Leiter

Commandant Leiter commanded the Eastern Alliance destroyer that discovered the Colonial Vipers, he is a stringent military officer that fit snuggly in with the persona of the Eastern Alliance: ruthless and fascist. He commented that the people on Destroyer Two were incompetent and unworthy of the ship they were bestowed.

Leiter ordered subordinate Krebbs to alter course to Paradeen after the latter reported ships of unidentified silhouette and with power consumption of immeasurable scale. They subsequently tracked the beacon -- left on by Hector who forgot to shut it down and destroy it -- and attempted to threaten Sarah with Walker's life, hoping to reveal the locations of the Viper pilots. Michael, Apollo, Starbuck and others had other ideas in mind and manage to overpower the dozen Alliance officers.

The commandant attempted to brag about the power of his Eastern Alliance, but Starbuck cheerfully pointed out to him the Battlestar Galactica, which left Leiter in amazement after Krebbs pointed out that the ship was the largest that they have ever seen before. (Greetings form Earth)

The Alliance officers were deposited on the Prison Barge, with Adama attempting to question the commandant on Terra and other aspects of the Eastern Alliance. Typical of his type, Leiter revealed little of worth before Reese, who informed Adama that the Quorum requested his presence, interrupted Adama's interrogation.

Leiter was later involved with the escape of the Borellian Nomen, Baltar, and his officers. Thanks to Baltar and the captured Quorum members, he managed to get his crew and ship back, lifting off the Galactica with the three Nomen (Bora, Maga, and Taba). (Baltar's Escape) Presumably Leiter was debriefed about his experience by his superiors.

Portrayed by Lloyd Bochner