Jellico was instrumental in the peace treaty negotiations between the United Federation of Planets and the Cardassian Union.

In 2369, Jellico was given temporary command of the USS Enterprise-D by Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev in order to replace Jean-Luc Picard for the time of his undercover mission on Celtris III. Jellico's experience in dealing with the Cardassians was thought to be invaluable, given the developing potential for conflict between the two powers.

During his assignment on the Enterprise, Jellico turned out to be a very stern and authoritarian officer, demanding a great deal of his crew, and not accepting anything less than the best. In particular, he preferred a certain formality on the bridge, and insisted that Deanna Troi wear a standard uniform. He also insisted upon redecorating Picard's ready room, requesting the removal of Livingston the fish and decorating the walls with pictures drawn by his children - even though he did not know what they were pictures of. He even demanded that Data announce his presence on the bridge whenever he entered ("Captain on the bridge!"), something Picard had never required.

Though his manner of command is connected with high efficiency, Jellico's way of doing things quickly led to numerous confrontations with Enterprise ' s first officer, Commander William T. Riker. The initial problems between them stemmed from Jellico's desire to see the Enterprise run on a four shift rotation when it had previously run on three. The change would prove to be difficult to implement, but Jellico refused to accept Riker's reasons for not having made the change.

The friction between the two came to a head after a major disagreement on how to deal with Picard's abduction by the Cardassians on Celtris III, Jellico relieved Riker and installed Lieutenant Commander Data as his new XO.

Despite requesting the assistance of La Forge for a mission requiring a skilled pilot, Jellico soon discovered that he needed Riker in order to carry out his plans. In an attempt to gain an upper hand against the Cardassians, Jellico intended to plant mines on the Cardassian ships hiding in the McAllister C-5 Nebula, forcing him to resolve his problems with Riker. After an open conversation, Riker accepted the mission, happy with his knowledge that Jellico still needed him. Riker admitted that he saw Jellico as someone who wound his crew up too tight, leaving them unable to perform their jobs with any efficiency.

With the anti-matter mines in place, Jellico contacted the Cardassian fleet and demonstrated his potential ability to easily destroy it at will. From his position of strength, he demanded that the Cardassian fleet eject their primary phaser coils, withdraw to the nearest Cardassian starbase, and immediately release Picard, who was being held prisoner by the Cardassians. The Cardassians complied completely.

After Picard finally returned from his Cardassian detention, Jellico handed the Enterprise back to him and resumed his command of the Cairo. While leaving the bridge he said the final words: "It's been an honor serving with you." 

By 2374, Jellico had been succeeded as captain of the Cairo by Leslie Wong. 

Background
Jellico was played by Ronny Cox. In the non-canonical novel series Star Trek: New Frontier, written by Peter David and published by Pocket Books, Jellico later goes on to become an admiral, initially assigned to Starbase Deep Space 5 and later working in Starfleet Command. He also appears in the novel A Time to Heal by David Mack.