Commander Chad 'Flame' Young
U.S.S. America
Executive Officer

StarFleet Records

September 4, 2277	Began studies at StarFleet Academy.
June 2, 2281	Graduated from StarFleet Academy third in his class with Specialization in Stellar Cartography. Assigned to U.S.S. Excalibur.
August 14, 2282	Promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and appointed Chief of Stellar Cartography aboard Excalibur.
April 28, 2284	Married Maria Conchita Gonzales, the civilian bartender aboard the Excalibur.
March 12, 2285	Promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to U.S.S. Trinity as Chief Science Officer.
January 30, 2288	Transferred to Deep Space Station K-4 as Chief Science Officer.
March 22, 2290	Promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
September 4, 2293	Transferred to U.S.S. Challenger as Chief Science Officer/Second Officer.
April 16, 2294	Challenger destroyed. Young's right leg severed twelve centimeters below knee.
May 4, 2294	Challenger crew reassigned to U.S.S. Monitor. Keeps position as Chief Science Officer and Second Officer.
October 6, 2295	Transferred to U.S.S. America as Executive Officer.
December 31, 2295	Promoted to Commander by Captain Kelly Jean O'Connor, U.S.S. America

Personality Traits

LIKES: Whiskey, gin, vodka, tequila

DISLIKES: Water, coffee, tea, beer

LIMITATIONS: His prosthetic leg imposes both a mental and physical limitation for Chad. It serves as a continual reminder that he's not the whole man that he used to be. It also tends to make quick escapes difficult.

STRENGTHS: Strong analytical mind.

WEAKNESSES: Poor interpersonal skills.

QUIRKS: Chad likes to wear an eyepatch over his left eye and have a stuffed parrot velcroed to his right shoulder for his morale boosting "Captain Redbeard" shenanigans. He also strokes his right ear when he's nervous.

HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Soccer, rugby

AMBITIONS: His wife has most of the ambition for the couple. However, Chad would like one day to reach the rank of Admiral and serve as a researcher for StarFleet Command one day.

HISTORY

Childhood

Chad was born to David and Maria Young in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, 2260. He spent the bulk of his life between Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro as his father worked with the South American Energy Consortium (SAEC). Chad became bored easily with the business world. His real passion was sports. Soccer and rugby were his favorites. He was quite good at both. He received a scholarship to the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Texas at Austin. However, he chose to go the path of the explorer. Tales of wonderful deeds done through the exploration of space intrigued him. Besides, he might get the chance to play soccer and hone his skills on worlds with different gravities than Earth. That would be a challenge.

StarFleet Academy

The Academy proved to be much more of a challenge than he expected it to be. He overcame the challenge in typical 'Flame' fashion. He burned the midnight oil and burned right through the tests. The psychological evaluation didn't even seem to phase him. While he finished third in the graduating class of 2281, he felt that he hadn't done enough. His GPA was merely eleven hundredths of a point behind the valedictorian. However, eleven-hundredths is a long as a soccer field in some cases. Chad's passion for soccer continued to bloom while at the Academy. In his second year, he became Captain of the Academy's soccer team which won the Federation Cup of 2280, defeating the Andorian team 3-2 in the finals on Chad's game-winning goal in the eighty-eighth minute. His specialization was in Stellar Cartography. Maps seemed to come naturally to him. He used playbooks from soccer to help him memorize the positions of the stars and their names. Then again, it seemed like everything revolved around soccer for Chad.

U.S.S. Excalibur

Upon graduation, Chad was assigned to the U.S.S. Excalibur. There was little time for soccer as the ship was exploring the Beta Quadrant solar systems in proximity to the Gorn Hegemony and the Metron Consortium. Unfortunately for Chad's adventurous side, nothing like the happenings with the Enterprise's encounters with these two species happened. Chad had hoped that something strange would happen on this first set of missions, but it wasn't meant to be. It was a typically boring survey mission. The main attraction during Chad's first year on the Excalibur was their survey of the Anametris system. Anametris VI is a Class-O planet with gravity about 1.5 times Earth standard. The Anametrians were a matriarchial hierarchy with a strong emphasis on athleticism. As customary for Anametrian first-contact protocols, the visiting delegation must prove their athletic ability in eight events. Four of those events must be Anametrian in nature. The remainder are from the visiting delegation's traditions. Chad enthusiastically volunteered to captain the Excalibur's soccer team. When the list of Anametrian events was transmitted, there was a sport much like rugby except that the field was oval in shape. Chad was excited until his department chair reminded him that he'd be running with an extra 80+ pounds. Chad shrugged it off and said he'd be able to hold his own with his weight doubled. It turned out that he was able to do it, but the rest of the Excalibur crew had their difficulties. The Excalibur crew only won one of the eight events. He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade by Lieutenant Commander Dustin Tell (August 14, 2282), Excalibur's Chief Science Officer for his abilities in Stellar Cartography as well as taking charge in the Anametris mission. He also placed him as the chief of the Stellar Cartography division. In November 2282, a new member of the Excalibur came aboard, Maria Conchita Gonzales. She took her posting as the bartender in the Excalibur's Avalon Lounge. The two of them started flirting with each other. After a year, Chad proposed during after an amazing candlelight dinner. They were married on April 28, 2284. The couple were quite excited for their time together. His work was the major portion of their pride and joy. Maria helped push Chad to be the best scientist he could be. Their drive and determination paid off when he was promoted to Lieutenant by Captain Carlos Miller on March 12, 2285. He was consequently transferred to the U.S.S. Trinity.

U.S.S. Trinity

Aboard the Trinity, Chad was placed as Chief Science Officer. The Trinity was on an exploratory mission in the Alpha Quadrant. The big item during this placement was First Contact with Betazed. His work on the telepathic abilities of Betazoids contributed to the admission of Betazed into the Federation. After that, the Trinity was assigned to the annual observation report on Capella. For the better part of the next two years, the Trinity went from world to world for the Federation. It was a boring run for Chad. His love was stellar cartography. However, the Trinity was assigned to be the Federation's update wing. Not much in the way of mapping new places as on the Excalibur, but Chad and Maria made the best they could of it.

Deep Space Station K-4

When the boredom of known space got to be too much for Chad, he applied for a transfer which he received in January 2288. He was assigned as Chief Science Officer on Deep Space Station K-4 on January 30, 2288. Being on a fixed space station without much work for the stellar cartographer in Chad was the least of his worries. He made it a priority to get to know each of the CSOs which docked at K-4. During this time, he became great friends with many of the CSOs in StarFleet. He worked through and found a cure for a plague that infested the station in 2290. His ingenuity and quick action earned him a promotion on March 22, 2290. After another three years of working with various crises both on the station and throughout the Federation, he received another transfer.

U.S.S. Challenger

One of his great friends, Lieutenant Commander Richard Carrington, who had been Chief Science Officer of the U.S.S. Challenger, was promoted to the ship's Executive Officer. The Challenger's commander, Captain Jonathan Thompson, valued his new Executive Officer's opinion about who should replace him as Chief Science Officer and Second Officer. Chad, who he had served with on the Excalibur for a short time and forged a friendship with on K-4, was his top choice. Chad became the Challenger's Chief Science Officer and Second Officer on September 4, 2293. Seven months into his assignment on the Challenger (April 16, 2294), it was attacked by a Romulan warbird. The ship was destroyed. During the initial volley of the fight, Chad's leg was severed as he was working with chemicals in the Science Lab. A vial of morisemic acid (highly volatile and corrosive) broke on his right leg. The flesh twelve centimeters below his knee and further down was instantly eaten away. Within a matter of moments, the corrosive acid had eaten through the muscles and his femur crumbled. Most of the crew survived the attack and escaped via escape pods to Starbase 10. Seeing that he couldn't walk fast enough, Chad's junior officers in the Science department carried him from the Science lab to the escape pod. On Starbase 10, he was reunited with Maria after surgery. His leg was amputated at the knee to prevent further spread of the acid. He was fitted with a prosthetic leg.

U.S.S. Monitor

A month after the Romulan attack, the Challenger crew was reassigned to the newly-commissioned U.S.S. Monitor. He kept his position as Chief Science Officer and Second Officer. His prosthetic leg became both a nuisance to him and a comedy gag. His mood swings when he's reminded about his prothetic. Sometimes he'll go into a depression because the prosthetic doesn't allow him to play soccer at the same level he was accustomed to. It was aboard the Monitor and at the behest of Captain Thompson and Commander Carrington that Chad found his fondness of racquetball (a sport which he could be competitive with and not be bothered by his prosthetic ... too much). However, there are other times when he would walk into the Monitor's lounge with a stuffed parrot on his shoulder and demand to be called Redbeard the Pirate. After a year patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, Carrington informed Chad that the U.S.S. America was looking for an Executive Officer. Chad didn't think much of it. He was fine as the Second Officer. He didn't feel the need to become an Executive Officer. However, Maria's drive to make Chad the best officer he could be won out. Chad put his name in for the transfer. After some deliberation by StarFleet Command and over the protestations of Captain Kelly Jean O'Connor, the transfer was approved on October 6, 2295.

U.S.S. America

Chad's toughness was put to the test early with the America. It didn't really help that he walked into his first debriefing as Redbeard. After a good scolding by Captain O'Connor, Chad began his first mission with the America -- transporting scientist Dr. Susan Nuress to Obi VI to find a cure for some sort of blood plasma plague. Nuress was not an easy person to work with. It was obvious that this assignment was in retaliation to O'Connor's promotion to Captain as well as disdain for Nuress. Why else would they give such an important mission to a desperately understaffed starship? Chad was able to keep his cool with Nuress for the most part. It wasn't until the ship was in danger due to what would turn out to be Orion pirates that Chad finally had the distraction he needed from the mad scientist. The America eventually made it to Obi VI. Upon arrival, Nuress was beamed down and the America was summoned back to Earth. While docked at Starbase 1, Chad was promoted to full Commander by Captain O'Connor on December 31, 2295. It was immediately after the promotion ceremony that the command staff got the biggest shock of their lives -- the Andorians wanted to secede from the Federation!!!