| “ | He's hurting his career by staying put. If I were you, I'd kick him in the rear end for his own good. | „ |
| ~ Hanson on Riker turning down another command. |
| “ | The fight does not go well, Enterprise. We're attempting to withdraw and regroup. Rendezvous with fleet... | „ |
| ~ J.P. Hanson's last words. |
J.P. Hanson was a supporting character introduced in the two part Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Best of Both Worlds. He was portrayed by George Murdock.
He first became aware of a promising young cadet named Jean-Luc Picard when Hanson saw the young man win the Starfleet Academy marathon in April of 2323 on the planet Danula II, the only freshman cadet to ever win the marathon. At the time he was a Commander. Hanson would soon meet Picard and over the years became friends with Picard as Picard rose up through the ranks.
After the USS Enterprise encountered the Borg, Hanson headed up Starfleet's response to the Borg threat, and his team came up with new tactics and systems to counter the Borg. When the Borg invaded Federation space in 2366 and early 2367 Hanson went out to meet his old friend Picard on the USS Enterprise with Elizabeth Shelby. As Hanson built up quite the reputation as a poker player during his years of service Riker invited him to the senior officer's game but Hanson declined as he had business to discuss with Picard. Hanson suggested Riker invite Shelby instead, who was a skilled player in her own right.
Hanson was disgusted to learn that Riker intended to pass up another offer of command and had not even told Picard that Starfleet had offered him the USS Melbourne. Hanson felt that the fleet needed experienced captains, and that Riker was hurting his career as he was staying as first officer while other officers were quickly moving up the ranks. Hanson asked Picard to talk some sense into Riker.
When the Borg captured and assimilated Picard, Hanson considered Picard to be lost, and gave Riker a field promotion to Captain and made him the Captain of the Enterprise. Meanwhile Hanson assembled a Starfleet armada of 40 ships at Wolf 359 and led the battle against the Borg. The fight went poorly for Starfleet, with nearly all the ships destroyed and about 11,000 people killed on the Starfleet vessels. Hanson was one of those killed in action when his ship was destroyed by the Borg. Even though the Federation was badly defeated in the battle, it did buy the Enterprise the time she needed to catch up with the Borg cube, retrieve Picard, and destroy the Borg cube in orbit above Earth.
