PERSONNEL FILE: FEDERATION

NAME: Sisko, Benjamin
RANK: Captain
BORN: 2332
PLACE OF BIRTH: New Orleans, Louisiana, Earth
ORIGIN: Human
ASSIGNMENT: Deep Space 9
LAST SHIP: Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards
ACADEMY CLASS: 2354
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS: Starfleet officer who commanded station Deep Space 9 following the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor in 2369. Shortly after his posting to Deep Space 9, Sisko made contact with the mysterious life-forms identified as Bajor's legendary Prophets in the Bajoran Celestial Temple located in the Denorios Belt. As a result, religious leader Kai Opaka indicated that Sisko was the Emissary promised by prophecy as the one who would save the Bajoran people. Sisko was uncomfortable with his role as Emissary, but felt obligated to respect Bajoran religious beliefs. Ben Sisko entered Starfleet Academy in 2350. For the first few weeks, he would beam back to his family home in New Orleans every night to have dinner with his parents. During his sophomore year, Benjamin Sisko spent a field-study assignment on Starbase 137. Early in his Starfleet career, Ensign Sisko was mentored by Curzon Dax, a Trill who met Sisko at Pelios Station before the two served aboard the U.S.S. Livingston. Sisko later served aboard the Starship Okinawa under Captain Leyton (SEE: Leyton, Admiral). While Sisko's interests were in engineering, Leyton saw command potential in the young officer and promoted him to lieutenant commander, making him the ship's first officer. Aboard the Okinawa, Sisko and Leyton fought in the war between the Federation and the Tzenkethi. Sisko served as executive officer with the rank of lieutenant commander aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga at the time of the ship's destruction in the battle of Wolf 359. Sisko was subsequently assigned to the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, where he spent three years. One of his projects at Utopia Planitia included design work on the experimental Starship Defiant. Sisko also worked on Earth, directing the construction of orbital habitats. Sisko was subsequently promoted to commander and assigned to station Deep Space 9. Among Sisko's staff at Deep Space 9 was Science Officer Jadzia Dax, a Trill whom he had once known as Curzon Dax. Sisko initially found it difficult to relate to his old friend in the body of a beautiful woman, but the two eventually came to renew their friendship. Commanding Deep Space 9 brought its share of difficult decisions, tempered with Sisko's personal experiences. He was profoundly affected by his encounter with the Borg. In 2370, when a protouniverse threatened the safety of his station, Sisko refused to arbitrarily destroy the miniature cosmos, because he felt that to do so would be to act with the same indifference the Borg had shown to the Federation. Later that year, Sisko lost his friendship with academy classmate Calvin Hudson when Hudson joined the Maquis, fighting the Cardassians in violation of Federation law. In 2372, Sisko was temporarily appointed head of Starfleet security when a Dominion infiltration of Starfleet was feared. Sisko was instrumental in preventing an attempted coup by Admiral Leyton. Sisko's role as Emissary of the Bajoran people sometimes put him in a difficult position with regard to his duties as a Starfleet officer. In 2373, Sisko felt obligated to oppose Bajor's admission to the Federation. Sisko had experienced a vision, called pag'tem'far in the Bajoran language, that led him to believe that admission at that time would be unwise. The Bajoran Chamber of Ministers accepted Sisko's recommendation, angering the Federation government and Starfleet Command. In 2371, Sisko was abducted by Miles O'Brien (mirror) and taken to the mirror universe to help the Terran rebellion's fight against the Alliance. Sisko was disconcerted to learn that the counterpart of his late wife, Jennifer, was still alive in the mirror universe. It was Sisko's difficult job to convince Jennifer Sisko (mirror) to abandon her work for the Alliance, and to persuade her to instead join the Terran rebellion. Ben Sisko was a devoted family man who grew up in New Orleans on Earth. His father, Joseph Sisko, was a gourmet chef who ran a small bistro called Sisko's in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The elder Sisko insisted the family dine together, so that his "taste testers" could sample his new recipes. Benjamin met Jennifer, his future wife, at Gilgo Beach on Earth, around 2353, just after Sisko's graduation from Starfleet Academy. Ben and Jennifer subsequently married, and had a son, Jake, in 2355. Ben and Jennifer served together aboard the Starship Saratoga, until Jennifer's tragic death in the Battle of Wolf 359 in early 2367. A single parent, Sisko raised their son, Jake, first at Utopia Planitia, then at station Deep Space 9. Ben had a sister, Judith Sisko who lived in Portland, Oregon, on Earth. After Jennifer's death, Sisko was reluctant to form another relationship. It was not until late 2371 that he took an interest in freighter captain Kasidy Yates. Sisko's relationship with Yates was put to the test in 2372 when it was discovered that she was a Maquis smuggler. He continued to have feelings for her despite her conviction for arms running. One of Ben's favorite recreational activities was a holosuite program of Earth's famous baseball players, such as Buck Bokai, Tris Speaker, and Ted Williams. Using this program, Ben and his son, Jake, enjoyed playing with these greats. The program also allowed Ben to cheer his hero, Buck Bokai, in the sparsely attended 2042 World Series that spelled the end of professional baseball. Ben was something of an aficionado of 21st-century Earth history, and he enjoyed collecting ancient African artifacts. Sisko also enjoyed wrestling and was captain of the wrestling team at Starfleet Academy in 2351. One of Sisko's most remarkable recreational activities was his construction of a Bajoran solar-sail vessel of ancient design, in 2371. Along with Jake, Sisko piloted it to Cardassia, a dramatic demonstration of how ancient Bajorans accomplished the same feat some eight centuries ago. Sisko was an admirer of legendary starship Captain James T. Kirk. Sisko actually had a chance to meet Kirk when the Defiant traveled back in time to 2267, where he met Kirk aboard the original Starship Enterprise. In a breach of Starfleet Regulation 157, Section III, Paragraph 18, Sisko even greeted Kirk and got his autograph. Benjamin Sisko was promoted to the rank of captain on stardate 48959.1, in late 2371. Sisko was injured in a Jem'Hadar attack in early 2372 aboard the Defiant, during a trade conference with the Karemma. Sisko suffered a blow to his head, resulting in a concussion with subcranial bleeding. (Ben Sisko was believed killed in early 2372 in an accident aboard the Defiant. In fact, Sisko had vanished from our time continuum, but reappeared periodically, somehow tied to his son, Jake. After several decades, Jake sacrificed himself to allow his father to return to the time of the accident, thereby excising this future timeline.)
ACHIEVEMENTS, AWARDS: not on file
FAMILY: Wife, Jennifer Sisko, deceased; Son, Jake Cisco, living on Deep Space 9; Father, Joseph Sisko, living in New Orleans, Louisiana, Earth; Sister, Judith Sisko living in Portland, Oregon, Earth.

