The third officer, or 3O, is operationally the fourth-in-command onboard a starship or starbase, following the commanding officer, first officer, and second officer. The third officer is the closest officer to the CO, XO, and 2O, considering that they are the four most senior officers onboard. If the commanding, executive, and second officers are killed, incapacitated or otherwise absent, the third officer will assume command as acting captain. The third officer role is usually combined with the role of security chief, tactical officer, or chief engineer and sometimes holds the rank of commander, but generally holds the rank of lieutenant commander or lieutenant. On Invincible-class starships, the role of third officer may be held by a captain and would be held by either the operations officer or the CAG. As with the second officer, the third officer is a department head first and third officer second.
Known Third Officers[]
- Lieutenant Malcolm Reed - Enterprise
- Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu - USS Enterprise
- Lieutenant Natasha Yar - USS Enterprise-D
- Lieutenant Worf - USS Enterprise-D, USS Enterprise-E
- Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax - Deep Space 9, USS Defiant
- Lieutenant Julian Bashir - Deep Space 9, USS Defiant, USS Defiant-A
- Lieutenant junior grade Tom Paris - USS Voyager
- Lieutenant Commander Korlo - USS Marvel
External links[]
- Third officer article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Third officer article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Third officer article at Star Trek Expanded Universe.