Lieutenant John Mitchum
Name John Thadius Mitchum
Position Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 26 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'3" | |
| Weight | 225 | |
| Hair Color | Blond | |
| Eye Color | Blue | |
| Physical Description | John Mitchum is tall and has a muscular build. He is tall at 6 foot 3 inches. He has short blond hair, and has a chinstrap beard. His eyes are a deep blue. |
Family
| Spouse | n/a | |
| Children | n/a | |
| Father | Thomas Mitchum | |
| Mother | Susan Davis Mitchum | |
| Brother(s) | n/a | |
| Sister(s) | n/a | |
| Other Family | Grandfather Jack Mitchum |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | Many people, at first, are put off and wary of John, because of his height and build.. But truthfully, John is a friendly, easy going person. He guesses he got this from his parents. Once he gets comfortable with people, John is basically a giant teddy bear off duty, but when on duty, he's all business. |
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| Strengths & Weaknesses | John is physically strong, that is due to his workouts. For a big man, Lieutenant Mitchum is very nimble and agile. John, from years of training, has achieved an 'expert status' in martial arts and weapons. The only weakness John will admit to, is a fear of second guessing himself which results in the death of a crewman. |
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| Ambitions | His dream is to, one day, command a starship of his own. | |
| Hobbies & Interests | John enjoys reading, mostly novels. He travels with a small collection of books. He enjoys classical music, from Earth. He wishes he could paint or sculpt. John once tried writing historical novels, but he gave up on it. John does not usually drink alcohol. |
Medical Record
| Injuries | Lieutenant Mitchum has never suffered any major injuries. He has had a sprained wrist and a bruised knee. | |
| Mental Health | Academy and ship's counselor's agree that Lieutenant Mitchum's mental state is satisfactory. |
| Personal History | John was born in San Francisco, a city on in the state of California. He can trace his family line back centuries. San Francisco is where Starfleet Academy is. San Francisco used to be a major supplier of fish, but fishing is no longer the industry it was. His grandparents and parents were born there. His parents both work for Starfleet. His father is a ship designer and his mother a warp theory specialist. She took a year off after John's birth. They would walk back and forth from home to the Academy. When John was older, his parents would take him to Starfleet HQ. As he got older he was meeting new officers and making friends. As he grew up, being around all these fleet officers, he learned how cadets are selected, what tests they have to take, that he started felling that maybe this was what he wanted to do.So he studied hard at school, was able to sit in on many Academy classes and learned what was expected of him, going forward. When he graduated high school, he applied to the Academy, and was accepted. He decided to choose Security as he major and Tactical as his minor. Actually being in the Academy proved it was harder then expected. In the first year, his grades were the bottom of the class. Any lower he'd be washed out. So he started working harder, not only his mind, but also his body. By the end of the first year, his grades were better, about middle of his classmates, and he had grown several inches and put on weight, in muscle not fat. In the second year, his grades put him in the top third of the class. And he started joining some of the activities that the Academy had, He joined the wresting team, where he did well. He continued studying and his weight training. He put on 20 pounds of muscle. He was big in size, but he was able to squeeze through Jefferies Tube exercises. Third year was more and advanced studies. He had to quit the wrestling team and concentrate on his school work. He was selected for off world work, doing shifts in engineering, helm and security. His grades were now in the top 9 of the students in his glass. Because of his improvements in his classwork, he was asked it he'd be willing to tutor freshmen cadets. Being honored that he was asked to do this, he accepted. The tutoring went fine, for the most part, but there was this one freshman female cadet who made it very clear that she wanted a physical relationship, to put it bluntly, sex. John told her that it was off the table, and he asked that she be assigned to another tutor. He was interested in her, but he didn't like being harassed. John was given a new freshman and they worked well together. The senior year was upon him. The work was harder. He was selected for ship training often. He did Command, ship's operations, working in Ships Operations, Helm, Security, Tactical, Engineering, and Communications. When the training was over, the captain would tell him his grades for each department he worked, the grades were very, very good, and the captain said that if I was graduating now, he would request me. That made me feel very proud. John did more ship training tours. One time they had him in sickbay. And the CMO said that he had a gentle touch with patients. Graduating day. John was 6th in his class. And he was assigned to.... |
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| Service Record | The USS Farragut, Captain Janice Porter commanding. Upon arriving on the Farragut, Captain Porter had Ensign Mitchum assigned to Security. Lieutenant Commander Josh Temple was the senior officer. Mitchum was one of three new officers on the Farragut. The newbie's, as John's new shipmates called them, worked the late shift, working in the security office, the weapons room and the bridge at the tactical console. John worked hard. While the others gripped about what they had to do, John kept his opinions to himself. It paid off. He was selected for an away team detail with the captain. His job, keep an eye out for trouble and make sure that there was always someone near the captain, acting as a shield. Everything went off like clockwork. Reports were filed. John was assigned again to the captain's away team detail. John had heard that the captain was comfortable with him on the team. At the end of the third year onboard the Farragut, Ensign Mitchum was promoted to Lieutenant. Lieutenant Mitchum was reassigned to the USS Portland, Captain Jack Leslie Commanding. The Portland needed a new helmsman. And Captain Leslie assigned Mitchum there. Helm wasn't security, but it gave John bridge time. One mission had the Portland chasing a rouge comet. The captain wanted to keep the ship as close to the comet as possible, without scraping the ship's paint. John kept the ship close to the comet, and occasionally moving it away avoid fragments of the comet hitting the ship. The ship must have strayed into uncharted space, because a large unidentified ship appeared. They demanded that the Portland be seized for entering their system. Our charts showed no unidentified region of space near our position. “Lieutenant Mitchum. Plot an escape course out of system at warp 7.” John's finger moved onboard his console and minutes later. “Course and speed laid in, captain.” The captain smiled, “Open a channel.” The communications officer responded, “Channel open, captain. Universal translator tied in.” The captain stood. “This is Captain Leslie commanding the starship USS Portland. We are in neutral space. And we are conduction tests on this comet.” The first officer sat in her seat. The second officer stood at the tactical station, and the rest of the consoles were manned by lieutenants. Suddenly, the alien ship opened fire. The red alert klaxons sounded. “Damage report!” The captain ordered. The second officer reported, “Shields holding, at 85%.” “Commander, target their shields and engines,” “Targets locked, captain.” “Helm, make ready on my mark.” The captain stood. “Unidentified ship. This is Captain Leslie of the Federation Starship Portland. My weapons are locked on your engines and shields. You will withdraw from this region pf space. There will be no further warnings Close channel.” Tense minutes passed with no response from the alien ship. When suddenly, the Portland rocked! “Tactical!!! Return fire!! Helm! Attack pattern Delta 1!” Aye sirs responded. The Portland moved away from the alien ship and the comet. The alien ship fired, but because of John's piloting no shots landed on the Portland. The captain shouted, “Damage report!” The 2nd officer responded, “Their shields are down to 45%. And they haven't landed any shots on us.” The alien ship turned and warped out of the system. He walked over to John and placed a hand on his shoulder, “Good piloting son.” The captain walked back to his chair. “Helm. Return to comet, please.” “Aye sir.” a grinning lieutenant Mitchum replied. We finished the survey of the comet, then returned to Starbase 51, our home base in this sector. The incident with the alien ship was investigated, everyone on the bridge was debriefed. Lieutenant Mitchum was one of those who was debriefed. He told the truth about everything that happened. After a week, the captain was cleared, as was the crew. John stayed on the Portland for the next 2 years. The ship was to be decommissioned because of age. There was a big party for the old girl. On the day that the Portland was to be towed to the yard, where it would be scrapped for parts, the captain asked that I meet with him. When I entered his office, he rose and shook my hand. We talked about what he was going to do, he said he was going to retire to a ranch in Arizona. He asked me what my plans were. I responded “I put in for a couple of openings for a security, tactical. Hopefully I'll hear something soon.” The captain stood and poured himself a drink. “There's an opening for a Chief of Security and Tactical on the Merlin. The captain owes me a favor. There's also an opening at security and tactical officer. I think you will be a good fit there.” He walked to his desk, opened a draw and pulled out a box. “If we weren't being mothballed, I was going to give you this.” He handed to box to me. I opened it. Inside were lieutenant commander pips. “Congratulations. I know you will make a great Commander one day.” He extended his hand. I shook it. “You were a fine officer here. Now go and make me proud.” |