Rowan's Crew: Major Gasira

Fatima Gasira was born in the city of Prairieview, on Cestus III, in 2379. Gasira means “brave” in Swahili. She enrolled in Starfleet’s MACO Academy at West Point, New York, Earth in 2397. Starfleet Command had learned a lot about the value of troops specializing in close-quarters and hand-to-hand combat tactics during the Cardassian War in the 2350s; and during the Dominion War that followed in the 2370s, they decided to revive an ancient tradition of Marine warriors that had faded from Starfleet in the first years of the Federation, rebuilding a dedicated Corps to accompany Starships on exploratory and combat missions. Gasira graduated from the MACO Academy in 2401 with degrees in Tactical Analysis and Kinesiology (emphasis in Martial Arts). She served in the Klingon front on various planets before being placed in command of the 50-member MACO platoon aboard La Gitana. Normally a lower ranking officer commands a platoon, but Gasira is a major, able to hold her own in senior staff meetings aboard ship. She is outranked only by members of La Gitana’s command team: Rowan, Tarah, Larrea, and Thierry. She has a large tribal-style tattoo on the left side of her head, barely visible under her close-cropped hair, part of which extends down past her hairline as a sideburn. Gasira is thoroughly a Marine, direct, gruff; a hard charger. Her combat-expedient approach to problems rankles Rowan, who is leery of the aggressiveness of the MACOs and the need for combat troops on her ship.