Lieutenant Vincent Tan   
[ On Leave of Absence ]

Character Information
Name		Vincent Tae Tan
Rank		Lieutenant
Position
Gender		Male
Species		Human
Age		46
Physical Appearance
Height		5’ 11”
Weight		190 lbs.
Eye Color		Brown
Hair Color		Black
Physical Description		Being of average height and appearance, Vincent often plays to these qualities, preferring to blend in with the crowd. He always has his black hair cut short, a necessity of his working environment. Since his time on Earth at the academy, Vincent has put on weight, resulting in his being 10 kg overweight. Vincent is also slightly short-sighted, but often misplaces and goes without his corrective eyewear. This caused him to nearly fail Starfleet command training as he could not see the view-screen from the command chair without glasses.

Personality & Traits
General Overview
Vincent has always been direct, often to the disregard of the feelings of those around him. This directness stemmed from his belief that it was most efficient way of doing things. In his actions, the directness allowed to excel at school and earned him the respect of his colleagues for being able to “study smart, not hard”. In his spoken word, his brutal honesty often gets him into trouble, in particular with the opposite sex.
Strengths & Weaknesses
It can be said that Vincent’s daughter, Sophie, is both his greatest source of strength as well as weakness. The death of his first wife, Henrietta, left Vincent to raise their daughter Sophie on his own. The shock of the enormity of the responsibilities caused Vincent to grow up very quickly and as a result he developed a more serious side. His determination to provide a stable life for his daughter resulted in him giving up on his passion for space. When Sophie was old enough to begin her schooling, Vincent took the first available assignment on Earth, firm in his belief that only an education on Earth would be suitable for her. Another element in Vincent’s life that can be both construed as a personal strength and weakness is the fact that as he is highly competent doctor and medical educator, he has the ability to leave Starfleet and return to a very lucrative civilian position. Vincent does not need his Starfleet job and thus has been known to openly flaunt regulations and protocol, sometimes to his benefit, but often to his detriment.
Ambitions
Vincent’s greatest ambition is to provide support and security for his wife and children. This is becoming more difficult as his eldest daughter, Sophie, enters her teen years and their relationship has begun to drift apart.
Hobbies & Interests
Vincent interests include the history of Terran Ancient civilizations, in particular those of the Indus Valley and the Far East. He is also a keen footbal (soccer) player and is often happiest after saving a shot on goal. As a surgeon he has an academic interest in anatomy and embryology in particular the comparative features across species.
Languages		Federation Standard, Cantonese, Afrikaans, insults in various other languages
Family
Father		Thomas Ra Tan
Mother		Thea Kwok-Tan
Brother(s)		None
Sister(s)		None
Spouse		Lt. J.G. Henrietta Dianne McAteer (deceased), Dr. Christina Kluger, married 2377
Children		Sophie Anna Tan, daughter, born 2368 Samantha Kate Tan, daughter, born 2379 Terrance Ra Tan, son, born 2380
Other Family		Terrance Tae Kwok, uncle

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Vincent Tan was just like any other child who looked up with wonder at the stars. However, the pursuit of that wonder did not occur to him as a career choice at the time. His father was an intra-planetary transport pilot, ferrying passengers on Earth, and his mother was a librarian. Vincent and his family were firmly rooted to Terra Firma.

His uncle, Terrance Tae Kwok, was not so firmly rooted to Earth. Terrance, the younger brother of Vincent’s mother, was a Lieutenant Commander in the Starfleet Judge Advocate General’s Corps. When the childless Terrance was discharged to recover from injuries sustained in an onboard accident, the young Vincent was sent to live with him on the Kwok family property in South Africa. It was there that Terrance inspired his nephew to pursue space.

Having passed the entrance exam Vincent returned home to study at Melbourne High School. There, he graduated 11th in his class, a position that allowed him to apply to Starfleet Academy Medical School. At first, Vincent had contemplated applying to study law, like his uncle, but was persuaded to study medicine for its ample job and research opportunities outside Starfleet.

Undertaking the six-year course, Vincent excelled at the surgical side, maintaining high grades for his anatomy. His physiology and pharmacology were also of a high standard. However, his weakness was, and still is, the ethical and diplomatic side of medicine. It is Vincent’s directness and his firm faith in the maxim of doing things “the smart way, not the hard way”, that at times leaves him at odds with what is considered ethical or diplomatic. Surprisingly, he found that his passion for history and medicine could be merged as he received a perfect score for his History of Medicine project in third year.

Despite the heavy academic workload, Vincent still had time to indulge in his passion for soccer, competing in the Medical Faculty’s team in the Annual Intra-Academy Cup. Taking up his position in goal, Vincent’s quick reflexes and agility stood out in the final played in his third year. Played against the formidable opponents and reigning champions from the Engineering Faculty, the Medical Faculty took battering in the first half going in at the break 4-0 down.

In comparison, the second half was sublime. The Medical Faculty’s team captain, Patrick O’Connor scored a hat-trick within 15 minutes of the restart. The score at 4-3, in the last 5 minutes of the match, Vincent abandoned his goal to participate in an all-out attack. Somehow, Vincent managed to be in the opposition goal-square as Patrick O’Connor lofted in a cross. Charging into the path of the ball, Vincent used his hip to deflect the ball past his Engineering counterpart to score the equalizer. In the penalty shootout, an enthused Vincent Tan saved every shot and Engineering self-destructed to a 3-0 score line, and thus handed the Medical Faculty its first Championship in decades. Vincent would keep goal for the Medical Faculty team for the remainder of his time at the Academy, even captaining it in his final year when Patrick O’Connor was injured.

Graduating 7th in his class, with what appeared to be minimal effort Vincent left Starfleet Academy to serve onboard the USS Thor, a New Orleans class vessel patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone. It was difficult to leave Earth and his family behind, but with encouragement from his uncle to practice “space-medicine”, Vincent left with the genuine hope of advancing his skills. It was Vincent’s direct honesty and skill with the scalpel that would earn him promotion and respect. An emergency appendectomy performed on the Thor’s commanding officer, Captain Xelec Uhlan, resulted in the re-interpretation of Vincent’s nickname.

Promoted and transferred to the larger Galaxy class USS Leonidas, at the end of 2365, Vincent met Henrietta McAteer, who at the time was Head Nurse of the Leonidas. After a brief courtship, that involved Vincent injuring himself whilst designing a holo-program for her birthday, Henrietta and Vincent married in June 2366. A year later, Vincent’s daughter, Sophie, was born. Enjoying the challenge of fatherhood, Vincent was soon to be left to care for his daughter all by himself.

In March 2369, 9 crewmembers of the USS Leonidas were sent via shuttle to a colony on the surface of Pieredes V. Vincent’s wife was among them. Encountering a radiation spike, the shuttle’s stabilizers were damage and it crash landed on the surface of the planet. As Chief Medical Officer, Vincent had delegated the task to others and not gone. When he heard of the crash, Vincent insisted on leading the Search and Rescue. Reaching the site, Vincent immediately began treating the injured, even performing emergency surgery in the wreck of the shuttle. He was able to save 8 of the 9 passengers. His wife was the one that died.

Blaming himself for what happened, Vincent became serious and aggressive. His daughter became his world, a constant reminder of his dead wife. It was the promise of moving with his daughter to a “safer” posting in the Alpha Quadrant that resulted in Vincent taking up the position of CMO aboard the USS Ajax, another Galaxy class ship. The Ajax was based at Starbase 375 and patrolled an area near the Cardassian boarder. The whole thing was safe enough, until the Dominion War erupted in 2373.

Terribly protective of his daughter, Vincent’s aggression rose again and he poured all his effort into keeping the ship, and as a consequence his daughter, safe.

During the post-war rebuilding efforts, Vincent’s aggression cooled as he took part in humanitarian endeavors. His most humanitarian act and his last aboard the Ajax was performed at the beginning of 2376. Suffering from a bout of paranoia and a nervous breakdown, the captain of the Ajax, Donna Hemmingway, suddenly ordered the Ajax to fire upon the planet of Thoracis and to wipe out the 5 billion inhabitants of the pre-warp civilization, convinced they were a secret Cardassian shipyard. Vincent intervened, getting shot by his captain in the process. Eventually, Captain Hemmingway was declared unfit for command, and the massacre averted.

Shaken by the ordeal and realizing that a starship was no place to raise a young child Vincent applied for a position at Starfleet Academy. A popular lecturer in Emergency Medicine and History of Medicine, Vincent also revived his involvement with the faculty soccer team. Having gone without winning the trophy since Vincent’s graduation year, Vincent appointed himself team manager and coached them to win back-to-back titles.

After marrying for a second time in 2377 to an old friend, Dr. Christina Kluger, Vincent took an extended leave from Starfleet. Settling in a property just outside his hometown, Melbourne, Vincent began working at the Alfred Hospital, a teaching hospital for the Monash University School of Medicine.

Becoming Professor of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, his civilian peers were amazed at his skill and shocked at his use of the drug Vasokin, a particularly risky drug that increased circulation to the viscera. Having refined his judgment for administering the drug over years of use, Vincent was encouraged by his peers to put this knowledge and experience on paper. Drawing on the experience of the last few years of his Starfleet career, Vincent wrote the much acclaimed paper and received the Starfleet Surgeon’s Medallion for his efforts. The award also served as a reminder that he had not yet formally retired from Starfleet.

The question of his duty status worried Vincent as he now had a loving and supportive wife and three children to take care of. He was happy on Earth and did not want to be drafted away from them. However, he still loved the lure of space and so Vincent dwelled on the choice for a long time.

In September 2381, Vincent’s old friend and colleague, Patrick O’Connor was promoted to Captain and given command of the USS Leonidas. Within days, Captain O’Connor had tracked Vincent down and visited him at his home. A surprised Vincent was confronted with a startling reminder of his past and this caused the old love of “space medicine” to resurface. After a brief discussion with his young family, Vincent accepted his friend’s offer to serve as Chief Medical Officer on the USS Leonidas. With the support of his wife and assurances that Christina would be alright with the children, Vincent once more set off into space.

After distinguishing himself again, the newly promoted Vice Admiral Xelec Uhlan, Vincent's former Commanding Officer onboard the USS Thor, recommended that he apply to Starfleet Command School. Letters from the ever grateful Vice Admiral and Vincent's old friend Patrick O'Connor ensured Vincent's acceptance. Finding himself much older and less experienced in the operational aspects of starships than some of his classmates, Vincent almost dropped out at the end of his first year when he nearly failed his end of year simulator exam on account of having misplaced his glasses and as a result, not being able to see the view-screen.

Graduating 38th from a class of 40, Vincent once more contemplated returning to his more lucrative civilian career. But again, Vice Admiral Uhlan intervened, drafting orders for Vincent to report immediately to the Sovereign class USS Lively to be her acting XO. Treating the job as a chore, Vincent was most unhappy in this posting, the only highlight being his prolonged involvement with the running of the Medical Department resulting in the refurbishment of the Lively’s sickbay.

Seeking a transfer to a more stable posting with a tighter community, Vincent applied for a transfer. Believing that a change of job would help him, Admiral Uhlan appointed him Strategic Operations Officer on Deep Space 5

EDUCATION
2344 – 2348: Local primary school, Melbourne, Australia
2349 – 2352: Bloemfontein Grammar School, Bloemfontein, South Africa
2353 – 2356: Melbourne High School, Melbourne Australia
2357 – 2362: Starfleet Academy Medical School, San Francisco, USA
2376 – 2380: PhD research on “Vasokin and its Use in Emergency Surgery”
2380: Honorary Doctorate in Emergency Medicine and Surgery from Monash University
2379 – 2381: Professor of Emergency Medicine, Alfred Hospital (Monash University)
2382 – 2384: Starfleet Command School, San Francisco, USA

AWARDS
2363:
Minor Commendation for the recovery of stolen pharmaceuticals from the USS Thor
2365:
Major Commendation for successfully performing an appendectomy on the commanding officer of the USS Thor whilst planet side and with minimal equipment
2368:
Major Commendation awarded for successfully averting a shipwide pandemic of Altairian Encephalitis by recognizing the disease and personally destroying the archaeological site that was the reservoir for the pathogen
2369:
Major Commendation for performing emergency surgery on several crewmembers of the USS Leonidas that had survived a shuttle crash and saving all but one
2373 – 2375:
Dominion War Campaign Medal awarded for service onboard the USS Ajax, based at Starbase 375 during the Dominion War
2375:
Citation from Starfleet Surgeon General for eradication of Orket’s Disease from a Bajoran refugee camp
2375:
Palm Leaf of Axanar for medical relief work conducted on Bajor and Betazed during the post-Dominion War period
2376:
Preantares Award for Conspicuous Gallantry, First Class for acting promptly to remove the commanding officer of the USS Ajax, before her paranoia could lead to the genocide of a primitive humanoid species on a Class M planet
2380:
Starfleet Surgeons Medallion awarded for research paper entitled “Vasokin and its Use in Emergency Surgery” and for his years of service to Starfleet


OTHER
At the Academy, Vincent played as goalkeeper for the Medical Faculty’s soccer team. When a particularly close match went to a penalty shootout, Vincent saved every shot, which earned him the nickname of “Safe Hands Tan”.
In 2365, Vincent was a member of an away team when his commanding officer had a severe case of acute appendicitis. Without enough time to transport the captain back on board, Vincent performed the appendectomy planet side, in the middle of a jungle and with only minimal medical supplies and equipment. The captain lived and redefined Vincent’s old nickname “Safe Hands Tan” to also honor Vincent’s surgical skill.

 

2357 – 2362: Midshipman Cadet, Student, Starfleet Academy, Medical School
2362 – 2364: Ensign, Medical Officer, USS Thor
2364 – 2365: Lieutenant J.G., Surgeon/Medical Officer, USS Thor
2365 – 2368: Lieutenant, Assistant CMO, Chief Surgeon, USS Leonidas
2368 – 2371: Lieutenant, Chief Medical Officer, USS Leonidas
2371 – 2376: Lieutenant Commander, Chief Medical Officer, USS Ajax
2376 – 2379: Lieutenant Commander, Lecturer and Academic Facilitator, Starfleet Academy, Medical School
2379 – 2381: Civilian, Chief of Emergency Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, AUS
2381 - 2382: Lieutenant Commander, Chief Medical Officer, USS Leonidas
2382 – 2384: Lieutenant Commander, Student, Starfleet Academy Command School
2384 – 2385: Commander, Acting Executive Officer and Surgeon Emeritus, USS Lively
2385 - present: Strategic Operations Officer, Deep Space Five