2378- Captain Bhrode sat before a Board of Inquiry over the Galaxy incident. He was charged with negligence and the turning of his command over to a hostile race. He was further charged with the death of a crew member at his own hands. He successfully defended his actions, citing the immediacy of the situation and the known and anti-social tendencies of the Hirogen. He was cleared of all charges regarding in the handing over of his command to an alien Threat Force. He was exonerated of the Murder charges as well, proving that he acted in self defense in a situation of mutiny, insubordination, and striking a superior officer. He received a commendation form Vice Admiral T'Paal for his handling of the situation.

John enlisted in the Federation Marines, because he was unable to get his parent's support regarding his Academy desires. He served with honor, in a year marked by frequent and fast shipside and base side actions against the Klingons during the collapse of the Organian Neutral Zone. Within one year, he took and passed the Academy Entrance Exam.

Academy life was fairly easy for John. The years of living with his parents on board various starships, and being used to making new acquaintances, if not friends wherever he went made getting through the class material and adjusting to the academy very easy for him. As a result he got very good grades in his classes and was well liked by all of his instructors because of how well adjusted he was. His classmates tended to ignore him, finding his unswerving devotion to duty a bit unnerving and his lack of interest in the usual social events, a mystery. He was a halfback on the Academy Zero-Gee Ball team, and set the current Academy record for overall rushing yardage in two dimensions. He also participated in Null-Gee boxing, the heavily specialized combat-sport that is now banned from Federation territories, to John's disgust. He adopted the military discipline to heart, and was a the unanimous choice to serve as his class Cadet Commander in his Fourth Year. He also served on the 'Honor Court' involving cadets charged with offences at the Academy. Many members of his class didn't even know his first name, thinking 'Bhrode' was all the name he had. A serious student, he did well in all areas academically, not really showing flair in any one area but an overall competence in everything.

Upon graduating from the Academy, John was assigned to the USS Hood as a Flight Control Officer. He served there for a little over a year before he was promoted and transferred to the Tactical position on board the USS Al-batani, an Excelsior class vessel. John served well there and was again promoted to full Lieutenant and assigned to the USS Akagi in 2361. That was where he earned his first medal, the Purple Heart, for a wounds suffered in a battle that took place in 2363 against rogue Klingon warriors who were threatening a mining outpost. John saw first hand, how the safety of thousands of people could be jeopardized by the actions of a few. Apparently he took this lesson to heart, because his course of studies were all in the Tactical area from here on out. He went out of his way to study mall aspects of Military and Tactical doctrine.

In 2366 John made Lieutenant Commander and was assigned to the USS Gorkon as Chief Tactical Officer, his first senior officer position. The Gorkon was another Excelsior class vessel, so John felt right at home there. He earned a distinguished service citation in 2369 for some innovations and tactical papers he published on the subject of 'Responsible Conservation of Firepower' which first got the interest of Admiral Jurgen Hoth of Starfleet Command. Admiral Hoth was the Chief of Tactical Operations for the Fleet, and kept an eye on the younger officer. Unknown to most people, Admiral Hoth was a driving force behind the 'Project Archangel' changes that were starting to change Starfleet. Hoth wanted to groom potential Command Officers early, and swing a more 'military' Starfleet into existence to help with the battles the 'Hawks' saw as inevitable in the near future..

In late 2369, John was made Full Commander and promoted to Executive Officer on board the USS Odyssey, a Galaxy Class vessel. It was a time of war, and unfortunately the Odyssey was destroyed in 2370 by the Jem Hadar. However John and most of the crew survived and were rescued by other Starfleet vessels at the time. John's heroic actions in buying the crew time to evacuate safely and be recovered by the Federation earned him the Medal of Valor, the second highest award given by the Federation Council. John made some close friends with the Federation Marines, who helped John and the survivors escape the JemHadar patrols on the barren planetoid they were marooned on. For almost four months, John and a mix of Marine and Naval officers harassed the Jem Hadar troopers, risking their own lives time and time again to draw those enemy troopers away from the wounded crewmembers before the rescue ships cold draw close enough to pick up the marooned crew.

In 2371 John was again made Executive Officer, this time on the USS Venture, another Galaxy Class starship. John served on the Venture for five years as XO until he was finally promoted to Captain and given a command of his own. He also received a honorary commission in the Marine Reserves as a Major, and he still holds both ranks.

In 2376, John was made Commanding Officer of the USS Avatar, a Nebula class vessel. Being so similar to the Galaxy Class, John found it easy to adapt and take charge in military style. Something he'd learned from his father growing up on starships his entire life, John was appalled by the slip-shod and negligent attitude he found on the Avatar. John was given the task of straightening up the Avatar and whipping it into shape, a task he actually relished. This is something he did quite well. Taking the formerly sub-mediocre ship and turning it around to one of the tightest run vessels in the fleet was the amazement of the Second Fleet. For years, the Avatar had been the 'dumping ground' for malcontents from all over the Fleet. His crew may have complained about the discipline, but he turned a deaf ear, and his defence of the New Agastonia colony against pirate ships armed with Romulan plasma devices proved that he could turn a 'bunch of stumblebums, drunks, crooks, tree-huggers, liars, and bedwetting firebugs' into a fighting crew proved his superiors trust in him effectively placed. His losses of 3 crewmembers against 209 pirates killed during savage infighting in a "One against Five" vessel dogfight is taught in the Academy as a classic exercise for ships facing numerically superior opponents.

In 2376 John was awarded the Victory cross for heroism for his actions during a diplomatic mission to Pondessa V. His quick thinking and faster shooting kept the Federation Diplomats alive during a local riot situation that got out of hand. Captain Bhrode and a handful of Embassy Marine Guards not only succeeded in repelling five suicide waves of terrorists at the Federation Embassy, but located and disarmed a tri-phasic bomb within the embassy compound itself; at great risk to themselves. Captain Bhrode refused to accept the medal until each and every Marine and Fleet officer who had assisted had received their own award, and a personal 'Thank You' from Ambassador Irnecus, who had instigated the whole problem with a series of cultural faux-pas. When a Federation Dispatch writer claimed that the Marines had perhaps been a bit too 'excitable' in the questioning of a Pondessian terrorist agitator, seeking the instigators of the attacks, Captain Bhrode offered to drop the reporter into the crowd to find the leaders himself. The writer retaliated by dubbing Bhrode 'the Butcher of Pondessa' in a series of scathing articles. It is interesting to note that when Avatar left Pondessa V, the terrorist cells had all but disappeared, and the civilian populace was refusing to hide, support or shelter them for fear of Federation of Pondessian Military retributions. Except for an incident of several unknown terrorists beating a Federation Dispatch reporter almost to death, violence on Pondessa V dropped 108% to almost nill.

Because of his success in getting things in shape on the Avatar, Captain Brhode was offered the chance to command the USS Galaxy in 2377. With the Sovereign class ENTERPRISE-E still undergoing shakedowns, Galaxy was considered the "Federation Flagship." John was a little apprehensive at first, since the Galaxy under the command of Captain Price was already a model starship, unlike the Avatar that he took over and had to get back into proper shape. John was concerned that the crew had been with Price for too long, and would rebel against the discipline Bhrode demanded from his crews. However the Admiralty Board at Starfleet Command were able to convince John that things could be better with the premier Galaxy Class starship in the fleet, and so he agreed to take the assignment.

The GALAXY crew wasn't too happy with his decision to expand their training drills and limit their off duty holodeck access. Bhrode was concerned about their reaction times, and ran Emergency Drills constantly. Every possible drill, from Red Alert to Repel Boarders was run, until the crew responded the way Captain Bhrode wanted them to. He dismissed several Senior Officers, including Price's XO Commander Chris Thomas. One mutineer even attacked a fellow officer in Captain Bhrode's presence, and he broke her neck with his bare hands.

During a routine mapping mission to the Mako Nebulae near Starbase 415, Bhrode encountered the race known as "Hirogen" normally from the Delta Quadrant. The Hirogen used their nucleonic rays to disable the ship in a surprise attack, and a captured Lyran Light Cruiser with a functioning Expanding Sphere Generator hammered the GALAXY into stunned submission. If he hadn't already raised the combat effectiveness of the crew, the GALAXY might have been lost. With alien invaders on his very bridge, he lured the Hirogen into a false sense of security by appearing to turn over Galaxy to them after disabling most of the ship's functions and computer cores.Over 200 crew were lost during the fighting to regain the ship and during the Hirogen hunts on the 'Planet of Doom' below. To his credit, Bhrode prevented a Galaxy class ship from falling into the hands of Hostile forces, and destroyed over 500 aliens and over twelve vessels, pleasing the 'Hawk' elements of the political arena. He also created the 'Bhrode Retrograding Backflush' maneuver proving that backflushing a warp core while operational was feasible.

With the return of Price and his senior Officers, John Bhrode took the position of Advisor to Vice Admiral of the Second Fleet and commanded the Admirals flagship USS Prospero. With him he took the protegé of friend and mentor Jurgen Hoth, Commander Rebecca Von Ernst as his Executive Officer. In 2378, when the entire 'lanjep' Incident occurred, Captain Bhrode was serving as Prevost General of the Second Fleet with the Provisional rank of Acting Vice Admiral, weeding out incompetence, sloth and indolence amongst the Fleet's Commodores.

Bhrode fought long and hard against accepting the command of a ship he'd once dubbed the' USS Loveboat' when he'd discovered two members of his Senior Staff copulating on the Bridge.

His driving idea is that Starfleet officers have to be prepared to fight. That their duty to 'Protect and Serve' is not a pick and choose affair, and that loose discipline and inattention to their duties could result in their own deaths, their fellow crews' deaths or possibly the Federation as a whole. He asks nothing of anyone that he is not willing to do himself.

No one knows what the initial 'Q' in his middle name stands for. He has always used the initial alone and refuses to entertain commentary on the subject.

His mother is rumoured to be still alive. Several former crewmembers swear that the mother exists only in rumours. In reality, she is Commodore Harriet Esterhauss of the New Weapons Systems Test Ranges in Charon/Pluto orbit. Contact between the Commodore and her son is rare, as John despises the inference that nepotism plays any role in his position. He avoids mention of her, or any other personal issue as a matter of habit. SHe uses her maiden name professionally, and almost no one knows the connection.

In Starfleet, Bhrode has the reputation of being either a 'ballbusting slavedriver' or 'the best Captain ever' depending on the person's experiences with him. He is sincerely dedicated to preserving the lives he's been entrusted with.