Jackson Spencer

Captain "Ripper" (credit: Sci-Fi Channel)

Overview

Rank: Captain

Call sign: Ripper

Age: late 30's

Position: former Commander, Air Group Battlestar Galactica

Status: Killed in Action

Played by John Mann

The former CAG aboard the Galactica, Spencer was a liked and respected officer who mixed easily with his pilots. Off-duty he enjoyed joining them in a card game, while on-duty he took his work very seriously and treated his pilots with a firm but fair hand.

During the decommissioning ceremonies for the Galactica, he played second fiddle to Captain Lee Adama, allowing the younger man to fly the newly-restored Viper Mark II N7242C - the vehicle flown by one Lieutenent William Adama during the Cylon War, to honour the Galactica's outgoing Commander and Lee Adama's father.

Following the decommissioning ceremony, Spencer led his squadron - the last fully-operational squadron on Galactica - to Caprica, presumably to be re-deployed. While they were en route, the Cylons launched their surprise attack on the 12 colonies.

Alerted to the attack by the Galactica, Spencer located two Cylon Raider fighters and, after ordering the accompanying Raptor reconnaisance vehicle out of the firing-line, had his squadron attempt to intercept the Raiders. However, as the Vipers moved in on their targets, they all suffered simultaneous failures in their flight control, communications and weapons systems as the Cylons infiltrated their ship computer using the backdoor programming of the Command Navigation Program. Unable to manoeuvre or fire, the entire squadron was wiped out by the two Raiders, with Spencer among the first to be killed.

With his death, Spencer has been replaced by Captain Lee Adama as the Galactica's CAG.

--Colonial Archivist 20:25, 11 Jan 2005 (EST)

used to refer to military personnel who are confirmed deceased during a military engagement, see: KIA ^{(TRS: "Sacrifice")}

Re-imagined Series definition: the senior pilot on a battlestar