Westedit
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
Colonel West was an officer in Starfleet's military forces in 2293. He was part of a group of Federation personnel involved in the Khitomer conspiracy that attempted to destabilize the peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire.
West helped prepare and present Operation Retrieve, the aborted mission plan to use a military incursion to rescue Kirk and McCoy from Rura Penthe, a Klingon penal asteroid. West's presentation was part of a classified briefing with the Federation President, the Starfleet commander-in-chief, Fleet Admiral Cartwright, and Ambassadors Sarek and Nanclus. When asked what would happen if the operation precipitated a full-scale war, West confidently commented, "...we would clean their chronometers."
Colonel West's role the conspiracy continued, and he used his knowledge of the President's security arrangements and whereabouts of the Khitomer Conference to give him a chance to take further action. Disguised as a Klingon diplomat on Khitomer, West carried a case containing a disassembled sniper rifle and scope. West excused himself from the audience and hid in a room containing one of the meeting buildings's large gallery windows. Cutting a hole in the glass, West trained his sights on the President. When landing parties from the starships Enterprise-A and Excelsior disrupted the conference, West took his shot, but the President was moved out of the way when he was tackled by Captain Kirk. Co-conspirator Cartwright ordered the Enterprise crewmembers arrested, but his orders were belayed when Spock produced Valeris, shackled, as a material witness against the conspirators. West then trained his sights on Valeris, but was killed when Scotty burst into the room and shot him with a phaser. West fell from the gallery's high wall and died. Examining the body, Colonel Worf noticed that the pool of blood was Human, not Klingon, and West was unmasked. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
[edit] Background
Colonel West was portrayed by Rene Auberjonois, who would later portray Constable Odo on DS9.
West never actually appeared in the theatrical version of Star Trek VI since his scenes were deleted. However, he can be seen on the VHS and DVD releases of the movie, but is not listed in the cast credits at the end of VHS or DVD.
While identified in dialog as a "colonel" (a military rank not contained in Starfleet's naval system, perhaps implying that he was a member of - as has been often suggested in the FASA RPGs - a Starfleet equivalent of the Marine Corps), West wore the uniform of a Starfleet vice admiral (equivalent to a lieutenant general). This is probably a costuming error, as, assuming he was part of a Starfleet military force, the rank equivalent to a military colonel would be a naval captain, he should have a similar insignia worn by Kirk and the other captains of this era.
There is a military practice known as "frocking" that allows an officer to fill the billet of a higher rank on a temporary basis. These frocked assignments are usually only made to fill a critical vacancy in a time of emergency or war. Such an officer would wear the uniform of the higher rank and enjoy most of the privileges of that rank for the duration of the assignment. This type of temporary ranking is also known as a "brevet commission".
There is another practice for an officer ranked higher than colonel being referred to as such - in the British army, a general officer (equivalent in rank to an admiral officer, that West wore the pin of) can be called colonel as a titular commander of a regiment. The full title given to said general is "colonel of the regiment".
[edit] External link
- Patrick West at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
