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Name: Don Maxwell
Position: First Officer
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Awards:
Original Thinking
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 42
Biographical Information: Don is about 5'7", 184 lbs. He's not built
like most Starfleet academy youngsters. Admittedly, he is a
little older and he's got a bit of gait around the middle and his air is
reaching the point where there's just enough all across his head
to BARELY pass as not being bald. He has a thick, salt-and-pepper "Fu Manchu" moustache and has taken fondly to the
Scott school of fashion--he often wears his tool-laden utility vest instead of a dress-shirt uniform.
EARLY LIFE: Don is actually an older fellow. Raised in Texas, Don decided
not to follow his friends into Starfleet Academy when he graduated from high
school. Instead, Don joined the Starfleet Engineering apprenticeship program and
became a journeyman
serviceman for shuttles and Runabouts. From the age of 18 through 27, he was
stationed at Spacedock above Earth, where he served as a Runabout serviceman
until he was promoted to the position of shop supervisor. At this point, Don met
and fell in love with Jerrica Adams, who would, later that year, become his
wife. (This would be about the same time as TNG's "Encounter
at Farpoint.")
CAREER: After a year of serving as Space dock's Runabout repair
supervisor, Don transferred out to Utopia Planetia's construction facilities,
where a construction mishap had killed the Shuttle servicing shop's supervisor.
Although Don took the mantle of supervisor for a bunch of somber
servicemen--who, admittedly, didn't think this guy from Spacedock could fill
their old sup's shoes--he was warmly admitted and became one of the most
well-known non-officer Starfleet servicemen throughout the Utopia Planetia
repair yards. At the constant urging of Jerrica, who was finishing her Academy
coursework through Starfleet Academy's Continued Education program, Don quit his
job with the Utopia Planetia service yards, moved himself and Jerrica back to
Earth and the two of them finished Starfleet Academy together in two years--both
had prior course work and Don's Master Servicemen certificate had earned him
several years of Starfleet Engineering Academy coursework. He was promoted, at
this point, to serve on the USS Columbia, NCC-35678-A, under the captaincy of
Derek Walker.
Star Fleet ACADEMY : Don, for years on end of his life, knew he was an
adept and skilled craftsman. He realized, years into serving as a serviceman,
that his knowledge and intuition was powerful enough to be used for more than
just shuttle servicing and repair. Despite the fact that Don got to know the
interior and exterior of Starfleet shuttles and Runabouts like the back of his
hand, he continued to crave more--and marrying Jerrica gave him that thirst for
knowledge. It was the final years at Utopia Planetia, as he watched Starfleet
make breakthough after breakthrough in design and development (prior to the
Dominion War) that Don
decided to gung-ho it and enroll in Starfleet Academy.
Since Don has spent many of his years as a "blue collar worker," he still
approaches his work with the positive-attitude diligence of a serviceman, all
while making his work--be it repairing an isolinear chip or stabilizing the warp
field coils--look like it's a
piece of cake. Don gets frustrated about Starfleet "keepin' the man down;" he is
vaguely political and takes a serious tone on the subjects of the Genesis Device
and the Bible, the Federation Racing Organization, etc.
Interests: Don is also a tried-and-true Southerner; he knows how to make
a smokin' Texas Chili and he listens to, what he calls, "A wide selection of
rock and roll and country music." For years, he and his fellow servicemen had a
rockabilly band, "The Blue Collars," which has since gone their separate ways,
what with Don being aboard the Columbia. However, ol' Mr. Maxwell still plays
his guitar, string fiddle and his prized Fender Galactica 3000 on occasion, and
only if the requests are for "old-time" favorites.
(Don has yet to specify at which century music goes from current to "old-time,"
but he's been caught playing 2300s country tunes from time to time.) Don, of
course, is also married to Jerrica, who is serving as another enlisted member of
the Columbia.
Jerrica's work in philosophy and Alpha Quadrant history have resulted in her
"diplomatic advisor" position on the Columbia.
FIRST OFFICER POSITION AND CURRENT: Recently, Don was promoted to
Lieutenant Commander and was assigned to
the First Officer position of the Columbia. The bulky Texan has had to change
several factors of his life to adopt to this position. He even started
passing up second helpings at dinner, and, despite his own harsh self-criticism,
the crew of the Columbia has (mostly)
warmly accepted their new first officer.
Similarly, Jerrica Maxwell joined the Columbia's senior staff as ship's
counselor, having passed her Starfleet Continued Education Program. The field
promotion has, thus far, not been lustrous for Jerrica but the position adds a
feminine grace to the gruff
demeanor of the group of officers that stand upon Columbia's bridge.