Charles Michael Howden

Executive Officer

LANGUAGES SPOKEN:

Federation Standard

INTERESTS:

Working out, reading strategies from all manners of wars, spending time in the holodeck

EDUCATION:

Standard Terran Educational System, graduated in top percentile of his class

SERVICE RECORD:

2345-2349: Marine Corps Officer Training Program
2350-2352: Intelligence Officer, Intelligence Team XI
2352-2354: Weapons/Demolitions Expert, Intelligence Team XI
2354-2358: Infiltration Expert, Intelligence Team XI
2358-2361: Strategic Operations Officer/Second Officer, Intelligence Team XI
2361-2365: Acting Executive Officer/ Strategic Operations Officer, Intelligence Team XI
2365-2370: Executive Officer, Intelligence Team XI
2370: Marine War College
2370-2375: Executive Officer, Intelligence Team XI
2375-2381: Assistant to the Director, Starfleet Intelligence Headquarters
2381: Unknown, Assumed to be AWOL and subsequently classified as KIA
2381: Executive Officer, USS Black Hawk
2382: Executive Officer, USS Altai

BACKGROUND:

Charles Howden grew up in the rural town of Rock Hill, South Carolina. His childhood was rather normal for a child of such upbringing, with no unusual happenings occurring for most of his first 18 years of life. While he spent a good majority of his time playing sports, and otherwise building his body, Charles also spent a good portion of his time in libraries, studying Earth history, mainly the history of Earth wars.

During his four years at the Marine Academy, Charles Howden showed remarkable skill for managing personnel and planning battle strategies. His leadership skills were surprisingly developed for someone so young, and his ability to garner results from anyone he was placed with was the subject of much admiration.

Upon leaving the Academy, 2nd Lt. Howden was given, and subsequently accepted a position in a Starfleet Intelligence Team that would soon change his life. Then Commander Brian Grindle saw potential in the fresh faced young 2nd Lt. Because of his superior ability to garner trust and information from people he came into contact with, 2nd Lt. Howden's first assignment was as an Intelligence Officer, a position that gave him broad experiences and contact with virtually all the members of the large intelligence team. After a few years serving as an Intel officer, 2nd Lt. Howden requested that he be transferred to an area where he would gain a much more useful set of skills to aid him in his mission.

His request was granted in the form of Weapons and Demolitions Expert, where he spent several months training with some of the best operatives in the field. Because of his desire to learn, Lt. Howden mastered most of what he was taught, though his level of competence began to fall off after he was exposed to the most complicated and hard to master weapons and explosives. This did not diminish his effectiveness, however, and he went on to serve in the post with remarkable flair and style. Several notable, though classified engagements with Federation enemies saw the inventive use of explosives not only to distract and confound the enemy, but to aid the team in the completion of their missions, something that greatly impressed Captain Grindle.

His next transfer was one that now 1st Lt. Howden never asked for. Because of his undisputed mastery of all things destructive, Capt. Grindle decided to test Lt. Howden's ability to use stealth and cunning to get a job done, rather than brute force and a hail of weapons fire. Such a complete shift in roles was indeed a challenge for the Marine, and though he would later succeed in mastering even that, his early attempts proved less than masterful. His first mission as an Infiltration Expert proved too much for his limited experience with the covert world. In the midst of a rather important and highly classified mission, Lt. Howden inadvertently destroyed a power distribution network, causing himself and several team members to be discovered and captured after a lengthy battle against superior numbers. Thankfully a rescue operation swiftly spirited them away before their existence could be made public and their entire mission compromised. Subsequent missions proved far more successful, and Lt. Howden's exploits soon earned him a promotion to Captain.

A year after his promotion to Captain, Capt. Howden found himself taking on a role that he, in his mind, had been born to fulfil, that of Strategic Operations Officer. His prowess for planning and effectively utilizing the strengths of the individual members of a team to execute nearly flawless missions within enemy territory earned him much respect among his peers and superiors. At the end of his third year as the Strategic Operations Officer, the Intelligence Team found themselves faced with a tragic loss. On a mission to infiltrate a Romulan outpost suspected of making raids on Federation holdings near the Neutral Zone, the team's Executive Officer was discovered, savagely tortured, and put to death. This sent shockwaves through the team, and morale was crippled for months.

The news suddenly reached Captain Howden that he would be filling in as the Executive Officer until a suitable candidate was found. Such news seemed to instantly stave off the tide of poor morale, though he did very little in the way of run the team as his duties as a strategist took up most of his time. Four years after his appointment as Acting Executive officer, Commodore Grindle came to Captain Howden with new orders, and a golden oak leaf. It seemed that his service to the team in the dual role had garnered him much support and much admiration for the Commodore's cause.

With the permanent title of Executive Officer, Major Howden was given the task of weeding out agents that could not be trusted, who had something in their pasts that would prevent them from serving the cause the Commodore had set out for the team, and for the Federation itself. The Major did the Commodore's bidding with ruthless efficiency, sweeping through the large intelligence team with little care for the impact of his actions. The loyal ITXI members stood firmly behind their Executive Officer, and began to do much of his work for him to prove their worth to him and Commodore Grindle. Within five years, Major Howden had solidified Commodore Grindle's position within the intelligence community, which gained him a class date to the Marine War College and a pending promotion to Lieutenant Colonel after he completed the school.

The year spent in the War College was mainly to learn the principles of commanding units in the Corps, and had little to do with his duties as an Intelligence Officer, though none but the Commandant knew that he was an intelligence officer of great skill and prowess. Despite never having been a part of a standard Marine Company, Major Howden's natural leadership abilities and adaptable nature gained him a graduation with honours, something even the Commandant of the College thought was out of his reach given his knowledge base.

Upon returning to Intelligence Team XI, now Lt. Colonel Howden began to place the operatives he knew he could trust in various locations to facilitate the culmination of Commodore Grindle's plans. The Dominion War, which started three years after his return to ITXI, greatly impeded their plans. Throughout the War, Colonel Howden and his team were called upon to deal with the covert threats to the Federation, including the Changeling infiltration. While Colonel Howden never saw any front line action, nor did he participate in any of the more widely known battles of the war, he and his team did manage to impact the war and secure their Commanding Officer the office of Director of the Intelligence Bureau.

With Rear Admiral Grindle in the position he had been seeking so very long, Colonel Howden was finally given the orders to implement the plans that had been left on the back burners while the Dominion threat was being dealt with. Over the next five years, various diplomats, representatives, and covert operations outposts were kidnapped, killed or destroyed under the watchful eye of Colonel Howden. The sudden involvement of ITIV in the grand scheme gave Lt. Colonel Howden the opportunity he'd been waiting for since 2349, the chance to bring Grindle down. While on the surface, he did all that he could to impede ITIV and their mission, once they successfully ousted the Admiral from his position as Director of Intelligence, Colonel Howden was able to pull his hidden strings and slowly cripple Adm. Grindle and his followers.

The sudden assassination of President Jaresh-Inyo pushed Colonel Howden's timeline up considerably. He was forced to make a sudden appearance on, and lead the members of Starbase 98 on the hunt for Adm. Grindle in Romulan space. Because of his involvement in the capture effort, Colonel Howden was wounded, and presumed dead on Remus.

The events that followed are unknown, but some six months after his reported death, Colonel Howden reported to Starfleet Marine Headquarters. Because the current President had been given a report regarding Col. Howden's involvement with the capture of Adm. Grindle, who had been convicted of treason and sentenced to several life sentences for his crimes, Col. Howden was given a Presidential Pardon for his conduct prior to those events, and ordered to return to service with a Naval Commission. Because of his extensive experience and abilities, but lack of Naval experience, it was decided that the now-Commander would serve as Executive Officer aboard the USS Black Hawk.

PERSONALITY PROFILE:

At the time of his initial medical examination, 2nd Lieutenant Charles Howden is reported to be in perfect mental condition, showing neither signs of emotional instability nor any hint of hereditary mental afflictions that are or will later surface and prevent him from serving the Marine Corps.

Gunter R. Hamilton, Lt. Commander
Chief Counsellor attached to Bravo Company, 7th Training Battalion, Perris Island

PHYSICAL PROFILE:

At the time of his initial medical examination, 2nd Lieutenant Charles Howden is reported to be in perfect physical condition, showing neither signs of physical abnormalities nor any hint of hereditary disease or infirmity that are or will later surface and prevent him from serving the Marine Corps.

Tania L. Westchester, Commander
Chief Medical Officer attached to Bravo Company, 7th Training Battalion, Perris Island