--- title: "8 reasons you want Commander Riker to be your CO" date: "2018-03-31" modified: "2020-10-22" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/humor/8-reasons-you-want-commander-riker-to-be-your-co/" categories: - "Entertainment" - "Join the Military" - "Military Culture" - "Movies and TV" --- # 8 reasons you want Commander Riker to be your CO ![]() We all have that officer we served with (or under) that we absolutely adore. We would follow them to the gates of hell or go there ourselves if they so ordered us. But, look: No one gives orders like Commander William T. Riker. --- ![]() *Riker isn't taking anyone's sh\*t. Least of all, yours.* This is why you should want Picard's "number one" to be your number one. ## 8. He's genuinely a nice dude. He doesn't bitch when his officers call him by his first name. He remembers all his crews' names. He's best friends with his ex-girlfriend. He goes to his friends' poetry readings. He even plays the trombone for people. ![]() I mean, for a guy with so much to do as the first officer of a flagship, you wonder where he gets the energy. ## 7. He had a beard when it wasn't even in regs. How many beards do you see on *Star Trek*? Any show in the series. Go ahead and look – it's not many. When you do see them, most of the time, they're only for flag officers. Meanwhile, Riker grew his out almost immediately. He sure as hell wasn't going to wait 'til he had a DD-214. ![]() *Operator AF.* ## 6. Will Riker will not be tempted by a Fat Leonard. All the officers who were seduced by the real Fat Leonard are getting off relatively light (especially considering how the enlisted people are getting the book thrown at them), and it's the U.S. Navy who suffers. Commander William T. Riker has no use for hookers and champagne. ### Related: [5 of the most ridiculous things naval officers did with 'Fat Leonard']() ![]() *Damn right. He gets his own.* When the omnipotent alien called 'Q' tried to give Riker the powers of a god, Riker told him to f\*ck off. Will Riker will make Captain on his own, dammit. ## 5. Everything bad happens to him and he's somehow okay. Riker had to kick his estranged father's ass to be okay with his childhood. He was [abducted by aliens who cut off his arm](). Actually, [he was abducted a few times](). His first posting was a mutiny that resulted in the loss of the ship, he was in a transporter accident that basically duplicated him, he was infected with a parasite that turned him into a spy... The list goes on. ![]() *That wasn't even the worst injury he had that day.* But Will Riker always shows up for work the next day with a clean slate. And he owns it. ## 4. He's just like any other sailor. Make no bones about it, Riker likes to drink, dance, and get down (you know what I mean). He's a man's man — so much so that his only real relationship had to be with a female who could read his emotions because he's not giving anything but a wink and a smile. ![]() *Fine by us.* He has 20 years in service and he still goes on shore leave to a place literally known as a "pleasure planet." ## 3. Riker is 100 percent about equal opportunity. He *loves* all beings, regardless of gender, race, and [even androgyny](). Even a robot or two. ![]() *Do it boldly.* I'm pretty sure he's fine with women in combat and openly transgender Starfleet officers. He may have [some trouble with the Military Equal Opportunity office,]() though. ## 2. His goddamned awesome command presence. Nothing says, "I am confident in my ability to lead" like swinging your leg over the back of any given chair to sit down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVIGhYMwRgs You know why it looks so f\*cking awesome? Because he looks like a cowboy mounting up on a horse for some adventure. ## 1. He's going to bring his sailors home. There's a reason this redshirt leads away missions and still lives. Over the seven seasons of *Star Trek: The Next Generation*, only 57 Enterprise crew members were killed and only 14 of those died on Riker-led away missions — and they usually got the bad guy in the end. ![]() *Light 'em up.* ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()