The tactical officer or weapons officer is responsible for coordinating the operation of a starship's weapons and defensive systems.
Klingons call their tactical officers the "weapons officer".
Starfleet (23rd century)[]
On 23rd-century ships, the tactical officer managed phaser and torpedo crews who wore command gold. On explorers like the USS Enterprise, the role of tactical officer was generally combined with another post, reflecting the expectation that combat would not be an everyday task. Helm officer Hikaru Sulu and navigators such as Pavel Chekov acted as tactical officer during the original five-year mission. On the USS Exeter, Paul Cutty doubled as security officer and tactical officer, with a station forward and port side of the captain's chair. On the USS Farragut, Henry Prescott III similarly combined security and tactical roles. Both further de-emphasized their tactical role by wearing security red rather than command gold. (Star Trek: The Original Series, Starship Exeter, Starship Farragut)
Warships such as destroyers naturally gave more prominence to the post of tactical officer. For example, USS Tamerlane's tactical officer and first officer, Angelica Bennett. (Tamerlane)
Starfleet (24th century)[]
By the 24th century, the tactical officer position was generally combined with the security chief position, such as Luko on USS Excelsior and Maya Stadi on the USS Odyssey. They wear security yellow, not command red. They typically have their station aft of the captain's chair. (Star Trek: Hidden Frontier, Star Trek: Odyssey)
See also[]
Starfleet (25th century)[]
By the 25th century, the tactical officer and security chief roles had been separated again. (Star Trek Online)
Notable Tactical officers[]
- Angelica Bennett
- Jason Finnagan
- Karen Howe
- Keppler
- Sahuel t'Khnialmnae
- Kyona
- Tesjha Phohl
- USS Kagoshima
- USS Bajor
- Garavashan ch'Rimosi
- Therav th'Shan
- Maya Stadi
- Michael Swanson
External links[]
- Tactical officer article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Tactical officer article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.