2333 -- Assigned as commander and first officer on USS Stargazer, later promoted to captain after death of his superior in
 battle

 2355 -- Forced to abandon Stargazer after encounter with then-unknown Ferengi, with few casualties

 2356 -- Cleared of negligence in Stargazer loss by routine inquiry

 2363 -- Chosen to command relatively new Galaxy class U.S.S. Enterprise

 2364 -- Offered but turned down promotion to admiral as commandant of Starfleet Academy

 2366-7 -- Declared missing in action during Borg invasion, later rescued from assimilation and returned to Enterprise
 command

 2369 -- Assigned to covert raid and captured by Cardassians on Celtris III, later returned to Enterprise command

 2371 -- Lost Enterprise at Veridian III while opposing El-Aurian scientist Tolian Soran

 2372 -- Chosen to command relatively new Sovereign class U.S.S. Enterprise, SD 49827.5

 2373 -- Deflected Borg invasion of Earth; risked further contamination to restore Borg temporal sabotage of human first
 contact

 Psychological Profile: Report of Ship's Counselor Deanna Troi Updated from Starfleet File Reports

 An accomplished diplomat and tactician, Picard managed to surpass a 22-year career as first officer and later captain of the
 U.S.S. Stargazer with an even more impressive record as captain of the fleet's former flagship U.S.S. Enterprise. In the latter
 role he not only witnessed the major turning points of recent galactic history but played a major role in them as well, from
 surviving as the only human abductee of the Borg invasion in 2366, to becoming the chief contact point with the Q
 Continuum, to serving as arbiter choosing the current ruler of the Klingon Empire and exposing the Romulans as backers of
 his chief rivals, later helping a pacifist underground movement to gain a toehold there.

 Owing to a single-minded drive since childhood for a Starfleet career, Picard has "never been a family man" and was long
 uncomfortable with the Galaxy-class starship's civilian family contingent; the orphaned son of Lt. Marla Aster again raised
 this concern, although his unease with children has dissipated since being stranded with three youths during a shipboard
 quantum filament crisis. His initial reaction to family is also reflected in the friction with his father and, later, his older brother
 over leaving the family business, a winery. However, when asked about having children of his own Picard once replied that
 "wishing for a thing does not make it so." The issue of lineage and his lack of offspring caused a sustained yet brief period of
 depression upon the sudden accidental deaths in 2371 of Robert and his nephew Rene, his only other family members. His
 outlook was also affected by the chance to experience a traditional family through an encounter in the Nexus in 2371, as
 recounted later, and after having relived 40 years of a Kataanan native's life three years earlier; in the latter case the decades
 of experience compressed into 30 minutes from a Kataanan archival probe was overwhelming.

 Lingering throughout Picard's life is a series of unsuccessful romantic relationships, stemming in part from his introspective
 nature as a career officer and his self-professed desire to avoid long-term commitments. Significant adult romances have
 included Jenice Manheim in 2342, Capt. Phillipe Louvois in 2356, rogue archeologist Vash in 2366-68, and Lt. Cmdr. Nella
 Darren in 2369. In addition, he also had barely acknowledged feelings for Ens. Marty Batanides following their Starfleet
 graduation; the Kriosian metamorph Kamala; and the widow of his best friend Lt. Cmdr. Jack Crusher, Beverly - a Starfleet
 doctor, longtime friend and his chief medical officer on the Enterprise.

 Aside from these feelings regarding children, family and women, Picard was even aloof with those he considered his close
 friends. Nevertheless, he has shown a willingness to stake his career for them - as when defending the inherent sentient's
 rights of first Data and then his daughter Lal against Starfleet confiscation, then acting as Worf's cha'dich before the Klingon
 High Council and stepping in on behalf of Crewman Simon Tarses during Adm. Satie's virtual witchhunt. Also, a Q-induced
 encounter in 2370 with a possible future timeline seems to have diffused this separation from friends somewhat. While he
 has had no more encounters with his best Academy mates, both of Picard's closest friends from his early career, Jack
 Crusher and Walker Keel, were killed in the line of duty.

 Part of Picard's private nature includes a difficulty in confronting deep personal issues, which then tend to become
 suppressed. Philosophically, he sees life and death as more than two choices of eternal or momentary existence; in fact, he
 believes there is another concept yet beyond human understanding. Genetic engineering with its pre-determination disturbs
 him, saying it robs humanity of the unknown factor that makes life worth living. Having to be patient in the presence of
 mounting problems, even if it is unavoidable or even the best path to take, is unsettling to him; nevertheless, he has shown a
 clear skill in knowing when to solicit opinions and when to act decisively. His Enterprise operations officer, Data, once
 estimated only a 17% chance that Picard would be so indecisive in a crisis as to call Starfleet for instructions.

 Though he often heatedly defends a strict interpretation of the Prime Directive, he has broken it numerous times when he felt
 it was warranted. For example, during his Enterprise career he allowed an Edo female to confront her "god" from space and
 brought a pre-spaceflight Mintakan leader aboard so as to undo the damage done by cultural contamination. (He later offered
 his life to a distressed Mintakan's arrow to prove he was no immortal himself.) He also chafes at the Starfleet directive
 banning captains from most away-team missions in uncertain or hostile situations.

 Picard had few friends as a youngster and self-admittedly "skipped his childhood," due to his early, single-minded drive to be
 in Starfleet. Though shy, he took piano lessons only to please his mother; he hated public performance and soon quit - a
 move he now regrets. He did build airships in bottles when young, and like his nephew years later he wrote a ribbon-winning
 report on starships; reading of the ancient Bajorans in the fifth grade might have been another influence on his lifelong
 passion for archeology. Later he was school president, valedictorian and a star athlete.

 Picard failed his first try on the Academy entrance exams but only required one more to pass. As a student athlete, he
 became the only freshman ever to win the Academy marathon - the event at Danula II marked the beginning of his friendship
 with Admiral Hanson - and he once out-wrestled a Ligonian in 14 seconds with a reverse body lift for a pin. He graduated at
 or near the top of his Academy class, even though he once failed an Academy class over a woman he refers to only as
 "A.F.," the initials he carved into gardener Boothby's prize campus elm tree; he was called at least once to the Academy
 superintendent's office, and he credits Boothby for helping him through an ordeal that saved his graduation. His lack of
 self-discipline as a young officer nearly led to his death in a near-fatal stabbing at Starbase Earhart in 2328 while awaiting
 post-graduation assignments. Picard went on as a lieutenant to meet Ambassador Sarek at the wedding of his son Spock.

 Another mentor of those years was archeology professor Richard Galen, whose fatherly approach was a trait sorely missed
 by the son estranged from his true father. In fact, it was not until after his abduction during the Borg crisis that Picard
 ventured home, the first time in 20 years, and began to heal the rift with his brother Robert, who had been jealous of his
 high-achieving younger brother whom he viewed as getting away with spurning family traditions and responsibilities.

 In an early highlight of his illustrious and fondly recalled years aboard the U.S.S. Stargazer, First Officer Picard took
 command of the bridge upon his captain's death and saved the ship, leading to his permanent promotion to captain. His
 command has abruptly halted in 2355 when the vessel was abandoned with relatively little loss of life during an encounter
 that, years later, was realized to be the first UFP-Ferengi contact; casualties would have been much higher had he not
 devised a deceptive warp-speed jump maneuver that today is still studied and bears his name. Even so, he endured a
 standard inquiry a year later but was cleared of all negligence.

 It was only a year before the Stargazer's loss, in 2354, that Jack Crusher was killed on an away team, and he had returned
 the body to his widow at Starbase 32. That same year he visited Chalna; earlier, the Stargazer had barely eluded ambush
 while on an unsuccessful truce mission during the Cardassian border wars.

 Picard assumed captaincy of the NCC-1701/D on SD 41124, having hand-picked much of his senior staff - such as two
 young officers who impressed him enough upon first meeting to win a place in the senior staff: Geordi LaForge once piloted
 his inspection tour shuttle and stayed up all night to refit an engine part he'd made a passing comment on, and he witnessed
 Tasha Yar risk her life to save colonists amid a Carnelian mine field. Finally, he had picked Riker from among simple
 resumes as his first officer and promoted him to commander sight unseen, impressed by his record of independence. His
 command presence and ethics persevered even through the Satarran memory wipe - despite orders, he would not fire on
 unarmed people.

 Within months of his Enterprise captaincy he was offered admiral's rank and the job of commandant of Starfleet Academy by
 Admiral Quinn but turned it down to retain his flagship. He also commanded the 23-ship blockade fleet to deter Romulan
 interference along the Klingon border during the empire's civil war of 2367-68, and undertook a covert raid in 2369 with two
 Enterprise officers on Celtris III to investigate a reported Cardassian metagenic weapons base, later found to be a hoax.

 Following the loss of the Enterprise at Veridian III, Picard won command of the ship's next namesake, one of the new
 Sovereign class, in 2172 on SD 49827.5. While Lt. Cmdr. Worf chose to be the exception, Picard's entire senior staff and
 many junior officers made the transfer with their captain. That continuity proves fortuitous: less than a year later, Picard was
 ordered away from repelling a second Borg attack for fear of giving unwitting aid to the enemy, but after reconsidering he led
 a deflection of the main assault. From there, a risky time-travel gambit paid off to correct temporal sabotage involving human
 first contact.

 Other mission performance highlights of his years on the Enterprises included his second meeting with Sarek, where at
 great personal risk he agreed to a mind-meld to save the Legaran conference in 2366 with the ailing ambassador; the
 legendary Vulcan had taken an interest in his career, calling it "satisfactory," but Picard was still awed by the UFP legend.
 They met again briefly as Sarek lay dying two years later as Picard was en route to another reunion with Spock, leading an
 underground pro-unification movement with Vulcan on Romulus.

 Picard has also participated in first-contact encounters with the Borg, Ferengi, Edo, Aldeans, Tamarians, Jarada, Malcoria
 III, Douwd, Mintaka III, Paxans, Cytherians, the Ux-Mal, and Devidians, among others, and served as a negotiator and
 diplomat on missions including Acamar III, Rutia IV, Angosia III, Bajor, Talarians, Turkana IV, Pentaurus V, Ventax II, Kaelon
 II, Lenaria, Gemaris V-Dachlyd, and Krios-Valt Minor.

 Picard keeps a healthy outlook on life with a wide variety of interests and recreational pursuits, including his
 near-professional pursuit of archeology, having studied the Iconian culture since his cadet days and addressed the
 Federation Archeological Council as keynote speaker on his oft-studied Tagus III ruins in 2367. He enjoys Terran literature in
 its written rather than holo-visual display, especially detective fiction such as Dixon Hill, and Shakespearean drama; oddly
 enough, while he enjoys role-playing the former in holo-programs, he avoids acting or any other performance art himself
 despite an interest in classical music and attending the shipboard concerts and plays on the Enterprise. Even so, he
 overcame his childhood dislike and began playing a Kataanan flute following his encounter with that culture.

 Picard's interests go well beyond archeology and literature, however. The subject of planetary motion and physics is another;
 he kept up with the Atlantis Project on Earth through journals; and is fascinated to be the first to discover the spacefaring life
 form, communicate with the Crystalline Entity, and reveal an ancient Promellian battle cruiser. He has studied semantics
 and keeps his Latin fresh, but has no interest in politics, dance, small animals, or the Enterprise senior staff's poker game
 until his 2370 encounter with Q and an alternate future timeline.

 Medical history: Report of Cmdr. Beverly Crusher, M.D., Enterprise CMO

 Picard enjoys excellent health, thanks to a regimen carried over from his days as an athlete. He still finds time for fencing,
 racquetball and equine sports, usually by Holodeck, but he does show a tendency for overwork, avoids formal vacations, and
 has reported bouts of insomnia. His aversion to annual physicals must also be noted and dealt with.

 Owing to a fatal stabbing through the heart in a brawl as a newly-graduated ensign in 2328, a cardiac device later found to be
 defective was implanted to save his life. The unit required replacement when it malfunctioned in 2365, overseen at Starbase
 212 by then-CMO Dr. Katherine Pulaski. Four years later in a near-fatal Lenarian attack using compressed tetryon
 weaponry, it was damaged and replaced. He suffered head trauma to the right temple area in the same incident that led to
 Jack Crusher's death in 2355, and has sustained numerous injuries on occasion, none with long-lasting physical damage.

 He was formerly declared dead by Adm. Hanson as a casualty of war after his assimilation by the Borg; the ruling was
 rescinded six days later, after he fought through the imposed Borg mind of Locutus and got back to his own identity following
 his recapture. Along with his physical recovery, the invasive incident took an enormous emotional toll and required several
 weeks of counseling. Picard followed a similar though less lengthy recuperation following his capture and torture by
 Cardassians in 2369.

 Counselor's update: Report of Cmdr. Deanna Troi, 2373

 Less than a year on our new ship and I find myself returning to the events of 2366-67 regarding our captain: the once-quelled
 ghosts of his Locutus experience and his former commands have returned. It has taken this second Borg experience to
 remind him of the existence of a "Borg queen" who pursued him then, and his reaction to the bureaucratic Starfleet reaction
 on his involvement is an issue I am positive will be resolved by the caption's unusually strong self-ego. However, in dealing
 with reports by officers who were present, I have decided to focus future efforts on the subject's lingering anger toward his
 one-time captors in future, if any, Borg encounters.

 This episode has also revealed a second and as-yet unexamined factor in the captain's command decision-making process
 to be considered in future crises: his command history itself. Certainly Picard has compiled an illustrious career and
 laudable accomplishments in both diplomacy and tactics, but the fact remains that he abandoned his first command -- a
 decision cleared by court-martial review -- and lost his second. While his quick accession to a new command betrayed any
 concern at Starfleet about his emotional fitness to lead a starship, it did play a factor in delaying his eventual decision
 surrounding the aborted abandonment and self-destruct of the new vessel to stop the Borg temporal invasion. In this case,
 thanks to the interference of a strong-willed contemporary associate of Zefram Cochrane, Picard was persuaded that
 self-destruct was his only option, then thankfully found other options that saved his vessel -- including his unusually strong
 bond with longtime second officer Data.